Unsung Heroes: Hospitality of Lydia — Thursday
Romans 12:13
When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. (NLT)
Yesterday, we talked about hospitality being something that ALL of us are called to participate in. Today, let’s talk about how to actually do that well. I’ll use two examples of people who showed me hospitality and what I learned from it.
When my husband and I were newlyweds living in Kansas City, we rented a 300 sq. foot loft in the garage of a family’s home. The quarters were cramped (I could, quite literally, fry an egg in my “kitchen” without leaving my bed), but the love was abundant. The folks who owned the garage, and the ample home it was attached to, were kind and generous followers of Jesus. In addition to the modest rent that we paid them, we also had an agreement to help them with house projects in return for our living quarters.
At Christmastime, this meant helping decorate their home for the holidays. When I say decorate, I mean DECORATE. They had an entire storage unit for their holiday trappings—plus, no less than four trees in the house, including a truly enormous noble fir in the entryway by the spiral staircase. They hosted magnificent Christmas parties, with every detail accounted for and every hors d'oeuvre delectable. I learned that intentionality and thoughtful planning helped hospitality sparkle. People loved being in their home (including us), and their ornate decor was only outdone by their sincere warmth.
About a year later when we moved into a regular apartment, we had a downstairs neighbor named Faye. Faye was 88 years old, lived alone, and kept a simple but lovely home in a unit on the first floor. More than once, she invited me to pop down for tea. Her tiny frame would hunch over an ancient kettle on the stove, and she’d pour me a mug of Lipton alongside a snack of cottage cheese and canned peaches. We’d talk about any old thing, and she’d tell me about her life. I learned that simplicity and sharing what you have is everything that hospitality requires.
If I could tell you one thing about what it means to practice hospitality well, I’d say it means being genuine and welcoming with what you've got. It’s good to make a place or an experience feel thoughtful and carefully planned—intentionality is a gift to others, and shows you care for them. But it’s also just as good, and maybe even better, to just let people into the reality of your everyday life and home. Whether what you’ve got is a lot or a little, hospitality is all about genuinely welcoming others to belong with you.
Thursday’s Reflection
Listen to this song. How can you actually practice hospitality in your life and home? What would it look like to be genuine and welcoming with what you’ve got?
