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Publisher: Thomas Nelson (October 18, 2022)
Hardcover: 208 pages
GATHER AND GIVE by Amy Nelson Hannon (@eunamaes) and published by @thomasnelson is the perfect read for this coming season! This book is about placing value on connection over perfection, people more than presentation, and devotion over deeds.
Now more than ever, the world is hungry to gather and thirsty for connection.
Many of us wish to share a meal, share our faith, and share our lives with others. We want to open our home to friends and neighbors for the sake of meaningful community, but we’re overwhelmed with hospitality hang-ups. How do I extend an invitation? What will they think of my house or the food? Our welcome has been influenced by the messages of the world that tell us hospitality is about our ability to be, host, live, and cook a certain way.
In Gather & Give, Amy Hannon inspires you to embrace the simple hospitality of the Bible that values connection more than perfection and people more than presentation. Amy shares scriptural principles and practical ideas to make everyday hospitality a natural, joy-filled part of your life. You will feel encouraged and equipped to view your home as:
a holy wellspring of welcome to offer hope to a weary world;
a strategic springboard for ministering to those around you; and
the perfect platform for influencing others for Christ.
Find freedom in knowing that the hospitality of the Bible is uncomplicated and effortless, that a welcome can be used by God to share His love and hope with the world, and that there is abounding joy in following the Lord in His hospitality command. Whether preparing shrimp and grits for a crowd or picking up barbecue with new neighbors, you can invite with intention, plate with purpose, and love others well.
My Thoughts
This world is longing to gather and thirst for connection more than ever. I loved that this book offers suggestions, encouragement, and practical tips for gathering and giving. I loved all the recipes too. When I was a prodigal lost in my confusion and sin, the hand that showed me the love of Jesus and guided me home was from a hand of hospitality. I genuinely believe you can minister to those around you and draw people to the heart of Christ Jesus by loving others well. I still remember the day I had no food or milk to feed my babies and didn’t know how to escape the hopeless domestic violence situation I was in. I had prayed for milk, and an elderly couple from church showed up with milk and a few bags of groceries. They didn’t preach at me or tell me I was in sin but showed me the love of Jesus by giving what the Lord had placed on their hearts (an answer to my prayer). That small act of hospitality showed me that Jesus saw me and would help me out of my situation little by little as I trusted Him. It gave me hope in the darkness and showed me that even when I felt invisible, I was not. Even though I felt like I was drowning, the hospitality of others was the hand of Jesus Christ meeting me right where I was and pulling me up and out. Eventually, I ended up out of that situation with the Lord’s help, and I still remember the acts of hospitality the couple offered me in various ways to show me that I was loved and not forgotten. I enjoyed reading this book and the food for thought at the end of each chapter.
Amy Nelson Hannon is a preacher’s wife, a mom of three, and the woman behind an influential and expansive hospitality brand. She owns Euna Mae’s, a one-of-a-kind kitchen shop and gathering room named after her grandmother that is a special place to locals and has become a destination for many near and far. In addition to her brick-and-mortar store, Amy is the heart of a broad media platform that has included a daily cooking show on Northwest Arkansas’ NBC affiliate, a food blog, a cookbook, partnerships with national brands, and engaging social media. Amy uses every opportunity to share a message of simple, biblical hospitality.
Amy’s infectious personality and love for Jesus and the table are inspiring households from coast to coast to embrace the message of intentional kitchening based on 1 Peter 4:8-11.
8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithfulstewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
