1. Plant a garden & get livestock and chickens if you can.2. Put up an American flag.3. Put pictures of your family on social media to promote all American family values.4. Invite your neighbors over for dinner, (whether you agree with them politically or not).Translation: Go back to the basics of caring for yourself, your family, and your community. Go back to the basics of neighborly love, fellowship, and community. Go back to the basics of wholesome family values.
Getting Started with Hospitality
Hospitality is an opportunity to make people feel seen, cared for, and loved. It helps unify us. Don’t underestimate how powerful hospitality can be in saving the country. More than ever we need to go back to those good old fashion basics of loving our neighbor as ourselves. I want to help you make hospitality a part of your life!Some things to remember about hospitality:-Hospitality is not about serving food. It’s about gifting an experience. It’s about connection.-There’s a wide range of types hospitality. You can serve popcorn and ice water or Filet Mignon and Silver Oak Cabernet. Sometimes water and popcorn creates even better memories than Filet Mignon and Silver Oak.-Will Guidara says, “Hospitality is not about serving dinner. It’s about serving memories.”-When it comes to hospitality, we want to operate by the golden rule… Sort of… Instead of, do to others as you would have them doing to you, we want to host others as they would want to be hosted.This requires us to pay attention and pick up on cues. It also requires us to put others above ourselves.
Here’s Your Hospitality 101 Checklist:
1. Pray over your home using the prayer that I have on my website under resources titled, “A Prayer to Use Authority in Jesus Name”.2. Set the temperature of your home to be reasonably cool. Have little throw blankets around in case your guests get cold easily. You can always throw a blanket over you to get warmer, but you can only do so much to cool off.3. Put on some nice background music turned on just loud enough to hear, but not so loud that it’s difficult to converse comfortably. I usually put on worship music or I have a Michael Bublé Frank Sinatra, Diana Krall playlist that’s great too. Or, if you know what kind of music your guest likes, you can put that on.4. When your guest arrives, show them where they can set their jacket or purse and show them where the bathroom is. If you feel comfortable, give them a tour of your house. Showing them these things makes them feel more comfortable.5. Offer your guests a drink. People feel more comfortable if they have something in their hand. Sometimes people can feel uncomfortable in social situations so it’s good to do the little things you can to help them feel comfortable. A lot of people deal with social anxiety.6. If you’re not going to be eating right away, have a light appetizer out on the kitchen counter for them to snack on. A nice cheese and gourmet crackers will suffice. You don’t have to kill yourself to make an amazing appetizer. If you do, sometimes they’ll get full on that and not eat a lot of the meal you serve.7. Determine the style of your hospitality. Will you be super casual, moderately casual, or formal? Paper plates and napkins, glass plates and cloth napkins, China & Crystal?8. If your guests have alcohol, set a glass of water by their seat at the table. When drinking alcohol people usually end up needing or wanting water too. It’s also good to keep a pitcher of water by the table so you don’t have to leave the table to freshen people’s waters.9.Think through some questions that you can ask your guests before they arrive. Then, when you ask them questions, genuinely listen to their answers. Listening well is one of the greatest gifts we can give the guests that we bring into our home. People are starving for someone to truly listen to them. If you let your guests do most of the talking and you truly listen, they’ll often leave feeling like they loved being at your home.10. When you have company over remember that you’re the “leader” of the evening. It’s your home so you set the tone and direct the time. It can be nice to move from room to room. So, to start, you can stand around the kitchen with an appetizer and a drink talking while you are finishing dinner. Then go to your dining room table for dinner. Then after dinner, suggest that you all move to the living room or back patio, so people can sit more comfortably.11. Be observant. If your guests drink gets down to 25% left, offer a refill. If they start looking around, ask them if they need anything. If they start rubbing their arms, ask them if they’re cold, and would like a little throw blanket. If they’re Fanning themselves turn on the fan or lower the thermostat temperature.12. Always ask your guests ahead of time if there’s anything they don’t eat. You can also ask them what they like to drink.13. Let Guests know how to dress. I’ll often say something like, “We’ll be wearing shorts and flip-flops. Please come comfortable!”*Today’s Challenge: Forward today’s episode on to someone else who has a heart to save America.
2 thoughts on “Episode #1 August 8, 2023 Flynn’s Advice & Hospitality 101”
Jeanne Anderson
I am retired now and have been praying about the next assignment from the Lord. A number of things have come my way, but I had no confirmation on any. I listened to your hospitality episode and there was a stirring and loud pinging in my spirit! This is it. It lines up with our church mission statement….”change the world; begin at home”. Thank you for the practical advice and inspiration. I look forward to more ideas from you. The enemy is all about division. It’s time we promote and practice unity across this nation. We are the UNITED states of America.
I am retired now and have been praying about the next assignment from the Lord. A number of things have come my way, but I had no confirmation on any. I listened to your hospitality episode and there was a stirring and loud pinging in my spirit! This is it. It lines up with our church mission statement….”change the world; begin at home”. Thank you for the practical advice and inspiration. I look forward to more ideas from you. The enemy is all about division. It’s time we promote and practice unity across this nation. We are the UNITED states of America.
Thank you, Rachel. Great reminder of the importance of connections with the people around us!