Last weekend, I was busy preparing my house for company - and stressing out just a wee bit.
As I have said, God did not bless me with the gift of hospitality - however, I want to try to get better at being less introverted and reaching out to others more. My job as a church/school secretary zaps a lot of that desire out of me as I deal with people every day that I work. But I want to overcome!!
I think I've figured out that hospitality is not so much sharing your home as it is sharing your heart. So, with that in mind, I let a family come in whom I have never met - and I was totally surprised that they were more of a blessing to me than I probably ever was to them!
This lovely family - Bob, Kelly, and Jackson - are going to go to Germany as missionaries to the German speaking people. My pastor invited them to come to our church's Missions Conference this week. We had a wonderful conference - and a wonderful time getting to know each other.
A big blessing was watching my children interact with Jackson who is 21 months old. I am now pretty much confident that both my children will be a great older sibling to our new baby! My son Andrew was especially taken with Jackson and was very responsible in taking care of him to the extent that he stayed with the family on the 2 days that I had to go in to work- and he worked in the nursery at church twice to help entertain Jackson specifically. They were great buddies.I won't lie and say that I'm not exhausted & so ready to sleep for about 47 hours after this week. Getting up at 7 a.m. today to make chicken enchiladas for the conference meal tonight (ewwwww, the smell of chicken and chiles that early was not a fun way to start the day!!) and working all day and being at church all night was enough to finish me off - but despite the physical exhaustion, I feel the spiritual renewal from the conference and the excitement these people have for reaching the world with the Gospel!
3 comments:
Wow, you go girl! I've never had folks in my home that I've never met before. You're really stepping out there, aren't ya? Good for you!!
Glad to hear your kids interacted so well with the little one. :) Your children are old enough now that your new baby will probably be 3 before she ever learns to walk...they'll be toting her everywhere she wants to go! LOL! So sweet. :)
what a small world! i went to college with bob and kelly.
So happy the week went well and you had a good time. Hope you're getting some rest. Oh, and your kids will be GREAT older siblings to the new baby--I'll bet they are SO excited! They help you in ways you probably can't even imagine right now.
BTW, a few years ago the chapel hosted a college choir concert and I brought home SIX college girls that I had never met before! I was so apprehensive, but all they wanted was to raid my kitchen and do a couple loads of laundry, and they were totally happy with the sofa bed and air mattresses. It was actually more fun than I expected.
Post a Comment