10.08.2009

Hospitality.


Today's Photo: "Where Two or Three are Gathered" (taken yesterday)



The fiesta at church last night was a
grand success. Lots of families came! We played Bingo, hit a pinata with a baseball bat (yes, I was a Nervous Nilly throughout this portion of the night), worshipped together, and ate amazing food. It was highly "bien"! All of the families visiting us from Mexico have now headed north to Minneapolis where they will have an important meeting this weekend - and then they head back home.

It was really fantastic to host a family at my house; it made me want to find more opportunities to have people over. It's fun to have company! And I used the stove! I
never use the stove (especially now that I have the generally-beneficial and sometimes less-than-advertised GT Express). It was exciting to have an excuse to use pots and pans and plates and silverware and cups.

The theme of
"hospitality" seems to keep coming up lately. I was thinking about how amazing both ends of the "welcoming" spectrum feel: it feels wonderful to welcome people and it feels wonderful to be genuinely welcomed. This morning I've been feeling convicted that the excitement I felt while hosting Bertsa, Luis, and Marco is the same excitement I should have every day, all day - no matter who I am interacting with. It's so totally, amazingly important to be intentional and compassionate in our relationships with one another. I forget that sometimes. I get wrapped up in my to-do lists of ridiculousness; my emotions of annoyance and frustration sometimes get in the way of expressing kindness and warmth. What a world it would be if we all knew what it meant to be both welcomer & welcomed.

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