Dishes are stacked high in both sinks, spilling over on to the counter tops. Of course, there are also the stock pots on the stove, waiting to be scrubbed down.
Trails of bread crumbs meander through the house, evidence of children who found the table to be too crowded with adult conversation. Hardened, dried spaghetti noodles litter the floor beneath the dining room chairs, and I quickly swipe one fossilized piece of angel hair from my toddler’s sticky hand.
It’s an hour past bedtime, and my husband is wrangling the oldest child up the stairs to take that shower we’ve discussed for the past twenty minutes. The toddler protests my noodle intervention and pulls on my pants legs while I try to wipe up the puddles of sticky pasta sauce on the table.
Soon, the kids will be in bed and my house will be (mostly) restored to order. I’ve got the routine down after a year of hosting weekly dinners for our church small group. It’s a tall order for a girl who struggles to delegate, who would prefer to be home alone in her pajamas, and who has nervy control issues. But when I discovered, quite by accident, that people are more apt to talk when there is a plate of food in front of them, I felt I had unearthed a secret to living more deeply in community. Serving up a meal for anywhere from ten to twenty people on a weeknight isn’t something I necessarily look forward to or excel at on the best of terms, but it’s especially challenging when teething toddlers or grumpy third-graders infiltrate the kitchen while I’m tying up loose ends before guests arrive. Some nights call for a brief time-out so I can gather my sanity while we wait for Daddy to come home from work and intercept the pregame chaos. What I’ve learned about opening my home while parenting young kids would barely fill a thimble, but through trial and error, I’ve found that simplicity reigns as the queen of surviving and enjoying the full house, overflowing trash cans, and paths of garlic bread crumbs.
Struggling to answer the biblical call to hospitality when parenting young children makes it seem impossible?
I’m guest posting at Kindred Mom today, so please hop over to read the rest of this post. While you’re there, peruse some of the other excellent articles on motherhood of all kinds and shapes in all seasons and changes. You can also join the discussion at Kindred Mom’s Facebook group, and follow them on Instagram, and Twitter.
You can find two more posts that I’ve written on hospitality here:
Glenna Marshall is married to her pastor, William, and lives in rural Southeast Missouri where she tries and fails to keep up with her two energetic sons. She is the author of The Promise is His Presence (P&R) and Everyday Faithfulness (Crossway), and Memorizing Scripture (Moody). Connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
