Hosting family during the holidays need not be stressful. With a little preparation and some intentionality, it can be the perfect opportunity to develop meaningful memories together.

Here are five tips for a holiday hosting plan that's less 'save me now ​and more 'can't wait 'til next year.'

And, no, this post is not too early! 

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You just got word. Everyone's coming to your house for the holidays. Exciting? Maybe. "Over the river and through the woods" sounds good on Spotify, but the reality is that even though you love the holidays and your family, combining both under the same roof—your roof—seems much more of a challenge than a joy.

I like the idea of family gatherings; I also like the idea of snow. It sounds pretty and romantic, but it can be messy—maybe uncomfortable—and snow, like family, can complicate matters. God calls us to love people, but people aren't perfect, including ourselves. The holidays can bring our imperfections to the surface quicker than you can call the Martha Stewart Hotline. (Is there a Martha Stewart Hotline?)

While humming along with Michael Buble, your thoughts of sugar plums are interrupted by recalling the last time your family descended in droves. Uncle Otto from Ottawa brought his dog, Snap, who lived up to his name and bit your grand-niece Olive from Ontario. Even my favorite family members can test my patience at this time of year when everything is supposed to be merry and bright, but doesn't always live up to a Hallmark movie.

Combining the seemingly endless preparations for the holidays along with hosting relatives you haven't seen for over a year, you imagine yourself standing like a deer—frozen like the 24 lb. turkey you forgot to defrost the last time you hosted—staring into the headlights of all those extra cars piling down your drive. You suddenly begin planning your backdoor escape which includes ordering three lasagnas and a pumpkin cheesecake from the local grocery store while you check into Motel 6 and wait out the melee. Not that ordering lasagna and cheesecake is a bad idea. It can be a great idea, as long as people expect that this year we might be doing things a little differently. Managing expectations is half the battle. Taking advantage of these five tips I'm about to give you is the other half.

Opening your home to those closest and dearest to you is a labor of love.

Here are five ideas, then, to help you host with less stress and more joy as you welcome your family this holiday season. . .

(continue reading at The Joyful Life Blog)

5 Ideas for Hosting Family at the Holidays: Make a plan, make preparations, make boundaries, make it fun, make it meaningful. The Joyful Life

 

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My gift for you! Hospitality By The Day: What to Do Today to Host Guests in a Month

This week begins an exciting new thing that will help us invite people to our tables with the least amount of stress and lots more joy (speaking of the above!)

HOSPITALITY BY THE DAY

What to Do Today to Host Guests in a Month: A Four-Week Plan (with Sundays off!)

Once you sign up, the very next Monday—because we like Sundays to be a day of rest—the very next Monday, you will receive a very small task in your inbox to begin the 4-Week Plan, and off you will go! In a month you will be ready for company.

Here's a sample from Day 5: Make a new dessert (or try one!) See? Simple.

You can email me anytime if you have questions or need a recipe or an idea or tip. I will be cheering you on, believe me. And I don't doubt at all that you will try it again and again. Hospitality is called Practicing Hospitality for a reason. Practice doesn't make perfect because we don't care about perfect. But it does make peaceful, so we can focus on the guest. And that's what it's all about.

Sign up here. I'm so excited for you! And even if you are not excited, I'll be excited enough for us both. (:

PS If you are a little hesitant to host, you are not alone. Read here or  Read here.