Hospitality
Practice.....hospitality. I love this version of the bible....see my verse for the year listed on the right side of the blog. God calls us to practice hospitality. It doesn't say "Be hospitable." or "Master the art of inviting people to your home and making them feel welcome and loved...." but God says to practice this blessing. Hospitality. The welcoming in....so, so hard for some of us, especially the stoic Dutch culture I am born into.
It takes practice......to do hospitality. It takes work and trial and error and fumbling and failing and sometimes success. I just got done refilling the water jug for the dogs...at 8 minutes til midnight. The tray that holds the food and dog water is filthy and I thought to myself...at 8 minutes to midnight....I should really have cleaned that. It's gross. I turned around and saw the sink full of dirty dishes from tonight's supper. They didn't get done. I had to leave for a meeting.....
Tonight Roger and I attended a meeting for new host parents at our daughter's high school. They are all matched with international high school kids and will host them for the school year, practicing hospitality. They had questions....and we were invited to help answer some of them since we hosted last year. It is a sacrifice, to invite someone into your home for the school year. Culture clashes, relationship dynamics, finances, and emotions all factor in.....and yet God calls us to practice this thing called hospitality. We chose not to host a high school student this year. We have experience that new families want....so we went to the meeting to help them on their way.
Simultaneously, our 14 and 12 year old sons were home with our 2 little kids, and the sibling set of 3 they are hired to babysit this summer. These 3 kids, ages 6, 4 and 2 come over a few times a week and my boys watch them, play with them, feed them and love them. They prefer to babysit at our home and not theirs because....well....our house rocks. And we already have stained carpet and broken toys....and lots of fun. When I come home from a long work day, or an evening meeting, I practice hospitality.....I give hugs and love and watch them jump off the diving board and go down the slide. I give tylenol and listen to lungs for the littlest who coughs....and when he wakes up at 10:30pm, crying for his mama who hasn't quite finished work yet, I pick him up out of my 14 year old son's lap. I send my boy to bed and this little one reaches for me. He calls me "Tiki House"....don't ask, ok? and he snuggles in to my chest and I rock him and feel his soft little head and hold him close until his hard-working mama can come get him and his siblings at almost midnight.....
Our local college has 25 new international students this year. 25! I have been in email contact with the person in charge and have agreed to "host" 2 of these new students. They will come over once in awhile and we will agree to love them and help them on their journey through college....because we, in this house, practice.....hospitality. Our hosted football player is a senior this year. 4 years we have cheered for him and helped when he asked, which wasn't often....and when he graduates this year, we will cheer for him!
Sometimes we host a pool party or dinner or a bonfire group. We are flawed. We fail at a recipe for sangria, or the meat doesn't always cook evenly.....or so many other things, but we are practicing Hospitality....because God says it is good.
It would be so much easier, and comfortable for my Dutch culture, my introverted self, to not put forth these efforts.....if not for the call....from God...to practice Hospitality.
(My little friend, E calls me Tiki House. Maybe because Tiki sounds like Niki....or maybe because my house and my heart are the same. He's a smart dude.....I wouldn't put it past him to reach for both at 11:30 on a Tuesday night, because both make him feel good).
We miss Grace here. We decided not to host a new student this year. 2 kids in 2 different high schools in 2 different towns, plus 2 in grade school and 1 in day care......and we are trying like crazy to get Precious to sleep in that daggum room....eventually. If she doesn't, I may just fill it with someone else. If Grace called and asked to move back "home" it would be a thousand times....yes. We miss her. Hospitality is, yes, is it not?
Let someone come over and have coffee or wine, even if the house is trashed. Let a little dude call you a house if it comes with open arms....and his very tired and worthy mama knows that her kids are always, always welcome here. Teach the kids to open the door. Open. The door. Over and over. Practice.....hospitality. Local hospitality. International hospitality....
There is so much to learn from one another.....if we just listen to God's instruction. Lets all practice hospitality.....
It takes practice......to do hospitality. It takes work and trial and error and fumbling and failing and sometimes success. I just got done refilling the water jug for the dogs...at 8 minutes til midnight. The tray that holds the food and dog water is filthy and I thought to myself...at 8 minutes to midnight....I should really have cleaned that. It's gross. I turned around and saw the sink full of dirty dishes from tonight's supper. They didn't get done. I had to leave for a meeting.....
Tonight Roger and I attended a meeting for new host parents at our daughter's high school. They are all matched with international high school kids and will host them for the school year, practicing hospitality. They had questions....and we were invited to help answer some of them since we hosted last year. It is a sacrifice, to invite someone into your home for the school year. Culture clashes, relationship dynamics, finances, and emotions all factor in.....and yet God calls us to practice this thing called hospitality. We chose not to host a high school student this year. We have experience that new families want....so we went to the meeting to help them on their way.
Simultaneously, our 14 and 12 year old sons were home with our 2 little kids, and the sibling set of 3 they are hired to babysit this summer. These 3 kids, ages 6, 4 and 2 come over a few times a week and my boys watch them, play with them, feed them and love them. They prefer to babysit at our home and not theirs because....well....our house rocks. And we already have stained carpet and broken toys....and lots of fun. When I come home from a long work day, or an evening meeting, I practice hospitality.....I give hugs and love and watch them jump off the diving board and go down the slide. I give tylenol and listen to lungs for the littlest who coughs....and when he wakes up at 10:30pm, crying for his mama who hasn't quite finished work yet, I pick him up out of my 14 year old son's lap. I send my boy to bed and this little one reaches for me. He calls me "Tiki House"....don't ask, ok? and he snuggles in to my chest and I rock him and feel his soft little head and hold him close until his hard-working mama can come get him and his siblings at almost midnight.....
Our local college has 25 new international students this year. 25! I have been in email contact with the person in charge and have agreed to "host" 2 of these new students. They will come over once in awhile and we will agree to love them and help them on their journey through college....because we, in this house, practice.....hospitality. Our hosted football player is a senior this year. 4 years we have cheered for him and helped when he asked, which wasn't often....and when he graduates this year, we will cheer for him!
Sometimes we host a pool party or dinner or a bonfire group. We are flawed. We fail at a recipe for sangria, or the meat doesn't always cook evenly.....or so many other things, but we are practicing Hospitality....because God says it is good.
It would be so much easier, and comfortable for my Dutch culture, my introverted self, to not put forth these efforts.....if not for the call....from God...to practice Hospitality.
(My little friend, E calls me Tiki House. Maybe because Tiki sounds like Niki....or maybe because my house and my heart are the same. He's a smart dude.....I wouldn't put it past him to reach for both at 11:30 on a Tuesday night, because both make him feel good).
We miss Grace here. We decided not to host a new student this year. 2 kids in 2 different high schools in 2 different towns, plus 2 in grade school and 1 in day care......and we are trying like crazy to get Precious to sleep in that daggum room....eventually. If she doesn't, I may just fill it with someone else. If Grace called and asked to move back "home" it would be a thousand times....yes. We miss her. Hospitality is, yes, is it not?
Let someone come over and have coffee or wine, even if the house is trashed. Let a little dude call you a house if it comes with open arms....and his very tired and worthy mama knows that her kids are always, always welcome here. Teach the kids to open the door. Open. The door. Over and over. Practice.....hospitality. Local hospitality. International hospitality....
There is so much to learn from one another.....if we just listen to God's instruction. Lets all practice hospitality.....
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