Thank you for your comment!! It really is so much about you as the hostess than it is about your apartment. I know we’ve lacked in the “making it a home” feel with decorating often too, but we still try. This post was written in 2014, right before we moved to Texas into a 1300 sq ft townhome (up from the 1200 before… but not by much!) when we only had three young kids. We stayed in that apartment for almost 4 years, until one year ago, March 2018, after we added kid number five into our family! We finally moved into a rental home with about 1750 sq feet, four bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, an office, a garage, and a fenced backyard. It’s amazing!! We love it so much. But, even in our previous apartment we invited a lot of people over into our home, even with my “office” and “homeschool room” in our living room and dining room, even though our dining table still can only fit six people properly. We make do. And I don’t regret having anyone over, ever, even when people, most of the time, never reciprocate (unless we are actually great friends). We see it as an act of service, of fellowship, of friendship, of duty to God, and of love. We invite neighbors, co-workers, friends, acquaintances, church members, and whoever we feel called to invite over, over! In fact, we’ve made it a goal in 2019 to invite at least 1 family/individual over to our home every month, and so far, so good! I know our home is still lacking in decorations and “coziness” or “Hygge” but we hope to be warm and inviting ourselves. We don’t want to put holes into the rental house we will likely be leaving sometime this year (my husband is FINALLY graduating with his PhD this spring!! Can you hear those angels singing?!)

At this point, I think we just have done it enough we don’t think twice about what others will think when they enter into our home. With five kids, it isn’t always spotless (though the kids all have regular chores and we make it a point to clean before company comes over), and it isn’t decorated, but, I dunno. We just do it!

I am glad you’ve enjoyed this article for years. I wrote it for people like you. 🙂 I hope it is encouraging.

I know we are better off than most, but I’m not where I want us to be in life. This is not what I’ve strived for.

I know Nancey. I know. I know that feeling of being tired and feeling trapped in your home all too well. It stinks and you hate it and you want something different. That’s when I read books about people in true poverty or watch things about people who are far less fortunate than me and remind myself that I’m doing darn well compared to a sadly huge percentage of the human population. Living in America, it’s so easy to grow tired of the same old same old surroundings, but it’s worthwhile to strive to find gratitude.

As for the Thanksgiving dinner, well, I can’t tell you what to do about that. I applaud you for doing it for doing it so many years already! (Really, because I don’t cook!) I think it’s okay to ask a different person to host this year, offering to bring food, etc. Hosting is a ton of work, especially in those small apartment kitchens, cooking a lot of food. I encourage you to pray about it and keep discussing it with your husband and friends and decide what is best for this year.

I wait for people to invite us too but most don’t but I do go on and invite everyone over just because… Already pinned you… sharing you on my page too.

Thanks for commenting Kathleen! I agree that if my friends do mind it perhaps they are concerned about the wrong things. For sure.