Note: As my latest book, Less of More, has been released, I’ve encountered a similar question/comment regarding minimalism. This new book has a minimalist-style cover and sounds like it could address the topic. It does not. I was careful not to include it in the book for some of the reasons outlined here (it’s a trend I desire my book to outlast) and not here (I kind of find it boring).
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Pastors are invited into homes. It might be a dinner scheduled many weeks out or it might be directly after a death or diagnosis, where my arrival is entirely unplanned. No matter the reason, as a pastor, you see a lot of homes.
The tables turn, however, as my wife and I host people about twice a week in our house as well. There’s a level of tidying up to be done before the guests arrive that causes me a bit of anxiety as I try to guess the various ways they might judge the state of my house.
About an hour before people come over, I’ve caught myself overanalyzing every corner of the rooms the guests will enter: should I pull the oven out and sweep behind it? My plates are 9 years old and were our wedding gifts…will anyone notice? My house usually has books shoved into corners, will someone recommend I watch Marie Kondo?
