Open Heart, Open Home: The Hospitable Way to Make Others Feel Welcome & Wanted

This book is amazing! I am not much into entertaining so when our ladies group decided on this book to study, i was not real excited. God really used this to give me a deeper understanding of the biblical principle of hospitality. Karen Mains writes with a transparency that is refreshing. It is more than a How TO book; it is a book that will deepen one's relationship with God.

In my earlier, mostly single, years--a bit younger than the author was when she wrote this book--I practiced a very open hospitality. What made me order this book, after being aware of it for 25 years, is that I was experiencing a current crisis in my own hospitality as a middle-aged woman with a family, grand-family and large community of friends. I didn't like that I had so 'tightened up' with my home. An introduction from the author written in this 1997 revised edition put my current feelings in perspective. She points out that we go through "cycles and seasons in our life of hospitality." Whew, there was hope. I was experiencing a cycle, but I was spiraling down with it. I recognized negative attitudes working against my heart of hospitality that I had to confront. Karen Mains helped me to pinpoint them, in not always so gentle a way. I had internal work to do, which is never pleasant. I have to admit that my house will probably never be as open as it was when I was in my 30s, but I am becoming more relaxed about welcoming guests--particularly unexpected ones--with open arms. The part of the book that helped me the most was to understand the difference between 'entertaining' and 'hospitality'. Over the years, as I increased in creativity in the home and out, much of my relaxed hospitality took on the pressure of 'entertaining'. Mains aptly points out the difference in a way that leads to the type of change I was looking for: being guest centered (serving) instead of self centered (impressing). The book is filled with myriad change-worthy points, both practical and spiritual, that will meet many women exactly 'where they live' to help produce the type of welcome they want their homes to extend.

This is one of my favorite books. It is a WONDERFUL book on hospitality. A few years ago I ran a Ladies' Christian Book Club and tried to order copies of this book for it. I was very upset to be told it was no longer in print and none of my local Christian bookstores had any in stock. I found it "by accident" when I went to see Emilie Barnes and I was so thrilled to see that it is available again as a revised 1998 edition! I wish all women would read this book - it would make such a difference in the world!!! Please buy a copy and finish it in time for the upcoming holidays - I'm sure you'll be glad you did! (Oct. 25, 1998)