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Home & Garden
For many of us, our friends are like our extended family. We couldn’t imagine life without them. Sometimes friends are so “close to home” that we forget to offer them our hospitality. A deep, heart-to-heart talk with a cherished friend feels as comforting and soothing as a super-soft, oversized sweatshirt on a chilly fall day. Friends are important. A good friend is one who understands your world, difficulties, and triumphs. Thinking of my favorite friends always makes me smile because of all the love, laughter, tears, prayers, and cherished moments. Often our get-togethers revolve around food. We meet at restaurants, at each other’s homes for dinner, or at a yogurt shop for a treat. Life would lose its richness without the opportunity to live it with friends. Have you scheduled time with friends lately? Most of my friends have an over-the-top sense of humor. We spend the majority of our time laughing at something, whether it’s a college prank or a funny near disaster at a child’s party. Friends who enjoy a long history can pick up where they left off and never miss a beat. They offer joy, share the burdens, and lighten the load. Currently, I can think of several friends I need to contact, just to tell them they are loved. What about you? If you’re like most of us, you probably never get to spend enough time nurturing your meaningful girlfriend relationships. Make a commitment today to call, send an e-mail, write a note, or run by your girlfriend’s home or workplace with a small, special treat. Because it’s sometimes hard to keep my girlfriends at the top of my priority list, I like to occasionally create a “just because” gift basket. This is truly a way to extend hospitality for your closest friends. Here are some of my favorite ideas: SIX EASY FRIENDSHIP BASKETS Barbecue Basket: Line a basket with a red-and-white tablecloth, fill with plastic corn-on-the-cob holders, a petite citronella candle, red and white napkins, a longhandled barbecue brush, your favorite sauces, your best picnic recipe, bug repellent, and red or blue plastic cups and plates. Beach Basket: Line a basket with a beach towel. Fill the basket with suntan oil, a beach ball, a shovel and pail, moist hand wipes, flip-flops, and a Beach Boys tape. Relaxation Basket: Line a basket with a soft floral bath towel. Fill the basket with fragrant votive candles (try getting the same fragrance as the flowers on your bath towel), add a container of bath salts, bath oils, moisturizers, and a CD or tape of classical music. Garden Variety Basket: Line a basket with small plastic bags. Fill the basket with small gardening tools, bug repellent, gardening gloves, a straw hat, suntan lotion, bulbs, and a six-pack of your friend’s favorite bedding plants. Kids’ Fun Basket: Line a basket with the comics section of the newspaper. Fill the basket with silly putty, face paints, a jar full of lacing beads and string, a funny movie, microwave popcorn, M&Ms, washable paints and sponges, paint smocks, and crazy straws. Favorites Basket: Line a basket with colorful tissue paper. Fill the basket with your favorite things: favorite candy, fruit, gift certificate to favorite music store, a favorite book, and a gift coupon to your favorite ice cream store. Used by permission. Adapted from SIMPLE HOSPITALITY by Jane Jarrell (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Copyright 2005). Click here to purchase her latest release, Simple Hospitality.
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Homeland Hospitality
Jane Jarrell is the author of twelve books, including Secrets of a Mid-Life Mom, and co-author of twenty. A charter member of MOPS National Speakers Bureau, Jane is also a radio and television guest and has written columns for HomeLife, Momsense, SHINE, and Heart at Home magazines. Jane and her husband, Mark, have one daughter.