Entertaining With Purpose

I used to get very worked up when we were expecting company. Back in the early days of our marriage it was fairly common for my husband to call on the way home from work and tell me that he had a coworker in the car with him for dinner. I would panic, start mopping, throw all the mail in a drawer and all the laundry in the closet.
Over the years I have become a bit more relaxed in my entertaining style. I've learned tricks to freshen up the house in a pinch but I've also stopped stressing so much about what people think of my home. I go more with the "clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy" motto.
I've also learned to create quick and easy snacks and meals that require little prep and are both good for the body and soul. I've learned how to stretch pasta and meat sauces to extend the serving size by one and I know that I glass of nice, red wine will soothe the soul and relieve nerves of any guest. Or hostess.
I now know that entertaining is more about making people feel loved and welcomed than serving the perfect pork chop. I know that an amusing story and a listening ear go farther that a perfectly mopped floor. I understand that eye contact and hugs at the door are far more welcoming than a vanilla scented candle. (Although I still burn candles!)
I want my home to be a place of comfort and peace; a place where people can come to sit and breathe. I hope that when people enter here they feel loved and known and cared for. I want my food to nourish their soul along with their body and I pray that our conversation warms the heart.
God has placed it on my heart lately to be more intentional with my entertaining - that it not be just about having fun but about helping hearts heal. I also want to help others get over the small pieces of anxiety that keep them from opening their own homes to others.  I'm going to accomplish this by dedicating more of my reading and writing towards the subject of entertaining with purpose. I'll never be Martha Stewart - nor do I want to be. My goal is to simply relax more, love deeper, and share my home with others.