Practicing Hospitality: Week One

Why Practice Hospitality?

Hey there! And welcome to a new installment of posts on feeding a crowd. I want to give a little background into this new series before we dive into hospitality tips. Two years ago, we moved into a new home that was closer to friends, family, and our church. We were also very blessed to move into a larger home to accommodate our growing family. From the beginning, we prayed with thankfulness to the Lord but also with a request. We hoped and prayed for ways to graciously practice hospitality in hopes of furthering the gospel.

And once again, God has blessed us in the answer of those prayers! We have been given many opportunities to practice hospitality and one of the consistent ways has been through a weekly Bible study. We have done many studies at our church, which is always wonderful! But there is something unique about a home Bible study. To gather in a casual space with comforting food, while feasting on God’s word together is a blessing all in itself. We also wanted to use our home so our children could feel apart of this study. They help with picking the menu, house preparation, and deciding on games to play with their friends. It’s a whole family affair that we enjoy working on together!

I want to add a side note that hospitality can look differently to everyone, but still maintain the same feeling. People aren’t looking for a completely home cooked meal with all the nice cutlery and the hosts dressed to the nines. Hospitality is more about the feeling that each guest leaves with rather than the impression of your dustless shelves. We aim to make our guests feel loved on, heard, encouraged, fed, and overall as if this is their home and their family.

I think Romans 12:13 simplifies it best, “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

Share what you have with others, especially the grace the Christ has given you.

Now onto sharing about food!

Each week I make a menu for our Bible study night that will feed about 20 people. We are a dairy free home, so everything I make is allergen friendly for that! I also try to pick meals that are budget friendly. Thankfully, we are currently stocked on lots of venison from hunting season. So many meals are made using that meat, but can also be made with any type of beef instead. Each week, I will share a post with a breakdown of that weeks meal. Many times, it will be homemade simply because I enjoy cooking and baking in the kitchen. But remember that pizza, boxed mac and cheese, or Chick fil a nugget trays fill bellies and make people happy just as easily.

Also, if someone offers to help with food.. let them! You’re only spreading the joy of serving with others while lightening your load. Each week, we have friends that bring salad, drinks, or restock our plastic cutlery for us. I am so thankful for their help!

Week 1:

Main Entree: This Lentil Soup.

Sides: Salad, two loaves of This Bread, and These Muffins.

Dessert: My famous Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Drinks: Soda, sweet tea, and water.

Let’s talk logistics. Lentil soup is a budget friendly meal that is easy to double! I made two crockpots full and we still had leftovers. For those who don’t eat meat, I try to have at least one vegetarian option each week. Salad easily fills that role! Bagged salads are a favorite of mine for quickly assembly, and I put out an array of dressings on the side to choose from. I also had two loaves of the take and bake bread from Aldi. The compliments on this easy bread are always overflowing!

Admittedly, I was nervous about having enough food for our first week so I made banana muffins as well. They were a big hit of course! But honestly, were not needed as we had plenty of food. And to round everything out, we had cookies for dessert. These were great as people could walk around while eating them or carry a few to the couch when Bible study began.

This menu was extremely easy to prep the day of. Soup went quickly into the crockpot in the morning and was kept warm until dinner. The muffins and cookies were baked in the afternoon, but could have easily been made the day before too. The delectable bread baked 30 minutes prior to everyones arrival, which conveniently filled our home with the scent of fresh bread. And the salad was brought by a friend!

I hope this series fills you with encouragement to host and gives you menu inspiration for all kinds of events! If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below!