Hospitable Hospitality.

Now that we've settled in to our home and now that the baby has been born, the days have slowed down just a touch and the normalcy of life has taken over. The house has its own ebb and flow and Jake, the children, and I have established our routines. Jake comes home sometime after 6:30 in the evenings and that's just how it's going to be. He puts in twelve and half hour days and if I think for a moment that I'm putting the kids to bed early then I need to think again. I really can't plan to have the meal on the table at 6:30. For one thing, Jake may not be home yet, for another, the man really needs to unwind, kick off his boots and don his poppa clothes. This has us eating between 7 and 7:30 depending on how organized I am..

As a wife and a friend I'm realizing that hospitality is a day to day thing, not just a once in a while ordeal. Being hospitable should be woven in the fabric of my everyday life. Particularly if I call myself a Christian. How I keep the house, fold the clothes, set the table, prepare the meals, put the pillows on the couch, hang the pictures on the wall, treat the guests, love my children, respect my husband... is hospitality.  It's a sweet thing.

Our Lord in heaven is the most hospitable of all. He designed hospitality. In creating the earth and all that fills it up was the first notion of hospitality. Take a look around. Have you ever had your breath taken away by the wonders of creation, the leaves of fall, the chill of winter, the cool of the evening, the warmth of the first sunlight? The Lord has created all things for his glory and our enjoyment. What a blessing to his creatures.

I could never be just like the Lord, but he has given me the ability to see what is beauty, to recreate and decorate.  Making the home the best that it can be is a little bit to that end. Having friends over and blessing them with good food and fun is more of the same. Having dinner flow around my husbands schedule is what I am called to do. I won't always have these times to be busy cleaning, cooking, and warming the home for all the souls that abide here. Now is my time, not tomorrow, not next week, not in a year when friends come again, but here and now, in this moment. I will enjoy it now even though the days are long and my eyes are dark. Even though my body is tired and my head pounds. Yesterday won't come again.

True hospitality is sharing your life and dying to self. This should happen inside and outside of our dear family circles.