On Offering (and Accepting) Hospitality...(and a Giveaway!)

**Update 9/24/09--the winner of the Karen Ehman book was comment number 23: Suzi.
Suzi, I have no way to contact you. I need you to send me an email at cherylannhackett@yahoo.com by Monday, Sept. 28, or I will draw another winner.

"Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others..." -- 1 Peter 4:9

Over the weekend, my husband, children and I were blessed to spend some time visiting with Laura of Heavenly Homemakers and her family on our way back home from our cross-country trip. Through our correspondence, she had generously invited us to her home as we traveled through their area. A really rough day of traveling, however, looked like it would prevent the visit from taking place. All the series of unfortunate events gave new meaning to me of the verse, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12). The bad day left us discouraged and about ready to throw in the towel on accepting their offer of hospitality. Almost, but not quite. Despite the circumstances, we went anyway.

When we arrived, Laura joked that we were about to "quench the Spirit by not accepting their offer of hospitality."  She couldn't have said it better. Fellowshipping with her family was such a blessing to our family; a short visit shone redeeming light through the entire day. God's mercy. And I was a mom in need of it.

(left to right, Laura's son Elias, my sons Gannet and Xavier, me, my baby Jack, Laura's son Asa, Justus, Malachi and Laura)

Laura's exuberant hospitality inspired me to be better about offering hospitality to others. Yet too often it's easy to "grumble" about it, as 1 Peter chides us against. We can grumble about the inconveniences of having guests over--cooking for more people, cleaning a little a lot more than usual, and the like.  I tend to grumble not so much about the practice of hospitality as I do about the condition of my home. For one, it's often messier than I would like. Two, many parts of our 100-year old home need repair. Three, our furniture is quite old and worn. Four, our kitchen table lacks adequate chairs (they don't match, some are broken, and there are not enough for company). I can be embarrassed about all these things, or I can follow God's command to practice hospitality despite my misgivings about my home and what people will think. With the former, I "quench the Spirit" and miss out on sweet fellowship; with the latter, God can use my hospitality--as He did Laura's--to richly encourage others. We are not asked, or even expected, to have perfect homes; but rather, to use what we do have to welcome others into our lives and into our homes.

On the flip side, there can also be reasons why we don't accept hospitality. Perhaps we are too shy, or feel awkward going to someone's home that we don't know that well; maybe we don't want to inconvenience the hosts; or we hesitate because caring for our children, especially when they're small, is enough work at our own house, much less anyone else's! Yet, when we forget all those "grumblings" and accept an offer of hospitality, the hosts are blessed in the offering, and we are blessed in the receiving, so it's a win-win for everyone!

In honor of Laura's (and others) heavenly hospitality, I would like to offer a free autographed copy of A Life that Says Welcome: Simple Ways to Open Your Heart & Home to Others by Karen Ehman (which Karen has generously donated to one lucky reader). I loved this book and found it offered many practical suggestions to step up the practice of hospitality. To enter, just leave a comment, and I will draw a winner next Tuesday!

Blessings!