Pages and Projects {Just Open the Door and All The Colors That I See}

This Pages & Project Wednesday finds me with a couple read & review books from B&H/Lifeway.

The first one is Just Open the Door by Jen Schmidt. I’ve read her blog occasionally at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. Isn’t that a fun name? And so true!!

She’s written this book about hospitality and letting go of perfection and just opening the door to welcome people in. 

If hospitality is your jam or if it’s a hurdle for you, yet one you would like to leap over, these pages and words will be a balm for you, I think. And probably, a bit of a challenge too. Some of it challenges me. I know some of her heart for hospitality lies in situations a bit {and even a BIG bit} out of my box. Because the truth is, I don’t think hospitality in my life is ever going to look as busy as Jen’s does and even reading the book made me feel a little guilty. Then I reminded myself of some things I believe. 

 This is the beauty of each of us and our story and our individuality. My home and hospitality aren’t going to mirror Jen’s. They shouldn’t even. God has a path for Jen and a path for me. I believe we can read Just Open the Door and it will add inspiration to our lives and springboard ideas for us to carry out…….but it won’t look exactly like what Jen does. Does that make sense? I say all this because I too often, find myself struggling with thinking I should probably do this thing or that thing someone else is doing because it looks like such a blessing to others and is a neat idea. This is false. While it’s awesome to do good things and we may do similar things, we will never carbon copy someone else. God did not design us this way. 

AND…….another thing I believe, hospitality shows up in a host of different ways. It comes in opening your door, but it also comes in opening your heart. It may look like taking a friend out for coffee or dropping off dinner at their door. It’s finding the way hospitality flows and fits within our own lives. And I very much believe hospitality within our own walls of home, to the people who live there, my husband and children is of utmost importance. 

Back to the book………. 🙂

Jen weaves in humor and stories and encouragement plus guidelines she’s implemented in her life, home and hospitality. 

The end of each chapter contains a list titled Elevate the Ordinary and contains fun hints, ideas and tips that have worked for Jen. I really loved reading these lists because I love lists and I love seeking inspiring and fun ideas. 

Each chapter also ends with a “Dear Jen” question and answer. These are fun to read, too! 

I liked this quote from Chapter 10 ~ “I don’t have my act together, but I still want to be together.”

Trickled through the book are “Extra Helping” sections and they tell stories about hospitality from the lives of Jen’s parents and brothers.

This book really is a wealth of information and ideas about hospitality! IF you are like me, it may feel a bit overwhelming. I love much about it, but it also did make me feel a little like “I SHOULD be doing all the things.” Circle back to my reminders to myself at the beginning! 🙂 Here’s another antidote I use as well. List the things you do DO. And have done over the years. If you did, you would find yourself with a pretty long list. My personality is bad at reading a book like this and somehow thinking she is doing all the things all the time and she’s not. She doesn’t even imply it in the book. Somehow my nature feels that way about it and it then overwhelms me. 

There are lots of fun ideas and inspirations and lists and stories in Just Open the Door. That’s just my word of warning to anyone who tends toward these feelings like I do! 🙂

Read it. Enjoy it. Garner inspiration. But don’t let it guilt you. Remind yourself to do hospitality the way you do it!

And for the rest of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, read it and have fun!

THIS little book! Isn’t it darling?! Plus, ALL THE COLOR.

Board books are a BEST IDEA EVER.

I loved having a collection of them when my kiddos were little and now I like having a few around for my nieces and nephews and to gift to them and to stick in baby gifts. 

I like the pictures and the sweet rhymes about color on each page.

The book ends with Ecclesiastes 3:11 ~ “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

I think this verse is perfect to go with all the bright colors!

{I have a short post about one favorite color coming soon} 🙂

In other pages and projects news……..Happy Mail! My newest issue of The Magnolia Journal arrived yesterday! I can’t wait to browse through it. It’s also cooled off here and I’ve had windows open and cool air coming in and I am LOVING it! I like hearing the birds and the summer buzz of locusts. My son mowed the yard yesterday and I savored the lawnmower hum. 

I have just finished these two bright green dishcloths and tucked in the yarn ends. 

This bookstack have been my current reads. 

I’m reading through the devotional 100 Days to Brave and re-reading {and laughing} my way through So Close to Amazing and sitting quietly in the pages of Simply Tuesday with Emily P. Freeman again. 

What have you been reading this summer, friends?!

Oh, and it’s August 1st! This means our new Pina flexi is here!!! It’s a pineapple. Pop over here to peek at it!

Have a great day!

{If you’d like to sign up to receive ADG’s Monthly Newsletter Missive, head over here! It’s monthly-ish and a once-a-month thing. It takes time to pause at the end-of-the-month and look back at where we’ve been and celebrate every good day.}

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