Monday, June 10, 2013

Hospitality

Sorry for the delay in posting...we moved, started a job, and the hubby started Greek class. It's been a little cray-cray in the Thomas household!

I'd like to start off this post with a poem that I wrote awhile back during a season when my heart did not feel hospitable:

Hospitality
We open our home, our hearth, our table
We have pledge to do as much as we’re able.
To share a warm meal and laughter with friends,
To hear people’s stories, and tell them again.
There’s a beauty in sharing all that we have;
We set the table to feed our hungry guests,
But our hearts are fed instead.
Hospitality; an art, a discipline, a gift,
An act of love for those who at our table sit.


3/7/13

All of this is true. Hospitality is a command in the Bible, an outward expression of God's loving kindness and generosity to us, and also a blessing to both the giver and receiver. 

If you read back to the Old and New Testament there are examples of hospitality all over. The Greek word for hospitality actually refers to opening up your home to strangers. There are countless examples of this in the Bible. Great feasts would be thrown for guests, and travelers would merely knock on a person's door to request lodging. It was considered to be a reciprocal favor- when I pass through your town, you allow me to stay in your home, and when you pass through mine I will do the same for you. There were very few "hotels" or inns, as they now call it. Society had truly embraced the Church's concept of caring for one another- whether they were in need or not. 

So, now try to speed up this lesson to the 21st century. We live chaotic lives, grocery bills are sky-high, and the majority of American families don't sit down to a meal together anyways. How do we make hospitality work today? 

Here are a few thoughts of mine that you may want to consider:
1. Starting right this second, just take the notion of your mind that your house needs to be "up to standards" in order to have guests. That's right. If you practice hospitality frequently, there will probably be dog hair on the floor, dirty dishes in the sink, and laundry in the hallways. Your mirror will have toothpaste stains, your entryway will have shoes strewn about, and you will always (I mean always) have something you wished you had put away or cleaned up. I am an OCD, Type-A perfectionist and I will always be working on this lesson. But it is very freeing to let guests into your home as is. If you don't put on a face for your friends, why do you need to put a face on your house. Again- I am not perfect at this, but it is so crucial to establishing a practice of hospitality. 

2. You say you can't cook. That's ok. I get it. Let me give you some alternatives: buy a carton of ice cream and some chocolate sauce, or a frozen lasagna. People will appreciate your gesture- trust me. I also know some friends who eat out for almost all of their meals. So they will treat a couple to dinner. Expensive? Yes. But such a blessing to the receiver. Bottom line is: don't let your lack of cooking skills keep you from opening your home and your table. I've cooked some flop meals for guests and they've forgiven me. Plan B is ordering pizza. 

3. For me, hospitality has been a way for Spencer and I to foster relationships while still letting me be a home-body. I really love hosting people- but it takes a lot of energy for me to go to someone else's house. Isn't that weird? You'd think I'd jump at the opportunity to have a night off of cooking but my personality just loves to stay at home. 

4. Sit down and make a list of people you'd like to have over and set a deadline. Spencer and I did this for both semesters this past year and it was very helpful. Maybe it's pathetic that we have to make lists of people that we'd like to have over for dinner, but otherwise it just doesn't happen. 

5. Money. Yuck- everybody's least favorite topic. But let's face it- it's expensive to feed extra stomachs! We have kept our budget at a slightly higher amount in order to cover larger meals for guests- and we have never had a problem. Plan meals that are delicious but aren't over-the-top. The minute you think you need to buy filet mignon for your guests, you say goodbye to your budget. 

6. Lastly is a tip that we learned from our youth pastor's family. They have "hospitality night" at their  home once a week. They keep it on the same day, and their friends know that they're always welcome. They just need to let my pastor know beforehand if they're coming so that they can plan food. It may seem a bit daunting, but this is the most surefire way to foster an open-door policy. 

We pray that our home will be a welcome refuge for those we know and those we don't. We pray that our home will be noisy with the sounds of our kids and teenagers during their adolescent years- that they will respect us enough to want their friends to be with our family. We pray that we will never hold our wallets so tightly that we are not willing to extend our budget to meet the needs of guests. 

Is your table open? What steps can you take to foster a spirit of hospitality in your family? 

1 comment:

  1. Great thoughts Molly! Maybe you will provide hospitality to an angel some day! :)

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