Emily Belle Freeman - The Gathering Home: Creating a Refuge of Goodness and Joy

All photographs Jessica Kettle

Book design Deseret Book Company

Book cover and interior design by Brooke Baird Williams

2020 Emily Belle Freeman LC; Jessica Kettle; and Katie Wilson Hughes

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, Deseret Book Company, at permissions@deseretbook.com or PO Box 30178, Salt Lake City, Utah 84130. This work is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The views expressed herein are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church or of Deseret Book Company.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

(CIP data on file)

ISBN 978-1-62972-822-3

eISBN 978-1-64933-023-9 (eBook)

Printed in China

RR Donnelley, Dongguan, China

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

to jeanne kesler, valerie hawkins, bonnie freeman, and my own
dear mom, who taught me the beautiful way of welcoming in.

Emily

to my mom, becky, who continually shows me what it means
to have a gathering home and a gathering heart, and whose
table always has room for one more.

Jess

to my mother, gayle, who lived and taught the true
art of gathering.

Katie

Contents

Gathering In

Every so often we are given the invitation to slow down. Time stands still, and we see the smiles and hear the easy conversation and the sound of sweet laughter. These are our people, our moments, our memories.

There is an art of gatheringof welcoming in. Those moments of stillness become sacred when we spend time making people feel special and cared for. Gathering is familiar traditions handed down: fresh flowers on the table, homemade cookies on the counter, the candle lit just before scripture study begins. Its the little things, the thoughtfulness and attention to detail, that make memories meaningful.

Gathering doesnt require a holiday. It can be inviting friends over for lunch or a new family over for dessert. Hot chocolate for breakfast on the first day of snow. Spontaneous stargazing on the back lawn at midnight.

Gathering is inviting people into your life, instilling a sense of belonging. It is an expression of love. For us, bringing people together is an art we are passionate about. The art of hospitality. The essence of gathering in.

Who We Are

Emily Belle Freeman

What you need to know first and foremost about me is that I love to gather people. I am not great at details or decorations, but I find an abundance of happiness in loving well. I believe there is a strength that comes when we gather together that cant be found in any other way. It is not the particulars of the celebration that matter to me; its all about the people. Perhaps the best illustration of this is the year our family celebrated Christmas in March because it was the only weekend the whole family could be together. I put up the tree and the stockings. We played Christmas music and served our favorite holiday foods. We wore Christmas pajamas and celebrated just the way we would have in December. It is one of my favorite memories because everyone was there. My five children will tell you that focusing on people and finding the meaning behind the moment are far more important to me than sticking to a date on a calendar. Gathering is all about bringing in the sacred. It is inviting the Spirit of Christ into the everyday and the seasonal celebrations of our story. My greatest belief about gathering is that it is a tool that enables us to create a Christ-centered home where everyone is welcome.

Create a Christ-centered home where everyone is welcome

Jessica Kettle

Meet my friend Jess. She is a professional photographer, editor, and creator of Jess Kettle Presets. Her work has taken her everywhere, from the Ozarks to Aruba, and she has been featured on Martha Stewarts website and in Good Housekeeping and The Knot magazines. She has four kids and loves girls nights out and spending summer days at the lake with her family. As a working mom, Jess often finds herself second-guessing how she spends the hours and minutes of her days. She knows what it feels like to be spread too thin and to set overwhelming expectations for herself. Jess used to be a party perfectionist who would obsess over every detail of a special event or gathering, including the perfect menu, the most unusual party theme, and picture-worthy dcor. As it turned out, that perfectionism brought more stress than joy for her and her family. Her gathering style has evolved over time as she has settled into motherhood and accepted the fact that her family cares more about being together than about a picture-perfect event. She goes big for birthdays, Halloween, and Christmas but still sends invitations via text message. She has become the queen of last-minute, quickly planned soirees. You wont find elaborate tablescapes or mantel decorations every month of the year at her house, but you will find Sunday dinners with neighbors, late evenings filled with laughter as everyone squishes together on family-room couches, and people gathered around the kitchen counter in meaningful conversation. Her greatest belief about gathering is that we can choose connection over perfection.

Choose connection over perfection

Katie Wilson Hughes

I cant wait to introduce you to my friend Katie. She is someone I admire because no one creates the magic of gathering in the same way she does. Her love for gathering was passed down through the women in her family, and the art of hospitality was taught to her by her mother. Katie believes that love is in the little things. She loves to send the invite, beautify the space, create the visual, and magnify the moment down to the last detail. She believes that putting energy, time, and thought into a gathering makes people feel thought of, remembered, and known. For her, the greatest expression of love is turning an ordinary space into something extraordinary. She has a gift for decorating beautiful spaces on a limited income, using things found in nature, old ribbons shes been hanging onto, or items from the thrift store. Celebrating is all about creating love in the gathering spaces: the mantel, the buffet, the dining table, the front door. Its creating the magic her loved ones will feel in the first minute of the celebration. Her greatest belief about gathering is that we can create a space that lets people know they are loved.

Create a space that lets people know they are loved

Jess and Katie will share their suggestions for gathering in part 2 of this book. You will love the balance they bring between valuing connection over perfection and remembering the details. The three of us love planning gatherings together, and you can find more of our ideas on Instagram @the.gatheringhome.