True Hospitality

The knock on the door came unexpectedly at 2:00 PM today.

Not that it should have been unexpected, mind you. Though not on the wall calendar, the meeting was on my email calendar and written on the to-do list I'd never gotten around to looking at in a busy morning. But the events of this thing called "life" had caused me to completely forget that today was a day I'd been looking forward to for a few weeks.

A couple of divine appointments established a connection between me and another believer who I really have wanted to get to know. We planned to meet today and she was prompt, knocking on the door at 1:55. When my husband came and asked if I was expecting company, I immediately remembered and was aghast.

The house was a mess. I hadn't even so much as vacuumed up the mass of seed kernels and dog hair left by our pets, much less put up things around the kitchen or folded the clothes on the bed. Furthermore, I was not in a mood for company at the time! While I wanted to see her, I'm an introvert by nature, and playing hostess in this setting stretched me waaaaaaay out of my comfort zone!

But God is good and faithful. Somehow I managed to welcome her and she was gracious from the beginning. She managed to make me feel comfortable in my own home, my own mess. She brought a cheesecake, we sat at the table, and conversation began to flow. Within minutes I realized I wouldn't have missed this for the world - mess or no mess.

Over the next 4 hours we laughed and talked. When I got hungry I got up and ate; she eagerly invited herself to have one of the bananas on the table. When she got tired, she took a catnap and I threw in a load of laundry and cleared off the counter. What is a struggle even with my closest friends and extended family became the most natural thing in the world with my new friend. In the process, I heard one of the most amazing stories of grace I've ever known. When we prayed, I felt the presence of the Lord in a very real and powerful way. I knew that I so easily could have missed all of that for being "worried and bothered about so many things".

When my new friend left, she thanked me for opening my home. She said she was glad that it was the way it was, because it felt like life. Some days are good, some are bad; we're up and we're down; and we are in it together. Hospitality is more about being willing to share life than it is about any decorations, meals, or preparation time. It's about openness and servanthood and relationship and love. Mostly, it's about making someone feel comfortable enough to be who they are, to tear down walls.

Today, I played hostess. But my friend brought the hospitality.