Loving on Others with Guest Gina Smith
We just returned last night from a whirlwind surprise trip to Charlotte, NC to see our two oldest kids. It was fabulous but it is good to be home!
I tried to keep up with reading all of your comments from over the weekend on my phone. So many of you loved how yesterday’s guest, Renee Swope, hosted our family in a very simple way–take out pizza, store-bought cookies & watermelon!
Now, our guest today gives you some ways to love on others in your life who drop in. And, a few ideas for loving on family members or even taking your love on the road!
Meet the clever Gina Smith!
Gina Smith has served alongside her husband at a small Christian college right outside of Washington DC for almost 20 years, where she serves as the Dean of Women.
She previously dedicated her days to serving her family, but now that her children are both college students she fully enjoys her calling to mentor to women and young women in person and on-line with her blog Keepin’ It Real!
Gina has been a mom for 21 years and she and Brian have been married for 23 years. Gina also writes for RooMag.com, MomLife Today, and Internet Cafe Devotions.
Now, here ‘s Gina!
Over the years, I have taken advantage of the weeks before and after Valentine’s day, and I have collected things that I can use when I serve those who sit at my table. I love heart shaped things!
I have purchased heart shaped cake pans, a heart shaped pancake griddle pan, a bundt cake pan that has hearts on the top of it, heart shaped cookie cutters, and ice cube trays that make heart shaped ice! I stock up on gift bags with hearts on them, heart shaped sprinkles, and anything else unique that I can find with a heart on it! I love all of it!
Here are some ways that I am able to serve those who are in my home, and show them I love them:
~ On a cold day we serve hot chocolate with whipped cream and heart shaped sprinkles.
~ I’ll choose to cook lasagna in a heart shaped pan or I’ll bake a cake in the heart bundt pan.
~ On a Saturday morning I make heart shaped pancakes.
~ If my daughter is having a rough week, I fill a gift bag decorated with hearts with her favorite Bath and Body Works body spray and lotion.
~ When my son has been working a lot, and I haven’t seen him much, I put a bag of chocolate kisses on his pillow.
~ When my husband comes in from working out, I fill a glass with heart shaped ice cubes and fill it with water for him.
~ If I know someone needs encouragement, sometimes I will put a small candle, a tea bag and some chocolate kisses in a clear gift bag, tie a ribbon around it, attach a heart shaped card to the ribbon and give it to them when I see them next.
~ I love to look for any excuse to use my heart shaped purchases!
The heart shape symbolizes love. I want love to be my theme. Love for others. Love for my family. I want them to know they are loved and cherished.
When people come into my home, I want them to leave feeling like they were loved. Life outside these four walls can be really hard. There is pressure and stress, and people walk through my front door who are tired and weary.
I want my home to be a haven. I want to celebrate and love on people, especially the precious people that have been loaned to me for a few years–My husband and children.
Having these things on hand makes it easy for me to pull them out and make an unexpected guest feel like we have been waiting for them!
Thanks, Gina!
Today’s giveaway is a $15 Target gift card and a signed copy of my book, The Complete Guide to Getting & Staying Organized. So, you can feel more on top of your game and be able to buy a few items to help you love on others too!
Since we are nearing the end of our study, {sniff, sniff} to be entered to win, leave us a comment with one change you want to make in your life as a result of this study.
ALSO: This Friday’s idea swap & share will be on the concept I mention in the book called “hospitality on the road”. Be thinking of a clever way to reach out and love on someone that doesn’t involve your home but involves you going to them!
REMEMBER: We are also interacting over at Karen Ehman’s Book Studies on Facebook. Click here to “like” the page & join us.
May I begin by saying that this study has truly been a blessing to me in so many ways. I am realizing thru this study and with God’s helping hand that my family should come first, not worry about my home but worry about who I am going to invite over next, not worry about what we are going to eat but know that God will provide a meal for us to enjoy. I want to show God’s love and kindness to EVERYONE that I meet….My home is a “lived in” home with 4 children, 2 dogs and 2 cats and 1 hubby. We are not going to be perfect but just need to live simply (that means getting rid of stuff that we truly don’t need) and love much. Love Gina’s way of showing love with her hearts…I would like to borrow if I may and begin to use her ideas to show God’s love and kindness easier to those I meet.
May you be blessed today because you are a blessing to someone today!
Smiles and Blessings Abound,
Robin :)
Keep it simple
Declutter
Make some coasters, covers for throw pillows, hot pads… that are heart shaped or have a heart appliqued.
I love all the ideas and encouragement to be a welcoming
hostess. I would love to come up with something like
the heart idea that would be my trademark hostess
signature. My book has never come so I have focused
on the online study. I will read and review when my book
arrives. My goal is to make sure my guest feel better when
thet leave my home than they did when they arrived.
Oh my gosh, I love that: “I want my theme to be love.” That is something that I struggle with. Something that has come up again and again for me as I read these posts is that I spend so much time worried about what people think of me that I don’t think at all about what they could be needing that I could give them. I would love to just let go of the worry about myself (it is totally dragging me down) and just be who I am and love the way God made me to love.
Great heart ideas! We are inspired and we’ve Decided to host a neighborhood Easter celebration at our house on Sunday. We want to celebrate Gods love with our elderly neighbors and our new neighbors. Thanks for all the great ideas!!
This hospitality study has offered so many wonderful ideas. The first one I’m going to implement is going to be the one from today’s guest. I want to start collecting things with hearts to give my family an extra dose of love and make others feel loved, too.
I love the heart idea! I’ll definitely see what I can find after V-day next year.
Usually I try to stock up on crafty things for my kids to make and share the following year or with chocolate that we can chop, freeze, and then use in cookies.
Practice even more hospitality!
I am going to try very hard to keep my home more organized. I love this book study. I hate to see it over so soon. It seems like it just started. I have learned so much from this study. I am adding more Bible Scriptures in my kitchen so I can see them more. I did a pair of pillow cases like the ones on here the other day for a couple in our church that is getting married next month. I am so happy to hear someone else loves hearts as much as I do. I have heart shapr cards with Bible verses on them that I leave in places that we visit. When we eat out I like to leave one of the heart cards on the table when we leave. When we stay over night I leave a bag of heart treats & a heart shaped thank you card on the pillow. Thank you so much for all the things you have shared with us. I have learned so many new things from this study. Thank you again.
Love & prayers,
Shirley
To use the guideline of cleaning a room, so when I walk into a room I will know where to start.
Be simple. I should strive for a glad welcoming heart more than a perfect menu and perfectly clean house for my guests.
One thing I’ve learned is to really pay attention to people around me and ask God what I can do to touch their lives in a significant way. There were many ideas that were shared here that have to do with slowing down my pace to really notice someone else’s life. I want to be a blessing and do special things that say they are loved by me and by God! Thanks so much for encouraging me. I want my home to reflect my heart for my guests!
I love the ideas of creating personal touches to make guests feel thought of. . . more importantly than just having things cleaned and orderly.
I also have enjoyed this very much. I joined Fly Lady and am getting my house in order. I love the wall decorating ideas and have several crosses to hang. The heart idea is great and I will be using that idea daily.
Thanks so much
Nancy
I would like to invite people over. I would also like to try several of the ideas mentioned so I can “practice hospitality.”
After many years of allowing this world to beat me up bitterness hado begun to set in. This bible study had reminded me of so many of the things I love but have allowed the devil to steal.I always loved entertaining and giving my heart to others. Todays guest reminded me of my love for heart shaped things and what they represent when given. I have begun de cluttering my home and preparing to begin entertaining again. Tomorrow morning I am pulling out mt heart shaped pans, cookie cutters and little odds and ends and I will begun to give my heart to others. I am going to let God use the talent of loving and giving they my home and my heart. Thank you Karen and all of the ladies who have contributed to this lesson.
What great ideas! I love that you have that “signature gift” – the hearts. i would like to think about that and pick something that would be my “signature”. I have to learn not to worry about the “mess” people will make when they come over. I am always worried about someone dropping or breaking something and they are only things. I need to be more concerned with developing relationships with my friends
I love that theres almost 200 women out there who are looking for ways to show Gods love. this study has been such a blessing to me and many others when we start to apply what we have learned thru all these Godly women.
I love the heart shaped ideas. Thank you for sharing. I think the gift bags ready and on hand to give to someone and brighten their day is something I can do.
I want to begin taking more steps to being organized and having a home to share with others in the hectic world we live in. Blessings.
One Sunday after the service, I saw a woman I know just uncontrollably weeping. Something told me to walk up to her and offer care. I did so and said do you want to come home with me? She just said yes. As my husband and I were leaving our Pastor said to her “You go with them, they know how to love on people”. I thought it was one of the nicest compliments I had ever received.
I want to continue with the cleaning & de-cluttering so I feel more comfortable with letting people come over but also to lighten up about how the house looks and focus more on the relationships with others — especially my family.
I need to start somewhere, anywhere, and do one thing per day or every other day toward getting our home organized. It’s not even organized chaos at this point, more like a cleared path through the main rooms. I realize now that I’m not the only one with clutter and organizational problems, so I need to get started and put some of these great ideas into action. Thank you for a wonderful study!
Throughout this course, I picked up several tips that I can apply and use in my life. To surround our home with God’s words, to show my love for my family by keeping it tidy and showing them in inexpensive but meaningful ways. And showing love for others by inviting them over to a clean home or giving a word of encouragement or a meal.
I need to be more spontaneous in my entertaining and stop waiting for the perfect moment!
I’d like to be less worried about the state of my house and let that inhibit me from having people over. They all know I’m a mom of three toddlers and that’s how we live… My friends are always so blind to the mess that I shouldn’t let it bother me so much either!