Do the words backyard entertaining make you feel like you need to run out and buy a new patio set, a fire pit, and vintage-inspired outdoor string lights before you can invite people over? Think again!

With many gatherings moving back outside during this uptick, this is the perfect time for outdoor living and entertaining, and the simpler, the better.

Here are some tips for being low-key, high-volume hosts this summer.  

…Unlike in February, when our walls can put a limit on hospitality, in the summer, the whole yard is a dining room, and there’s always room for more. Just bring some extra chairs from the shed or the house. A table for dining is really optional, and kids are happier on a picnic blanket anyway. … Ah, sweet summer—no coats, dirt everywhere, and the paper plates go right into the fire pit when the last of the melty ice cream is served. Let summer be your time to relish the glory in everything instead of the perfection.

… When I choose to carve out time with others, I know it will be the best spent time of all; it will bring the richest memories and the most fruit in my walk with fellow believers. I often find encouragement I didn’t even know I desperately needed, or surprise joy in a new closeness with someone unexpected. Time for relationships is part of the refreshment we need in summer, but we must be intentional about making the opportunities to be with others. Offer a place that brings people together, or if you don’t have any outdoor space of your own, be the planner of park and lake gatherings. 

Read the full post here and plan your own outdoor gathering(s) with old friends and new.