Hospitality Isn't About Having A Clean House

This post may contain affiliate links. 

More than a decade ago, when I was a single girl living in Tennessee, I read an article in a magazine. (Remember magazines? Those were the days when we read more on paper than we did on screens.) An article in a Christian magazine essentially said that hospitality is not about having a perfectly clean house, it's about welcoming people into your house. Reading those words and taking them to heart liberated me to still welcome people into my home even when my sink has dirty dishes, my bathroom isn't sparkling clean, and there are toys on my floor (trust me, my toddler can pull toys out as fast as I can put them away). 

These days Pinterest and Instagram offer virtual glimpses into people's seemingly perfect homes, and many of us still need a sign that says "Pardon the mess, we live here!" I do not have a perfect home, because we live here. We have a toddler. And my house was sometimes messy before I had a toddler - because if I'm honest, I'll confess that I'd rather be writing or reading or socializing than cleaning and organizing! 

Recently, I opened my home to friends, focusing on conversation instead of other tasks. Tidying up as much as time allows between working part-time as a nanny and working full-time as a mom, I prepare my home. Many times when guests arrive, there is still more clutter lying around than I like to see. There are toys on the floor and dishes in the sink. But those things do not stop us from drinking coffee, eating food, and talking about our hopes and dreams and faith and how all of those things intertwine. 

Hospitality isn't having a perfectly clean home. Hospitality isn't being clutter-free. Hospitality isn't looking like your home belongs in a Pinterest image. Instead, hospitality is about welcoming friends to your home. Hospitality is about focusing on your guest, and making him or her feel welcome.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Affiliate link disclosure: I, Betsy Herman, participate in the Amazon Affiliate Program, which means that I will earn a small commission from Amazon when you shop through the links on my site, including the link below. This income helps to pay for my website’s expenses – so thanks! 

I live in the Washington, D.C. area with my husband, Mike. We have been married since 2008. We welcomed our first baby in 2018. You can read about our long road to parenthood in these blog posts, or read our story in my first book, When Infertility Books Are Not Enough: Embracing Hope During Infertility.