Small houses are great for Hospitality. In this day and time, people with small houses feel like they don’t have the “RIGHT” size home to open it up to people. They don’t have the “RIGHT” furnishings in their house to share their home with others. They don’t have the “RIGHT” items in the kitchen to serve others.
These are all things that go through the heads of everyone, you are not the only one thinking that. The sad part is, none of it is true. The small homes are perfect for extending hospitality. Small houses are great for hospitality.
Small houses are great for hospitality because…
The gathering can be more intimate.
When you have a smaller home, you do have to take in account the square footage people need to be able to sit, eat and fellowship. For example, my home’s living room is very small. We can sit 8 comfortably. And comfortably, I mean, 2 people are sitting on the bench from the kitchen table that we bring into the living room. When it is winter and we can’t get outside, we try to keep our fellowships under 8-10 people counting our family.
With having a smaller group in your home, you are guaranteed to be able to have a great conversation with each person. That person will leave your home knowing that they were seen, heard and understood. They got your attention. They will leave your home and you will hopefully know exactly how that person is doing and how you can continue to reach out and serve them.
The preparation can be less stressful
I am not trying to downplay the preparation fro your home if you have a smaller home but it is a blessing that you don’t have a massive home that you feel like you need to get ready for guests to come over. On top of that, you don’t have to prepare a large amount of food to feed a large group.
I tend to involve my guest in the preparation of the food when we have a smaller group at the house. It is fun to have our guest sitting around the kitchen table, grazing on a cheese tray or even chips and salsa while maybe me and a couple of people are finishing up the main course. The conversations and laughter are amazing and you just don’t get that with larger groups. The preparation is part of the evening.
Use all of your home
Use all of your home. What I mean by that is, set up a table in the living and a table in the kitchen. Let people eat on the couch or a kid’s table in the playroom. Be creative. You can even move people to outside if the weather is good. People don’t mind. People just want to be loved and welcomed.
I remember one Sunday we had college students over for lunch. A few college students had been coming for a while but the numbers just kept growing. We lived in a 1500 Sq ft tri-level home at the time This Sunday there were over 40 college students that came for lunch. We stretched that Chicken and Rice so far. I walked through the house around 2 p.m. and there were college kids everywhere. Some were on couches taking naps or reading for class. Some were in the laundry room doing their laundry. Several were sitting in the floor in the basement playing rook. They were everywhere. None of them looked uncomfortable, it was totally opposite. There was laughter, joy and tons of conversations happening. To this day, we talk to come of those college students and they talk about how much they loved the Sunday afternoon gatherings.
It is not about how large your home is, it is about how you use it.
Consider yourself blessed to have a small home. What a great way to share your home with others and help rethink the idea that small homes are not suitable for hospitality.
