Leslie Verner connects to the reader inviting us along in both spirit and in real life to engage meaningfully with those around us. It’s interesting to me that this book came out right before the COVID-19 pandemic began. For me personally, I also was about to give birth to my child and enter the realm of parenting, which I had previously not been in. Verner’s words inspired me to reach out and make connection a priority. This is hard for me as an introvert, but the power of connection is for ALL, introverts, extroverts, ambiverts alike! Thank you to Leslie Verner and team for providing this book ahead of time to read & review through NetGalley. *All thoughts are my own*

Leslie's ability to share her own story of welcome along with biblical insight and stories is inspiring. This is a book for church communities to engage with as they seek to be better at hospitality and engaging with their wider communities

In a world where we're more connected than ever, the majority of people feel alone. How can that be? In this book, Leslie reminds us of the importance of hospitality, especially in our artificially connected world. She also points out that hospitality doesn't mean perfection, it just means loving other people well. I especially love the section she includes at the back of the book with ideas of simple ways to show hospitality. For anyone who wants to create a stronger community and wants to love others well, this book is for you!

"You do hospitality anyway, God seemed to say. You do it in the stress and the mess and the raisins smashed into the carpet. You do it when you’re hollering over three preschoolers telling knock-knock jokes with no punchline and talking about poop and pee at the table. You do it when your children throw tantrums and blatantly disobey you in front of your friends and family. You do it because doing life together means not hiding behind closed doors but inviting people into your actual life. And your actual life is not pretty. It’s not organized, perfect, or pristine. You do it because I am a hospitable, generous God and because Jesus was a model of serving despite inconveniences. You invite because I invited you, and you welcome because the Bible says you may well bring angels in disguise into your home. And you invite because when you invite, you are inviting me." ~ Leslie Verner

Leslie has written a lovely book a book of how to have community an open door a place at the table to welcome strangers who will become friends.I will be using her helpful ideas to make my home a welcoming place.#netgalley#invited

This is an absolutely superb book for anyone who wants to be thoughtful about the Christian value of hospitality. Verner has lived abroad for many years and changed cities multiple times, and I really appreciated her cross-cultural insights. But where this book excels is in combining both insight and motivation. It’s very easy to turn hospitality books into a ‘here’s how to make your house beautiful and always be serene no matter how many people are round’ instruction manual, or a condemnatory, ‘Jesus was hospitable and traditional cultures don’t moan when random people stay forever, so you don’t deserve boundaries.’ Verner addresses these issues yet avoids these pitfalls, and what emerges is a nuanced, yet wonderfully motivational and practical book on how to offer hospitality in a way that fits with the person God made you to be, in the situation you’re in. This is really very good – and very accessible too – highly recommended.

When we moved to Mid-Coast Maine, we set ourselves a goal of inviting someone new to dinner every month. We gathered around crock pot roasts, mashed potatoes, home-canned green beans, and usually a pie for dessert. The elderly couple we invited for August was a delight: we talked books, they filled us in on local culture, and they were good sports about eating my blueberry pie that “didn’t quite set,” landing in a soupy pile on all our plates. I realized the extent of their graciousness, when I learned later, quite by accident, that she was one of the judges for the Union Fair blueberry pie contest.

The visit was not a contest, and my pie was not being judged on that stuffy August evening–and, thankfully, neither was I. We had invited those sweet people into our home and into our lives and hearts and a warm friendship took root. In Invited: The Power of Hospitality in an Age of Loneliness, Leslie Verner describes an invitation as an “opening in the window of relationship, granting intimacy permission to drift in like a breeze into a stuffy room.” (174)

Verner describes herself as a “goer learning how to stay,” and so the practice of hospitality for her was learned, initially, as a guest in cultures where she was the stranger and the recipient of a warm welcome and a place around the table. Now, called to “do the hard work of staying,” (335) she writes about her own learning curve around the discipline of deepening relationships through a life time of invitations offered from one zip code.

Invited to Fight Loneliness
Loneliness has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, and this has been fed by our cultural tendency toward privacy and independence. Our addiction to and dependence upon technology has only increased our isolation, to the point where even those who attend church regularly admit to feelings of loneliness. An intentional practice of hospitality fights the default.

Verner argues that our churches “don’t need more programs or plans for living missionally in the world; we just need to invite others to walk with us in our right-now life.”

Invited to Build Community
Jesus modeled an open-hearted practice of welcome, and his unruly disciple Peter must have been taking notes: “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling,” he urged. Whether within our four walls or simply in the way we land in a pew on Sunday morning, it’s clear that the believer is called to a life of community building and our “neighbor” could be just about anyone. Verner has supplied an extensive list of ideas for uncomplicated hospitality in neighborhood, church, and community contexts along with some good general tips for anyone needing additional reassurance.

The practice of missional hospitality means that we begin living like “invited ones” ourselves, for God showed his heart toward us in the early pages of Genesis, inviting Adam out of the bushes and back into relationship. And he never stops inviting, holding out frosty glasses of Life to “whoever desires” and whoever will “take the water of life freely.” The power of hospitality in an age of loneliness is sturdy evidence of God at work in his people. Our invitation is an open window to Truth.

Many thanks to Herald Press for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which, of course, is offered freely and with honesty.

Leslie writes in such a relatable way. Her experiences abroad have given her a perspective that is hard to match in the U.S. She gives so many wonderful examples of how to offer hospitality - there is really no excuse for any of us to be afraid of inviting others into our homes and lives!

In Invited, Leslie Verner offers us a two-way invitation. First, we are invited into our right here, everyday life with the same level of purpose and calling as an overseas missionary or someone in fulltime ministry. We are invited to see the God-given purpose, belonging, and invitation to be in community. Right now.

“And then it hit me. The Samaritan didn’t need to change roads to encounter God. He was walking his road, minding his business, when God brought someone in his path. And then he had a choice: notice and do something, or ignore and move along.”

Invited, page 64
Second, we are invited to invite those around us right into this right now life. Not some perfect, next-level life when we finally get the drapes hung right or learn how to cook. But this life; where the kids underfoot and a lack of time, significant floorspace or measurable energy to spare on hospitality might slow us down. It doesn’t look the same for everyone, but there’s always opportunity to be a part of a community in some shape or from.

It’s easier and probably harder than it may seem.

But I really appreciated the way Verner seamlessly takes her own experiences to invite us to a deeper way of thinking about hospitality, christianity, neighbors, friends, and our own experiences of all those things.

Highlights for me:

Verner’s multicultural perspective
The discussion about staying put, the challenges of building a community or joining one, and being open to all the different people around you, not just the ones like you.
With three little kids close to the ages of my own, the author has many of the same challenges when it comes to inviting people over. And she just gets it.
If I had to choose a favorite section, it would be the introduction where all the kids go nuts when they’re trying to host friends for food. So relatable. And hilarious, as it is anytime it’s someone else’s kids.
Extra goodness and wisdom:

“What if resistance to selling out actually looks like staying put?” p48
“Limits are okay. This, too, is hospitality.” p113
“How would helping just one person transform our families, jails, streets, churches, public schools, and hospitals? Instead, we outsource hospitality, and the church misses out on the wisdom of those who have suffered.” p126
“Going through the motions can often drag our stubborn hearts along for the ride.” p144
“We can’t pour into people from an empty well. Our reservoirs must have a sustainable Source.” p 148
“Children are strangers whom we have to get to know.” Nouwen 151

In her new book, Invited: The Power of Hospitality in an Age of Loneliness, Leslie outlines many of the misconceptions we have about hospitality which cause us to stop short of investing ourselves in other people. Filled with encouraging words, great stories, and some simple ideas to replicate, Invited is just the book we need to encourage us to build community right where we live. I loved this book and can't recommend it enough. So many pages are dog eared, highlighted and notes written in the margin so that I can revisit Leslie's advice. You need this book and will be inspired to reach out and experience meeting God in new ways through other people.

This book is written with integrity and curiosity, it speaks with the same hospitable spirit that it is seeking to encourage in the lives of readers. It’s not a formulaic how-to book, rather, it’s a reflection on the ways hospitality can change our lives, and it offers a gentle critique of the ways American Christians all-too frequently keep to ourselves instead of inviting. (Verner quotes a few examples of this, such as a statistic that 75% of international students will never enter an American home during their studies in the U.S.)

Invited makes a pleasant space for us to imagine different ways we can reach out to those around us in a spirit of hospitality and relationship. In this book, the author encourages us to think of ways we can live spaciously and graciously in the places where we already live.

“Strangers are never strange to God. And they are only strange because we don’t know them yet.”

Hospitality has become a hot topic lately. We spend so much time on our phones and in social medial that I think we forget how to be with people. I enjoyed this book by Leslie Verner, simple concepts on hospitality, not only giving but receiving as well. We have to put ourselves out there and for some of us that can be very hard. Leslie tells stories from her own life and experience in the book and it's easy to see myself in those stories also. I wish I was more extroverted and this book has given me ideas about how to begin stepping out and forming a community with others in life.

“If we are called, chosen, and invited by God, then we call, choose, and invite.”
Invited by Leslie Verner
Leslie shares that hospitality is more than just sharing meals with others; it’s getting out out of your comfort zone and inviting others, whether it’s your neighbors or total strangers from other countries, and sharing a part of your life with them.

I received an e-copy advance Reader Copy from NetGalley for a review. All opinions are my own.

If you’ve read my book or this blog, you’ll note that I’ve been sharing a lot about hospitality, a practice that leads to joy and real community. When I learned that Leslie Verner of the blog Scraping Raisins was coming out with a book just focused on hospitality, I jumped at the chance to spread the word about it. In Invited: The Power of Hospitality in an Age of Loneliness, Leslie shares what she has learned about hospitality through her own travels to different countries and her experiences with different cultures. She understands hospitality the way I do: “less about entertaining and more about becoming a good neighbor.”

If you are exploring ideas for how to open your doors to hospitality, but are hesitant or even afraid, this is the book for you. So many of us hesitate to open our doors because we are afraid that people might see us for who we really are. But as Verner writes, “You do it because doing life together means not hiding behind closed doors but inviting people into your actual life. And your actual life is not pretty. It’s not organized, perfect or pristine.” Mine is not any of those things at any time, but the invited guest rarely needs “organized, perfect, or pristine.” The guest needs community, connection, love – and so do I.

In experiencing the hospitality of others in different cultures, Verner is able to see a clear challenge to hospitality in the West. “…Individualism is the silent, lethal undertow luring the North American church away from the shore of genuine community.” This individualism, which is a cultural exception in an otherwise “collectivist” world, can often cause us to leave little room not just in our homes but in our time and our schedules for hospitality and authentic connection with our neighbors.

Verner shares some beautiful stories, both of inviting and being invited, during her life abroad in China, but moreso in her everyday life in Colorado with young children, where she learns more about the importance of staying where she is and investing in the community she’s in. In my book I write about finding out who is traveling alone, and in Invited, Verner points out an astounding statistic – seventy-five percent of international students in the United States will never enter an American home during all the years of their study! I’m already starting to think about all the international students I encountered while tutoring at a nearby university, and what a visit in a home would mean for them.

Verner’s book opened my eyes to another perspective I will be thinking about for a while: hospitality towards my own children. She points out that “Our children live with us temporarily until they find their home in the world. Do I show them the same respect and hospitality I show non-family members?” I haven’t considered this perspective on children before, but it’s a beautiful one. When we practice hospitality, our homes need to be welcoming places to our children first and foremost so that they can be welcoming places for others.

I absolutely loved this book. For an introvert like me that longs to live and love hospitality, the stories and tips really hit home. This book is great for those who live with in an open-door home and those who aspire to!

As I prepare to move into my new house, creating spaces and opportunities for inviting people in is on my mind. I love to have people in my space where I can cook and care for them. This book focuses on the biblical principle of hospitality and how we are called to live in community with those around us. One of my favorite quotes from the book says: “Contact with other humans is the goal; connection is the calling.” Leslie shares various experiences in the book where she has invited people in, even when it’s uncomfortable to put yourself out there. I was inspired by her open hands and open home attitude and hope to adopt that in my new home.

Leslie has written a grace-filled, gentle, encouraging book that makes me want to live a more inviting life. Her personal stories contain candor and humor and lessons learned. I'm so excited to read this book with a group!

Invited is a personally challenging and inspirational book about Christian hospitality and welcoming those who are different than us. Throughout the book, Leslie uses many personal examples of what she has learned through her struggle to grow in this area, during her times in China, Chicago, and then Colorado. I just moved to a new house in a new state three weeks ago, and Invited has been very timely for my move as I seek to get to know my new neighbors. This book is a pleasant and fast read and I highly recommend it!

The word hospitality can make our hearts race, especially when we think it involves cleaning a house and preparing a perfect meal. In her thoughtful book, Invited: The Power of Hospitality in an Age of Loneliness, Leslie debunks that notion and shows readers how to think differently about hospitality. A mother of three small children, she talks about her journey to pursue hospitality by inviting people to do life together, even in “the stress and the mess and the raisins smashed into the carpet.” Leslie doesn’t preach or lay on the guilt; instead, she asks thoughtful questions of herself and writes of her own challenges to respond to God’s reminder: “I invited you. Now invite.”

If you love to practice hospitality, this book will give you courage to keep inviting. If you struggle to practice hospitality, this book will help you remember that at its core, hospitality means, “Come and join me in my mess.”

Study questions at the end make this a great choice for a book group study.