Simple Hospitality
By Jane Jarrell
W Publishing Group, 2005
A Division of Thomas Nelson Publishers
ISBN: 0-8499-0484-6
Reviewed by Angela Evans
What is hospitality? According to Jane Jarrell, in her book Simple Hospitality, it is more than just being a good hostess or throwing dinner parties. It is not only a Biblical directive, but also the essence of being a 'good' person. Jarrell has found that hospitality is as much a function of emotion as it is visual presentation. In her book, Jarrell shows that hospitality comprises equal parts compassion, grace, creativity, an open and giving spirit, friendliness, as well as the technical skills of organization, cooking, decorating, and the most important skill of all - learning that everything doesn't have to be perfect!
Simple Hospitality is a Christ-centered book that offers practical advice and tips on being hospitable person and on making your home a gathering place for family and friends. Jarrell covers everything from cleaning and organizing your home and planning a holiday dinner, to visiting a sick friend or teaching your children to share. In short, Jarrell examines the full breadth of what hospitality is, and the steps you can take to become a hospitable person.
This pithy book is filled with easy to prepare recipes, handy tips, sage advice, and handy lists, such as Six Ways to Create a Fabulous Foyer and Seven Ways to Have a Successful Party with Kids. Within the pages of this book you'll find advice on decorating, gardening, entertaining, how to simplify your homemaking endeavors, gift giving, and bringing Christ into your home. Jarrell covers a lot of information in a short time, and does a wonderful job at it.
The information in this book is presented in short, easy to read tidbits and you can either read the book straight through or skip around, just reading the sections that are most relevant to your life at the moment. Most important, this book will encourage you and give you a strong foundation upon which to share yourself and your home with others.
What I like most about this book was Jarrell's advice on how to most efficiently organize your house, and your life. Her tips on how to simplify your entertainment endeavors aim more for fun and camaraderie than for perfection. This is a simple concept but one that can be hard to learn. However, Jarrell makes the concept easy to grasp. After reading this book you'll look at the term 'hospitality' in a whole new light and begin to actively strive to incorporating hospitality into all aspects of your life.
