Are you considering making Easter baskets for grown ups?
I thought that I was terrible at hospitality. I believed it was only about entertaining people in my home. This idea of hospitality always filled me with anxiety about my guests noticing my dirt, dust and dog hair.
Jennifer Smith‘s devotional, Wife After God, opened my eyes. I realized that hospitality is actually about making others feel special and loved. It’s about reaching out and encouraging others, just as Christ reaches out and encourages us time and time again.
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. – 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Redefining hospitality
I looked up the definition of “hospitality” on Dictionary.com:
1. the friendly reception and treatment of guests or strangers.
2. the quality or disposition of receiving and treating guests and strangers in a warm, friendly, generous way.
Origin: 1325-75; Middle English hospitalite < Middle French < Latin hospitālitās, equivalent to hospitāli (s) (see hospital) + -tās -ty2
Synonyms: warmth, cordiality, geniality, friendliness.
Have you ever noticed that the word “hospitality” contains the word “hospital”?
I love that because I believe true hospitality is about receiving and caring for others, especially those who need to be uplifted and encouraged, just as a hospital would receive and care for those who need to be healed and mended.
My mom definitely had the gift of hospitality, and, fortunately for me, so does my mother-in-law! She is always making others feel loved with special gifts and acts of service.
Practicing hospitality at Easter
I’m a big believer in Christmas stockings and Easter baskets for grown ups. I think we all need someone to revive our inner child and remind us that we are loved and appreciated from time to time.
Easter is all about celebrating God’s love. What better way to celebrate than by sharing his love with others?
Last year, I started a tradition of expressing gratitude for a few of the special women in my life by gifting them with a basket of Easter goodies.
I will always think of my late stepmom Karen as I do this each year. She graciously received one of my first baskets last April as a small token of my love and appreciation for our budding friendship. Words cannot express how much I miss that loving woman a year later.
When I dropped off a little Easter basket to my sweet friend Marla this morning, she actually returned the favor tenfold because that’s just the kind of loving, hospitable person she is! I left her house with a vase of fresh flowers and gifts for my girls. But the idea is to give selflessly with no expectation of the recipient returning the gesture.
He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” – Luke 14:12-14
With this in mind, I’m thinking of preparing Easter baskets to take to a local women’s shelter or pregnancy resource center next year. God has given me a heart for women and children who are victims of domestic abuse and women facing crisis pregnancies, and I pray that he will continue to show me new ways to bless and encourage them.
How (and why I love) to make Easter baskets for grown ups
Here are a few items that I have included (or thought about including in the future) in my Easter baskets for grown ups. You’ll want to tailor these suggestions to the recipients’ tastes and hobbies, of course:
Flavored teas or coffee
My favorite tea to gift is Yogi Honey Lavender Stress Relief Tea. It’s heavenly.
Small plant or seeds and gardening tools or gloves
This is obviously for the gardeners in your life. I’m blessed to have quite a few in mine!
Chocolate
I love including Justin’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter cups or an assortment of Ghirardelli Squares.
Kitchen towels and hot pads
I’m partial to the pretty lavender and lemon tea towels I bought last year, thanks to my essential oils obsession. But this year I found cute dish towel and hot pad sets at Dollar General, of all places! My favorites say, “Keep Calm and Hop On.” They’re so adorable (and aqua!). I’m going to have to go back and get an extra set for myself.
Gift certificates
Treat them to a pedicure or a hot brew at their favorite coffee shop.
Padfolio or journal and pen
The writers in your life will love a pretty new journal and fancy pen. (Trust me, I know!)
Soy candles
These are the only candles I buy because they’re clean burning. I’ve made my own in glass jars and coffee mugs but it’s a time consuming project you may not want to take on, so store-bought is great, too!
Bath and body items
I especially love homemade sugar scrubs or bath bombs using essential oils, shea butter hand lotion, or goat’s milk soap.
Eye mask
My silk eye mask with lavender and chamomile is a must when I’m having trouble sleeping or have a migraine.
Water bottle or tumbler
I found the cutest BPA-free plastic Mason Jar insulated tumblers with straws at Dollar General.
Book or magazine
May I recommend a sweet and simple daily devotional like my Though I Walk through the Valley: 12 Days in Psalm 23?
What would you want to receive in your Easter basket?
Tell me in the comments 🙂