Celebration of 16 year old...Paigey!

October 13, 2012...Happy 16th Birthday Paige!  We love you!!!

Prepared in Hospitality...

"Share with God's people who are in need.  Practice hospitality." Romans 12:13

Prepared in hospitality is so much more than being the next Martha Stewart-cooking a fabulous meal, setting a perfect table, coordinating the flowers, and being the perfect hostess.  While some of us absolutely love doing those things, if we think that's what it's all about, then we've missed the mark.

Emily Barnes said, "Hospitality is so much more than entertaining.  To me, it means organizing my life in such a way that there's always room for one more, always an extra place at the table or an extra pillow and blanket, always a welcome for those who need a listening ear.  It means setting aside time for planned fellowship and setting aside lesser priorities for impromptu teas and gatherings."

I'd say that Emily gets , hospitality, wouldn't you?!  If you look up hospitality in the dictionary, you'll hear words such as "being warm", "kind", "generous", "receptive to guests and strangers".  Tonight as we went around the room and threw out our own words to describe our perception of hospitality, many of the same things were spoken.  You don't have to be a grown woman to get "hospitality".  In these young girls words, hospitality was "being made to feel at home", "feeling safe", "happy and full of joy", "warm", " I'm known", "welcomed", "made to feel special", "my favorite ice cream is always there in my place of hospitality". One of the girls said, "I'm always hungry when I come here to your house Robyn...and I always know you are going to take care of me."  Yes food may be a part of hospitality, but it is really the spirit in which it is given that makes the most impact. 

Hospitality puts others  before itself.  It chooses to give rather than receive.  Hospitality takes time for others, and invests in them.  It's a kind word, a thoughtful act, a note of encouragement, a special gift, an act of sacrifice. 

My grandma had the gift of hospitality like no one else I've ever known.  From memories of being a little girl and going to "grandma and papa's house", I can remember the countless hours she spent in the kitchen preparing meals for us.  At the time, it was just normal to me.  It was just what "grandmas" did.  I've realized since, that her gift of hospitality was truly rare.  Never did I go into her home that I wasn't made to feel "at home"!  Always clean sheets to sleep on, oreo cookies in the cookie jar, and kisses on the cheek.  She definitely took time and invested her heart in us.  One of my last memories of her showering me in hospitality was when she was 90 years old.  She was living in an assisted living apartment. I had gone to visit her and was planning on staying the night.  Much like the summers when I would go and stay with her, she had planned for popcorn and a movie to watch together.  The night wouldn't have been complete without a little bit of chocolate and a coke.  She hadn't forgotten her grandaughter's "sweet tooth"!  The sweetest part of the night was when she insisted I sleep in her bed and she would take the couch.  She would not take no for an answer, wanting me to get the best night's sleep.  At 90, she sacrificed her bed for me, so that I would feel "at home".  I doubt she had a clue how much it meant to me...it was just her normal...it was who she was. 

We see the act of hospitality most beautifully poured out as Jesus himself served the disciples at the Last Supper.  He made certain that all the preparations were made for the passover meal.  After sharing their meal, Jesus with kindness, vulnerability, and love washed their feet.  On the night before His own personal crisis, He put himself aside and invested in His friends.  That's true hospitality!