How to Host with Purpose without all the Stress

A couple of weeks ago we hosted a family night at our home. We wanted to bring our friends together for food and fun as a part of ‘playdate with purpose’ fellowship.

In the past hosting preparation brought out the worst in me. I was stressed and overwhelmed. I wanted to change this pattern.

One morning, during my devotion time, I opened Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,” I read it out loud, word for  word as if trying to hang on to it.

Prayerfully I focused on the following:

My Posture 
Spending time in God’s word every day is a key to a godly attitude. It sets the tone of your home as you carry out the preparation long before your guests arrive. God’s Word is essential at all-times in our lives, yet when I have neglected spending time in God’s word, I have found myself overwhelmed too easily.

My Preparation
Have you felt the urge to clean your closet, organize the craft room and hang the pictures in the last minute before guests arrive? Lack of focus leads to misplaced priorities.  2 Corinthians 12:9 affirms, His power is made perfect in our weakness. I am eternally thankful for His grace. With his assurance, I can pause and stop dusting to play checkers with my daughter or read a book to my son.

My Presentation
I struggle with self-control when it comes to decoration. Let me first begin by saying that there is nothing wrong in creating an ambiance for your fellowship with ideas that you have gleaned from your Pinterest board. However, if doing so overwhelms you and compromises God-honoring attitude, then Pinterest ideas must stay confined to the virtual board.

My Prayer
I made an intentional effort to invite some of my friends who didn’t share my worldview or faith. It may not come easy to you, but you could be a conduit for someone’s divine appointment. Pray fervently for your friends. I use a prayer sheet, my friend and Bible teacher, Darla Free, prepared for us during one of our Bible studies. 

My Plate
Fellowship cannot happen without food, right? We are blessed with friends from different ethnic and missionary backgrounds. Considering the diversity and large number of our friends, we settled on an international potluck. However, even if you don’t have an ethnically diverse group of friends, consider hosting an international theme dinner. Food is a great conversation starter. It is easy to talk about diverse cultures and the God who loves all nation while tasting ceviche  and slurping down beans soup with cornbread along with Biryani, won’t you agree?

My Purpose
As a part of our Playdate with Purpose  service project, we wanted to send care package to U.S. military serving our country as well as raise a few funds for a mission India rice bag project. We asked our friends to bring goodies for the soldiers and loose change. On the day of fellowship, the kids made cards, filled up 3 boxes for the soldiers and counted the change, totaling $20.Fund helped to send 15 kids to the Bible Clubs and provided parasite protection to a kid in Africa. Our service projects not only tamed the joyful chaos of running kids, it also blessed us with the opportunity to share the bounty of God’s provision with others.

So, don’t let the detail of hosting overwhelm you. Focus your heart on the Word of God and trust him for guidance.

 Ask yourself, has your hosting endeavor been pleasing to God  or is it self-gratifying praise focused?

About Nive

Nive was born and raised in India.  She has a degree in Civil engineering but she decided that developing software is much more fun, so she taught herself programming.  Nive has been married for about a decade to her husband, Randy, a software architect.  They are very blessed to live in the beautiful Texas hill country with their two kids.  Born and raised as Hindu and redeemed by love of Christ a few years ago, Nive has a heart for culture and desire to make her redeemer known.  She loves to cook, has a penchant for handmade crafty things and teaches her kids to serve in the community.  You can find her food blogging athandfulofjoy  and serving at playdate with a purpose.

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