Today, I’m posting over on Every Day Cheer and sharing a very easy idea for a fall or Thanksgiving table centerpiece using things you already have in your home. It’s a low fuss way to add a little punch for a special occasion that leaves you plenty of time to focus on what matters around the table. Head over to Every Day Cheer to see more!
Did y’all know that Biblical hospitality means love of strangers … and enemies? I seriously squirm a little when I type that.
I honestly can’t think of a single “enemy” in my life. But I can think of lots of people that I have just ignored because I’m too busy. People that I’ve walked past while looking down at my phone. People whose faces I’ve never seen, but I had every opportunity to take 90 seconds and show love. Show what it means to be a Christ follower.
It’s taking the extra time in the grocery store checkout line to start conversations with the employee. And before you know it, after weeks of having conversations with the same employee, you’ve created a relationship.
It’s choosing not to yell at the car in front of you that didn’t go when the light turned green. Or choosing to pray a blessing for the person who cut you off on the interstate. Ouch.
Instead of asking a friend what you can do to help, it’s showing up and helping. It’s picking up a kid from school when there’s a family crisis happening. Or just to make life easier.
Hospitality doesn’t always mean inviting and hosting. It’s loving. The way you would love a brother.
It’s hard. We’re busy. We have so much responsibility and things to do and errands to run and kids to shuttle around. We volunteer and commit and over-commit and taking the time to not only check in with someone, but to notice them? To help them? To think kind thoughts and go above and beyond to be a light in that person’s day? It’s not exactly on the to-do list. At least for me it’s not.
But I’m challenging myself to think about it a little differently.
It doesn’t have to be a radical action because it’s big enough for everyone to notice. But it’s radical because it’s different than what I’m naturally inclined to do.
This post is part of 31 Days of Breaking Bread
Oh, friends. I am so sorry I dropped the ball on our conversation about breaking bread and how we can have imperfect hospitality and imperfect community. Hudson broke his arm on Sunday night, and Monday was spent getting him treated, and the rest of the week kind of followed suit. All is well in our household, but I’m finally coming up for air. And I promise to jump back in because after reading many of your comments, I think there are a few more important things to talk about.
But, today, I wanted to be sure you all knew about the upcoming She Reads Truth Bible study about Hospitality. It begins on October 27, and you can still order this gorgeous workbook (the cover was designed by the incredible Ashlee Proffitt) and when you order you also receive two prints from Ashlee Proffitt.
I am so excited to dive in more to what Biblical hospitality means, and I think some of you might enjoy it, too! I know that I received mine immediately, so I am pretty sure that if you order now you’ll receive it in time for the study to begin on Monday.
This post is part of 31 Days of Breaking Bread
When I wrote my first post sixteen days ago, one of the most common concerns among those of you that are reading was that you weren’t really sure how to be an inviter when kids are involved. How can we open up our hearts when our kids are likely to interrupt our conversations? How can we open up our homes when our kids are likely to fight or meltdown or spill something?
So, let’s just get a couple of things straight right at the beginning. There are no perfect children. And there are no perfect parents. If I had to sit here and think of the most well-behaved children I’ve ever been around? I could still tell you a time when I saw them misbehave. (Not because I’m keeping tabs, but because they are normal children.)
When we invite friends over, and usually friends that we’ve never invited over before, I know that they’re going to get to know my sweet kids quickly. It’s never going to go perfectly. My kids are allowed to be as flawed as I am. And they are a very important part of our family.
Why is it so important for us to continue showing hospitality when we have kids? Because our kids need to see what it means to invite. My boys need to learn what it means to share what we have. Our hearts, our space, our things, because they are the Lord’s and we are doing our best to be obedient and be good stewards of what He has given us.
Our family has been extremely blessed through family to family community. We’ve loved getting to know many other families that are in the same life stage. And while our kids may not be sitting around the table while we open up our hearts to each other, they’re off somewhere else playing with the other members of those families. My kids know that these other adults and families have their backs. They recognize these adults and kids as people that their parents love and trust, and the accountability and mutual love that comes from that fills me with so much hope.
For our family, there is a lot of freedom in welcoming other kiddos into our home. Our kids are navigating these waters of sharing and it helps us, as their parents, become even more vulnerable.
