5 Hygge Way to Practice Christian Hospitality
Like seemingly anyone who has been on Pinterest in the past few months, I’ve become slightly obsessed with the “hygge” trend. Hygge is a Danish word encompassing the mindful, cozy life. It’s about intentionally setting an atmosphere focused around simple joys.
As a simple joy person, I couldn’t love this trend more. I prefer real books over tablets. Candles make me smile and, even though I regularly kill them, I enjoy having plants in the room. Rarely am I found without a hot beverage of some sort, usually either tea or coffee, in hand. I think I was born to be a hygge person.
“But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands” – Thessalonians 4:10-11, ESV.
I love hygge. It epitomizes in so many ways what it means to live the quiet, simple life. Focusing on what you have been given and savoring each and every moment of it brings such joy. As believers, we live our lives not isolated, but in community.
Hygge epitomizes in so many ways what it means to live the quiet, simple life. Click To TweetThis call to live our lives out in community is a call to pull others into our lives, to open our doors just as we are, and let friends just do life with us.
So if I am sharing my life with others, what would hygge hospitality look like?
1) Reading the Bible Together
Like not the phone Bible, but break out the actual book and read aloud together. We’ve lost the art of sharing a book communally and opted for the television. Television is consumed, books are engaged with. Be engaged with those around you by embracing the commonality we have in God’s word.
Open up the Bible before or after dinner. Sit around the table and discuss what Isaiah wrote. Share which psalm speaks to your soul. Encourage each other in Christian living. Pass it along and each read a bit.
It might feel awkward at first, but it will blossom into something beautiful. Reading the word of God never returns void. And there is something special about pulling out an actual book and sharing it together.
2) Talk Over a Warm Beverage
We open our hearts up when we have unhurried time. Especially as winter is approaching, start prepping your tea and coffee collections. It is an inexpensive way to serve your friends. Warm beverages and hygge go together like peanut butter and jelly. Break out your pretty teacups and make it special. Instead of the everyday coffee mug, give your friend the gift of sipping out of your favorite mug or china teacups. It makes everything so special and delightful.
A friend once told me that he wasn’t sure if he loved coffee or the ritual of coffee. There is something special about the ritual of hot beverages. They take us back to simpler times and allow us to calm and stop. The space between sips is naturally filled with words. Enjoy this time. Cultivate lovely conversation.
3) Lite a Candle
When you have a friend over for coffee or a meal, lite a candle. Something about the little fire signifies that this is special, unhurried time. It reminds us of fancy meals and chapels filled with prayers. Candles are a marker. It shows that this time is set apart for its purpose. Signifying this to your guests, showing them they have your attention and your time, opens up your home and is a way of showing them that you’re ready to be the Mary who sits and listens, not the Martha preoccupied with the busyness of life.
Putting our guests first, trying to anticipate their needs, it shows them that they are valued and loved in our home. Click To Tweet4) Anticipate How to Make Your Friends Comfortable
Think ahead about what your friends might need to be cozy. Have a basket of blankets ready for movie night, so they don’t need to ask for a blanket or freeze. Put a few extra pillows on the guest bed. Have clean, fresh towels ready to do. Bake something easy and delicious ahead of time that you can enjoy over a leisurely breakfast with coffee. This is such a wonderful way to live out the call to think of others more highly than ourselves. Putting our guests first, trying to anticipate their needs, it shows them that they are valued and loved in our home.
5) Pull Out the Board Games
This is a win/win because it not only creates a fun, nostalgic environment but it also tends to eliminate the use of smartphones. When you’re playing a board game, it’s hard to focus on a screen. Some of my favorite memories have been at the table playing Bananagrams or Trivial Pursuit. When you pull out an old-school game, it takes everyone on a trip down memory lane and creates opportunities for all sorts of wonderful conversations about childhood memories. Use these moments to engage with old memories and to create new ones with friends.
God has created each season with unique purpose, let’s make sure we use this one to its full potential. Click To TweetAs winter approaches, let’s get cozy. Let’s take this slow, mundane time and turn it into something beautiful. Instead of complaining about the snow to come, let’s cherish the plans we have for coffee with friends around the fire. Let’s plan soup potlucks and snow days full of board games. God has created each season with unique purpose, let’s make sure we use this one to its full potential.
If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy:
My Hygge + Faith Morning Routine
How is Jesus Inviting You to be Hospitable?
Hospitality Isn’t An Option, It’s A Command: 5 Ways to Practice Hospitality
The Grace in Open Door Hospitality
The Comments
Madison
This is everything I’ve always wanted to be able to put into words! ❤️ Love love love this so much.
candy
This is something I believe that has always been in my nature. Love books over tablet, writing letter or email, having a good conversation with my husband. Reading scriptures together as well as praying together.
Tawni
Oh gosh I just LOVE these ideas! I’m absolutely pro-Hygge, and most of my friends are too, so these are perfect ideas for hosting get-togethers this season! Thank you for sharing. xo
Sheri Traxler
Thank you for helping me to relax. Seriously, just reading this post slowed me down inside. The other thing you gave me was permission to have people over just for tea. We entertain seldom, because I love the big to-do’s. But I can’t do the big fancy stuff but maybe once/year. However, coffee/tea and a piece of dark chocolate – yep. I could savor that more often.
Sarah
This is so lovely. I’ve just recently heard about Hygge and I just love it so much. It is me to a tee. The pictures really bring me into that wonderful, cozy feeling. 🙂
katie braswell
I never knew this had a term!! I love this! Our home fits pretty perfectly into the Hygge category, but now I know how to research it! I can’t wait to dig in some more!
Katie F.
I’ve always rented rooms in other people’s houses so I don’t usually get to host people very much. However, what I like to do is buy a $10 gift to Starbucks and then invite a friend with it to have coffee with me. I’ll usually bring scrabble or another game we can play but this convinced me that I should bring my Bible too. I have to gift people hygge more than I can give it in my home but I still love it!
Rebecca | everydaytreks
Katie F.I just saw your comment and had to say, I Love the idea of being Scrabble to Starbucks! I have never thought of that. I know exactly who to invite for some tea and a game. Thanks!
Joy DeKok
I LOVE this! It’s my goal (at almost 60!) to live an intentionally gentle life. This fits right into my heart’s desire! Thank you!
Tammy
Joy DeKokAgree!!
Kori
Love this post!! I am obsessed with the trend toward simplicity in hospitality! Thanks for posting!!
Mary Leigh
Love this!! Board games are easy to forget about, but can be great fun. The thing I love about hospitality is that it doesn’t have to be fancy. You just have to be willing to let others get in the mess and live life with you.
Thank you for sharing this!
Kaitlin Garrison
Oh my goodness, I’ve never heard of Hygge before, but after your post, IM ALL IN! All of these things speak to what my heart really loves. I think I really want to be this person but I’ve been lazy! Thank you for this awesome post and such good examples. I can’t wait to try them!! 🙂
Regina Troutman
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INSIGHT AND HONESTY
ITS NOT EASY TO ADMIT YOUR NOT THE PERFECT CHRISTIAN. WHEN I READ YOUR COLUMN IT TOOK ME TO A SONG BY MARVIN WINANS, “YOU JUST DONT WANNA KNOW”
When you get a chance listen to it..
Sue
Love this. I light a candle even with toast and coffee. Great post and lovely reminders.
Cathy
This is a great read. I love how you combine hygge living with Gospel priorities!
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Rebecca | everydaytreks
I will admit to being one of the people who discovered Hygge through Pinterest. And after doing so falling in love with it. I think it is my natural state of being all year, not only in winter. Perhaps it is my Scandinavian background coming through. My family is constantly having small gatherings. Ending our meals sharing a hot beverage, and playing a dice game. I love it. I also love having a name from it.
Your tips are wonderful! The way you describe Hygge is spot on. I felt like I should curl up with a cup of tea and my knit blanket while I wait for cinnamon rolls to bake and friends to arrive.
Thank you for sharing!
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candy
Didn’t know what this word meant but we have been applying this for years. Don’t think it is just for christians but for everyone to work on, share and enjoy. Let us bring more people together.
Alexandra
Love this post and will immediately pin it! And thanks for the gentle reminder from Paul in 1 Thessalonians to aspire to live quietly.
Jenny Thompson
There’s just something about Board Game night that always bring my friends and I closer together. It’s so nice to let go of all life’s worries and play a little Cranium 🙂
suzanne
LOVE all of this! There’s nothing like connecting over a cup of coffee and having laughs with board games.
Lauren
Love this post about hospitality! I want to make my home a place for friends and family to come and enjoy!
Lauren
chakramou
LaurenLovely post, so reminiscent of the simpler pleasures of life.
Jennifer
Love this! It’s really great to see how compatible a modern trend is with Christianity. People think you can either live your faith in a crazy cave or be out in the real world with no faith at all… but it’s just silly! Excellent post on showing the harmony between loving and living your faith in the world we share today. Thanks for this!
TheThinPlace
JenniferI love it! We are in the world and need to utilize what’s around us. I think hygge is a gift from God too and, if I can use it for His glory, I will.