1. Hospitality is one of the most practical ways to express the love of Christ.
2. Hospitality reflects the hospitable heart of God.
3. Hospitality is a great way to build unity and community with other believers.
4. The Bible promises rewards for those who practice hospitality.
5. Hospitality is one of the most effective ways to create a hunger for Christ in the hearts of non-believers.
6. Hospitality will help you deal with loneliness and depression.
7. Hospitality will help you deal with selfishness.
8. Hospitality will help you deal with materialism and help you get values that are eternal.
9. If you have children, hospitality is a great way to cultivate in their hearts a passion for ministry and a heart for serving other people.
10. God commands us to be hospitable.
from www.reviveourhearts.com
This is very convicting for me, b/c I have been so lazy in this way lately!! on that note, I am off to work hard so I am ready to entertain this weekend!! who wants to come over?? :)
oh, but first here are some pics of Jade's flying experiece...he's only ever flown as a baby before so this was the first that he could remember, and he loved it. although he was white-knuckled for the first few moments of every flight except the last one, when he was suddenly the seasoned traveler who insisted on sitting away from us across the aisle with Ashleigh. Now that he is potty trained, he takes it very seriously that he is "a big guy". :)
this is actually what his face was like during takeoffs :)
11 comments:
I know what you mean about not showing hospitality. I do miss it. One thing that I heard once at a conference (at it is soooo true) is that we get so uptight about whether our homes are spotless or that we have the perfect things to serve etc., that it makes us really dread showing hospitality. Sure, it is nice to go to someones home and be 'spoiled' but I've been to people's home where I had to step over toys, clear a seat on the couch while the host added some extra water to the soup and we had a great time! Just remember that people are there to visit you (and not your clean house or great food).
Have fun!
I love this post, Carole. And you are one of the most hospitable people I know. You always seem to be entertaining!
I totally agree with Jen! It's time we got over the need to have a "perfect" house and just started fellowshipping more often. I hate the stress in our home before we host something - it's just not right! I've always admired a certain family for their willingness to invite anyone over, at any time, regardless of the state of their home. Like Jen said, we've had to step over laundry baskets and clear a place on the couch, but if they'd always taken the time to make their home "perfect", we wouldn't have visited with them nearly so often. I love order and neatness, but I need to keep them in perspective. Serving the Lord by serving His people with my home and my time is more important. Sorry for all this!!! It's obviously something I've been thinking about - while I was unable to clean house b/c of my back I realized that I needed to come to terms with that and still be useful for the Lord!
After reading this post I naturally looked for the comment section, so I could get in line with all those who were eager to take advantage of the free offer to invite ourselves over... But I found to my chagrin that I was the only greedy one. Oops! :z
Good thoughts, Carole, Jen and Cher - thanks for sharing!
Convicting post Carole! I too really struggle with this. I try and remember that, but I do find I am nervous when I have really neat people over:) I know that is a bad thing, but you always feel like they might be looking into corners and seeing dirt, or into my cupboards, and having the books all fall out or something. Ridiculous, I know, but it is a fear of mine. I have gotten out of being hospitable lately, and it is wrong. So, who is coming over to our house:) Otherwise, we may also take Carole up on her invitation:)
Rach and Jo you two are hilarious. come on over! and Jo, you do a great job of hiding any messes b/c your place is always the picture of perfection when we are there. maybe if all my friends' houses weren't so immaculate all of the time, I wouldn't feel the pressure to have my house spotless before entertaining...clearly, you neat people are the problem!! :) just kidding. love you all! good thoughts. :)
We did a great book called Hospitality Commands (and I can't remember who wrote it). It was really good at helping to clarify hospitality and our attitude towards it as well as individuals and a church. It is only about 5 chapters (a pretty easy read). I'll see if I can find the author and let you know - definately a great book to read.
Carole, Jaden is SO CUTE! Those pictures are priceless. I hope he will be back in my co-op class this week!
Hi Carole! Thanks for sharing the piece on hospitality. I've always thought I have to wait until I'm in my own house to get to be hospitable, but I'm coming to realize that I can be hospitable through my attitudes and actions--hospitality isn't limited to a home! :)
Thanks for the great reminder on being hospitable! We love hosting, but with young kids, sometimes it is easy to come up with excuses not too.
Love those photos of Jaden - TOO cute!
Carole, thanks for the thought provoking words. I think you are right, it's all the neat peoples' faults ;-) You can come to my place any time. (It's never perfect.) We love company! And yes, we love to visit too.
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