Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 1 Peter 4:8-9
How sweet is it to be rounding the corner of the seasons and welcoming in the warmth and loveliness of spring. Warmer days warm the heart and because it’s the season of change and new growth I’ve an inkling to be making room for some thing I’ve been holding back on for a while. Holding back not because it’s unpleasant or difficult but because I over complicate and over think and make it hard for myself. Ever do that?
So in the spirit of the season I’m making room for people around my table and at my kitchen bench or maybe sitting on my veranda with their feet up, I don’t mind. I’m making room because I know that opening my home involves opening my heart and although I struggle with that sometimes – it’s what He’s put in my heart to do more of.
See I have a tendency to shut the front door – literally – to close the world out and just do my own thing and that’s OK occasionally when it’s needed but – – – if I do it too much, I get insular and stuck in my ways, the house gets lonely and I do too. Time to shake out the cobwebs.
I complicate things though – I always think everything needs to be all pristine and organised and dare I say it – perfect before I invite anyone in – and if I don’t have time to do that then I tend not to bother. I’m blaming it on plain old pride and on all the years of doing “events” – all the staging and arranging to make places and spaces welcoming and lovely – where everything is prepared and organised and tweaked down to the last detail and things run like clock work – I love it but – – – – it’s hard work and it’s exhausting and it’s the exact opposite to what I want to be doing at home. So when I think visitors – I think “event” – and I think not prepared and not ready.
But then my house isn’t doing what it was made for.
My homes purpose isn’t to impress – its purpose is to embrace.
My wee little house is no staged event and – – – it doesn’t have to be – it’s where I lay my head and my heart and I wear pink slippers till lunch time some days. I’ll always be making it look nice and work well if I can, I’ll always be making it warm and welcoming too because that’s what I love doing – but perfect – not even nearly.
So what if I invited you in anyway.
It feels like a risk, it takes trust – because we think our homes tell people about who we are and – – what if it says the wrong thing?
True hospitality has nothing to do with perfect but has everything to do with opening our hearts and letting people in ready or not. Hospitality is about connecting and accepting and including and that happens heart to heart not with sparkling cutlery and scented candles. It happens when we let our guard down and kick our shoes off. It happens when it’s about you and not how my house looks.
Hospitality is this:
”People should leave your presence feeling better about themselves, not better about you.” Shauna Niequist
I’ve tested the theory – I’ve had a few impromptu visitors just recently, and you know what – the walls didn’t cave in because I wasn’t all “prepared”, they didn’t leave in horror because the house wasn’t all gussied up and sparkly, no scented candles, no home baked cookies, no “entertaining” going on, just kids inhaling lunch and rampaging around the back yard while we drank cups of tea. My visitors didn’t need perfect or organised, they needed some good conversation, a listening ear and a place to relax and take a load off for a bit. Now that I can do any old day of the week – I’m made for that.
So even if this crazy head say’s hospitality is too much hard work, my heart says – the door is open, come on in, relax, be at ease, be yourself – your welcome here and I may or may not take off the pink slippers
May we remember that as long as we answer the call to give attention to others without demanding theirs in return, we are true hospitality makers. And may we relax knowing that simple is always, always enough. Kristen Strong
Love to you all today
Tracey xx
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