hos·pi·tal·i·ty
noun.
1. the friendly reception and treatment of guests or strangers.
This was a rough morning. On Easter morning, when it seems most people don their new outfits and perfect hair, anticipating their Norman Rockwell family gatherings, our clan was struggling just to be vertical. I didn't brush my hair before our church service (headbands are awesome), my son wore camo shorts with a mismatched top, my daughter in jeans that she pawed through the dryer to get, and my husband was in shorts. Nope. No new outfits or decorated houses on this end. And things got progressively worse as the morning drew on. Church was a challenge for us today and we pretty much limped home. (Disclaimer: We love Jesus and his resurrection, so no problems there). The state of our house pretty reflected the mood of the day. None of us bothered to clean up after our light lunch, the kids haven't done their weekend chores yet, and 4 loads of laundry that had been folded, but not put away.....all stacked in the middle of our living room floor. Instead of pushing through, Travis and I decided to throw in the towel and just go lie down.
Glory day! Don't you wanna hang out with us?? So upstairs: Travis and Emily are reading, and I'm trying to sleep and my son is lying beside me talking. Knock, knock, knock. I told my son to go get the door, thinking it may be a child he can play with outside. He yells back up, "It's some guy I don't know." So Travis and I went to answer the door. There stands a spiffed up young man in a suit and tie. He says to my husband, "Mr. L****, Sorry I didn't catch you at church, so I found out where you lived and decided to stop by. Can we talk?"
Ack!
For a brief moment, I was embarrassed and had thoughts of hiding. But after that split second, the truth of this reality sunk in: He's just a person, a fellow sojourner in this life, standing at my door, asking for some time and help. I invited the young man in. My hubby seamlessly stalled a tad by chatting in the foyer while I took 15 seconds and piled the laundry in a corner. (Hmmmm, we seem practiced at this maneuver. Wonder why?) Then we sat down in our living room in the midst of our chaos and gave him our undivided attention. When it became apparent that he only needed to talk to my hubby, I politely excused myself and came back up to lie back down.
This isn't big news, but it reminded me at least one area where I'm improving. 10 years ago the above scenario would have bothered me. I may have asked him to come back at a better time, or tried to speed clean throughout the visit to bolster appearances. But now I more quickly see the real truth: appearances aren't what matters~~ the heart is. By the time he finished talking, this young man walked away from our house smiling and encouraged. Not because he was in a perfect looking house, or because he caught us on a good day. He walked away encouraged because he was welcomed in (friendly reception)and loved to the best of our ability (treatment of strangers) for the time he was here.
So I guess that's my nugget of the day: Hospitality is not complicated. Yes, we live in an appearance oriented culture, but we don't have to have it all together to show love to a stranger. All of us can smile, invite someone in, be attentive to their needs and give an encouraging word. ~No matter if we're having a hard day, or surrounded by a bit of clutter. We all have gifts, talents, and love to share. Thankfully, this is not an isolated occurrence. The more we practice our open door policy, the more people seem to just show up. And we wouldn't trade it! We like it this way.
Now we're off to visit another family who invited us to their house for this holiday. It'll be nice to be on the receiving end of hospitality today too.
Blessings to you all this Resurrection Sunday!
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