Planning for Guests-Series
Meal Plan
Everyone enjoys some moments with
beloved ones. We spend most of our time with our family but once in a while the
joy of having visitors is something we look forward to. I personally take it as
an honor when someone leaves their special home just to be with us. Throughout
my life, I have learnt that planning is a day to day tool that is essential in
oiling what we do.
One of the things that I take
pride in is receiving my visitors or guests and one of the greatest things that
makes receiving them an enjoyable experience for me is prior planning and
organizing. I plan around the great Shona (my native language) proverb (Ukama igasva huno zadziswa nekudya-
relationships are reinforced at the table)- Meal plan.
Meal plan is a great way to enjoy
your visitors. I find it easier to plan when I know the time frame I will be
hosting visitors. When visitors go beyond a week, I make sure the first week is
planned and the period beyond that my guests will enjoy our family routine but
still seasoned with our warm welcome.
Below are the benefits that
accrues with Meal Planning
· Resources:
Planning enables you to work within available resources. It eradicates the
stress of having to figure out what to cook and it allows you to plan around
what you can afford.
Remember that receiving
your visitors and making them feel at home has nothing to do with money/riches
but has all to do with the heart. You can play around with what you have to
make your guests feel at home. It's the heart's attitude that counts.
· Confidence:
planning for your guests enables you to be confident and in control of your
household. It makes everyone's work easier from your helpers to every family
member. I personally find it creating a cohesion whereby family members
volunteer their best. In the past two months I was carried away with joy when
our 12 year old boy woke up earlier to wash our guests' car followed by ours.
When I asked him why he washed the guest car first, he replied he knew the
guests were leaving in the morning.
· Empowerment:
having to do meal plans empowers you with a number of choices to make. You will
put effort to put the first meal plan, second and third. What follows
thereafter is just rescheduling of what
you already have. Usually when I do a meal plan for my guest I write the name
of the guest and the meal plan, print it out and stick it on a hidden place where
my guest will not access it. This means that if you happen to have the same
guests sometime in the future, you will not give them the same meal plan. You
will look into your meal plans file or saved files on your computer and choose
something different.
· Control:
It results in a well organized environment that brings out the beauty of the
home and the host. The host is stress free and has energy to attend to her
guests. I attach this to a fraction of the Proverbs 31 Woman. Her husband is
confident and trust her with the management of the affairs of their household.
Below is an
example of a two day Meal Plan
Friday
|
Saturday
|
Sunday
|
Monday
|
Breakfast
Cornflakes
Eggs
Mince
meat
Bread
Sliced
tomato
|
Breakfast
Cornflakes
Cake
slice
Fruit
(available fruit is ok)
Tea
|
Breakfast
Cornflakes
Egg
Sausage
Fruit
salad
Guests
Leave
|
|
Lunch
Starch: Potatoes in soup
Meat: Fish
Vegetable: cabbage salad
Desert: Mango/ papaya
|
Lunch
Starch: Bread Rolls
Stir
fry vegetable
Cheese
Juice
Tea
|
||
Dinner
Starch: Rice
Meat: Tinashe's chicken, Sausage
Vegetable: Lettuce salad
Desert-Halloween cake
Guests
arrive
|
Dinner
Starter-Butternut soup
Starch: Spaghetti
Meat: Roast Steak, Pork chops
Steamed
vegetable
Desert- Fruit Salad
|
Dinner
Starch: Sadza
Meat: Traditional chicken, Beef stew
Vegetable: Spinach
Dessert- Malva pudding
|
My encouragement for hosting my guest is
rooted in the word of God.
Hebrews
13:2 NIV
Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by
so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hebrews
13:2 Bible in Basic English (BBE)
Take care to keep your house open: because in
this way some have had angels as their guests, without being conscious of it.
Be blessed
Naomi Chitambira
