Hospitality

Tonight our family enjoyed an evening out. We were invited to our friends' house who also have three boys. Their children are much older than ours, but we could relate to each other. It was such an enjoyable evening sharing in their good, old-fashioned love and hospitality. There were no pretenses. No shows. No impressions trying to be made. There were no apologies for a wet dog who ran through the kitchen or the fact that the chicken ended up a bit spicier than was intended. There were no apologies that our hostess doesn't like to bake; just the simple fact stated that she doesn't like to do it, so we ate a jello salad that her mother-in-law had made and the boys had part of a KitKat bar (which they loved better than a baked dessert anyway!). We really enjoyed ourselves tonight!

It seems that the scriptural encouragement to practice hospitality is overlooked so often these days. Or maybe it's just that no one wants to invite over a family with three little boys, for fear of the noise or the mess they may make. I don't know. All I know is that tonight we felt blessed as a family as we visited with our friends. It wasn't about home or meal presentation, but about fellowship. We laughed together about our boys' antics. We cried together as we remembered our dear brother Larry Megyesi who passed away yesterday. We discussed our struggles with post partum depression and how we are changed women because of that. We talked about our prayers and our hopes for our children. We talked about touching other peoples' lives in real ways. We talked about dumb things we did as newlyweds. I feel so refreshed after our evening tonight.

While we do have guests over quite often, I was encouraged again tonight to practice hospitality and to do good, especially to the household of faith. A friend shared with me the other day that she is learning how to be hospitable from me. When I probed why in the world she would say that, she responded that it was because no matter when she calls or drops by, I always make her feel as if I'm thrilled to have her there. Well, that's easy, because I am! But she said that I don't make her feel as if I have to have everything perfect for her when she comes. She likes that she can come in and see toys all over the place and that she will see crumbs on my floor (I was embarrassed by that comment! :), or that I can pull the clothes out of my dryer and be folding them in front of her. Granted, I don't do this with all my guests, but I DO want people who come into our home to feel welcome and part of the family, as well as make them feel important.

That's what I felt tonight, and I'm more encouraged than ever to practice simple and sincere hospitality. I want to bless lives like I was blessed tonight! We really need to keep this practice of hospitality and blessing others alive and well. I'm thankful that my mom and grandma practiced this and taught us how to easily invite people over to our homes. I learned a lot from them! And it seems to be rubbing off on the boys too because every Sunday morning they will ask us who is coming for lunch that day. When Timothy helps me set the table every night, he sets an extra plate, just in case we have company, he says. Let's see ... who can we have over this week? I'm excited!