1. Never clean before company. Instead, try to clean on schedule and clean up as you go, so you’ll always be ready for unexpected guests.
2. Keep the emphasis on welcome, not performance. The purpose of hospitality is to open your arms to others, not to impress them. It’s better to keep things simple and warm than to go overboard.
3. Do as much ahead of time as possible [when you know you’re having people over]. Plan ahead – even cook ahead. If it feels hard, it means you’re not stewarding time well, not planning or preparing ahead, doing too much and/or not being dependent on God, but on self.
4. Include little touches of beauty. A few candles and a jar of daisies form the yard can make grilled cheese a gourmet delight.
5. Use all the help that comes your way. When someone offers to help, say yes! Many hands make less work and sharing the labor can be a great opportunity for fellowship.
6. Keep records. Keep a few good recipes stored away for planning. To-do lists can help you to organize, so you don’t get overwhelmed.
7. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling!!!! (1 Peter 4:9)

Excerpted and adapted from Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: Finding Intimacy with God in the Busyness of Life by Joanna Weaver (2000) Waterbrook Press: Colorado Springs, p. 188