I love having people in my home. I enjoy playing the role of "hospitable hostess" and caring for others needs in basic ways. Last night we had a friend over for a little while.
Andrew, one of our good friends from church, needed a place to wait out the storm before continuing on his journey home. We invited him to stay here for a little while to avoid driving straight into one of the several severe storms we had last night. But this little story isn't really about Andrew, it's about me and the lessons I am trying to learn.
You see, (or you actually don't, which is probably a good thing right now...) our house is a MESS. After a much-more-hectic-than-normal weekend, my house looked like IT had a tornado tear through it.
So I did what most contentious hostesses will do in those circumstances. Apologize. and apologize again. and act really flustered.
Then I remembered. You see, I've been reading the
Reluctant Entertainer's
book. More specifically the chapter titled "Overcoming the Pitfalls of Perfectionism." :) And I remembered her advice - that when you make a big deal over things being not perfect, you can tend to take the joy out of the evening.
I told Andrew and Mark what I was supposed to be learning and we all had a good chuckle. I quit apologizing and we enjoyed our Sunday evening snack: Crackers and cheese, grapes and popcorn, oreos and pop. We laughed and visited and tracked the movement of the storms online. And when there was a big enough break in the storms, Andrew made a run for it - oreos and root beer in hand. :)
Like it says on my dining room wall:
I really should remember that - I worked hard enough getting that quote up there! :)
So what does hospitality look like?
It certainly isn't a perfect house.
It isn't perfect food.
Hospitality is helping others weather the "storms" of life (literal or figurative).
It is offering a place for others to pause and refresh before continuing life's journey.
(And now I'm off to do some damage control around here!) :)
