They have started and encouraged numerous churches all over Southern Arizona. Last spring, my husband was invited to preach in their church, and we were privileged to stay with Liz and her husband. They were the best! You just felt at home there in their home. I enjoyed being there, the conversation, the food...even the free tour of Tombstone. I would be thrilled if people felt about me and my house the way we felt about theirs!
So, I asked her to write up a post for me about hospitality and, after reading it, I've decided to hand my blog over to her and let her "go to town". She did an awesome job! ;)
Here's what Liz had to say about Hospitality:
Oh, no...the doorbell is ringing!!!! How many times have we felt that sentiment? Why does it scare us....our house isn't straight, we don't have beautiful furniture, can't get it all done. Well, I have good news for you. Entertaining is come see my pretty house; but HOSPITALITY is come into my home, draw aside, renew, refresh and hopefully smell the fragrance of Christ here.
That idea changes everything with our attitude for having people come into our home. As we ask God to guide us into ministering to that young wife, mother, grandmother,or whomever God brings into our home, we can find ourselves in an awesome exciting life.
In the last 14 years of ministry we have had over 11,000 eat or sleep in our home. What a joy that has been. We have had people come to know the Lord, people surrender to full time Christian service, renew their spirit and just catch their breath from a busy life. What a privilege!
Big house, little house, fancy, "early attic".....doesn't matter. Do you genuinely love like Jesus does? Are you willing to be inconvenienced for Jesus Christ? I Peter 4:9 says " be hospitable to one another without grumbling". Give it a try with joy in your heart as "unto the Lord".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you're new here at Hidden Treasures, we'd love to invite you to stick around and hang out a while! You can hook up with us on Facebook or Twitter. Or you can chose to have our post sent directly to your E-mail or RSS feed. Thank you so much for taking the time to read our posts!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh, this is lovely. My husband is an MK and his mother has told me many stories about hosting people in their home in various mission fields where they served. She has so many good stories(inlcuding a surprise last-minute dinner party for 20!) and like you, she sees hospitality as a real privilege and adventure.
ReplyDeleteI think all of us should see it that way. Can you imagine the impact we could have on others!?! That's loving like Jesus loved!
ReplyDelete