I'm trying to get organized.
Such is the state of the rest of my life- emphasis on the TRYING.
I married an organized messie. I tend to be a large portion of impulsive with a side of routine that sometimes resembles organization.
So our family devotion time was mainly- "oh hey yea we're done eating. What book is close by that we can read and oh, Honey, by the way, your the MAN of the house so you should be doing this."
It wasn't working well.
=)
Hence my attempt to organize- beginning with our devotional time.
So I chose the verses typed out on the sidebar for our September memory work. Romans 12:9-13. We've worked on these before but they're just good and worth re-instilling.
My confession?
I wanted to drop some of the words in the verses!!
Ok- I wanted to drop the last sentence: "practice hospitality"
Isn't that wretched??
Don't get me wrong- I enjoy having people over! I do!
But I like having people over that I invited over when I invited them!
Just plain ole ugly truth.
Truth be told- I'm having a hard time with neighbor kid drop-ins.
When the older neighbor lady comes in our backdoor I really don't think anything about it and have no problem asking her to stay for some ice cream or iced tea. So maybe my hesitancy on wanting to actually have to TEACH my kids the scripture (and thus needing to actually DO it myself *shock*) is more of the out-of-my-control influence that other kids bring. It's not always bad (altho certainly not always great!) Oh what a long journey I have in front of me if I can't get a handle on this.
So, yes, I did print out ALL the verses for our memory work- including those that may be a bit harder for me to swallow.
So how do you "practice hospitality" ?
Such is the state of the rest of my life- emphasis on the TRYING.
I married an organized messie. I tend to be a large portion of impulsive with a side of routine that sometimes resembles organization.
So our family devotion time was mainly- "oh hey yea we're done eating. What book is close by that we can read and oh, Honey, by the way, your the MAN of the house so you should be doing this."
It wasn't working well.
=)
Hence my attempt to organize- beginning with our devotional time.
So I chose the verses typed out on the sidebar for our September memory work. Romans 12:9-13. We've worked on these before but they're just good and worth re-instilling.
My confession?
I wanted to drop some of the words in the verses!!
Ok- I wanted to drop the last sentence: "practice hospitality"
Isn't that wretched??
Don't get me wrong- I enjoy having people over! I do!
But I like having people over that I invited over when I invited them!
Just plain ole ugly truth.
Truth be told- I'm having a hard time with neighbor kid drop-ins.
When the older neighbor lady comes in our backdoor I really don't think anything about it and have no problem asking her to stay for some ice cream or iced tea. So maybe my hesitancy on wanting to actually have to TEACH my kids the scripture (and thus needing to actually DO it myself *shock*) is more of the out-of-my-control influence that other kids bring. It's not always bad (altho certainly not always great!) Oh what a long journey I have in front of me if I can't get a handle on this.
So, yes, I did print out ALL the verses for our memory work- including those that may be a bit harder for me to swallow.
So how do you "practice hospitality" ?
4 comments:
isn't this the never ending battle -- we want to have people over...but we want to impress them ... or at least we don't want to horrify them with how we really look...so we wait until we get things organized...but they aren't ever good enough.
i have so far to go in this area. three things I've been most convicted about are:
1--to do hospitality right I don't need to do it like someone else and therefore it is ok to make it fit into our life... ie i'm not a big fancy dinner nice tidy house kind of person...but dessert on the back porch or a bonfire and a bag of marshmellows --- yep, that's us.
2--my house doesn't have to be ready for a photo shoot ... if things are tidied up and it is safe healthy clean...I should relax...people live here...people I love...screaming at them so things will be impressive...somehow defeats all the hospitality I'm trying to offer (If I speak with the tongues of men and angels...but have not love...or if my house looks perfect but I am unkind...I am a sounding gong and tinkling cymbal...)
3. It's about loving people not impressing them. People of many shapes, sizes, and varieties...are all loved by and needing a relationship with Christ...and I am part of His body...and I can demonstrate his love. It is such a challenge for me to loose sight of the insignificant and focus on the PEOPLE...look for ways to listen to and love THEM. And sometimes the people that need love the most...are the ones that I forget to offer hospitatlity to ... because I'm busy hanging up the do not disturb our nice tidy life sign....grrr at me.
As Richelle Wright wrote the other day -- God calls us to love people...and then removes the stuff so we can...
Guess we are all in this battle together dearie.
I'm right there with you sister! I have come a long way, but still have a long way to go also. I guess sometimes it can be a moment by moment prayer that God will shine through to help me practice hospitality and a good attitude!
i think God asks us to practice hospitality b/c what we live out, in action becomes easier to do in a less concrete, observable way.
whether arranged or drop in hospitality - it involves arranging (either "pre" or in the moment) my schedule and my life so that i can prepare a meal, picking up/tidying the house, sometimes traveling to find/get the people, often including someone not originally intended and then serving those who are visiting.
here in niger, much hospitality is of the "drop-in" variety... i.e. someone shows up at your door... we try and teach the kids that we always keep the house picked up enough/clean enough that someone wouldn't be embarrassed for us if they just "pop-in" and that requires sacrifice on their part...
and all of this real life, hands-on practicing, i think, readies us for a more abstract type of hospitality... the kind where we are open to welcoming new people into the rooms of our heart, where we welcome the Lord to "make Himself at home" and take and and use what He will from our lives.
idk... does that make sense?
Yes- that does make sense, Richelle- and, as usual, I value your insight. Thanks for sharing.
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