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Many of you, like me, have been thrust into a setting where the dance of hospitality is cumbersome with complicated steps you never anticipated knowing nor needing. The first time I was introduced to the rules of etiquette in my host country, I scoffed, “that makes no sense!”
I had so much to learn.
Soon enough, I saw that hospitality was an immense value in my host country – exponentially more significant than in the culture of my birth. Furthermore, I realized that until I honored and embraced this new fashion of hospitality, I would not know how to love these people. God had created these people out of love. Even without their knowing the love of the Father, their inherent treasuring of hospitality imaged to the world God’s hospitality to us.
I began to pray, “Lord, strip me of my pride. Give me a love for the way they host. Teach me to do it well. Let them look through me and my efforts and see Your love for them.”
Soon enough, I realized I did not have to love all the ways they hosted. I had no desire to draw attention to myself, putting my food preparation, presentation, or home on display. Rather, my heart was set on letting my guests meet my ever-present Father who loved them deeply.
I learned the tea service, practiced making different dishes they would eat, and worked on keeping my house tidy enough to communicate welcome. All the while, I continued seeking the Lord, praying that God would make both my presence and my home a place where my guests could encounter the living God.
When friends exclaimed, “Laurie, in your house, there is peace. I am valued and I am known, and I am free to believe the impossible,” I gave thanks again to the Father and was able to tell these ladies about the Father that loves them so.
Like learning a new language to communicate the Word of God, I had learned the dance to communicate the love and the welcome of God. I never would perform their dance to their standards, but by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in me, I was able to welcome my guests into my home and care for them as I ushered them into the presence of God.
“When have you been so deeply received that the welcome touched your soul?” (Question taken from Adele Alhberg Calhoun’s Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, pg. 162).
Our bodies were weary from travel, our minds on overload from culture re-entry and the whiplash of different COVID health regulations in different countries, and our hearts were raw as we prepared to visit with an ailing friend. When our lodging fell through at the last minute, a different friend of mine unreservedly opened up her basement to my whole family. I felt bad upon our arrival that we were imposing on her family’s Christmas vacation until I saw the space for us – there were beds for everyone, a bathroom to for just us and even empty closets. It was the empty closets that were particularly comforting as most guest rooms I have experienced are also used for family storage. There was space for us and we were welcome. I could breathe in this place of peace. This peace was tested throughout the week as there were multiple outbreaks in the community. But my friend’s hospitality remained resolute, “Laurie, you are all welcome here. For as long as you have to stay.” Through the end, until we had checked in for our return flights, this friend and her family generously and joyfully cared for us, ministering to us in ways they didn’t even know.