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Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Hospitality and "Seven" week 4 - possessions

In our "Seven" study, we started week 4 on Sunday - possessions. (Click here to read the whole series)
Seven-by-Jen-Hatmaker
There are video lessons that go along with the book, and those of us that are doing the book study together in person are watching them together each week. Jen focused a lot on hospitality as she talked about our "stuff" and how it steers our hearts. She says that she realized that she was spending too much time worried about how her house made her look, as opposed to how it made her guests feel.
She said that, with her current focus on hospitality, people would feel on of two ways when they entered her home - "they would either feel intimidated, or they would feel impressed." She realized that neither of these should be our goals when we invite people into our homes.
We should want them to feel loved.
I first watched this lesson about a month and a half ago, and that statement has profoundly impacted my attitude towards hosting and, as a result, the frequency with which I invite people into our home. I realize that it's not about whether the food's "good enough" or the house is "clean enough" because really, when is that ever going to happen. It's about inviting others to share life with my family and feel welcome in our home. That's not nearly as hard as having a display home and an impressive menu (both are things I've given up on attaining, at least until my children get a little older). You know what? It's been great fun letting people come eat whatever I can wrangle up while we step around the kids' toys. :)
How about you? Have you discovered the beautiful gift that welcoming people into your imperfect home can be? Do you have any hospitality tips for making guests feel loved?

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