Archive | April, 2011

I have been blessed to observe my little girl lately and the delight she finds in showing hospitality to others! She loves offering popcorn or water to those who come through our day. She is catching the vision. Even at such a young age, we can encourage a heart of love and service towards others by practically including them in demonstrations of hospitality. They are a blessed addition to our hospitality. But it can often be challenging to prepare for guests when we have little ones demanding our attention. How can we practically include them? How can we make hospitality preparations simple with little ones in tow?

1. Include them in the inviting process. Who are they interested in inviting over? Could they hand out the invitations? Incorporating children in this way really helps to strengthen their social skills. Adopt a “grandpa” or “grandma” from your church or neighborhood and discuss how you could do something special with or for that person.

2. Include them in praying for your guests. In preparation for your guests, try to spend a few moments together praying the Lord’s blessing over your home and guests. Let them pray their own special prayer on your guests behalf.

3. Include them in your preparations. Prepare simple dishes that the kiddos can help assemble. Whether it be simple dicing of vegetables, stirring together a batter, or setting the table. This gives them a sense of ownership over the serving and heightens their anticipation of the evening.

I heard a story of a a godly older woman who shared that as she got ready for guests to arrive, her little ones would be working hard alongside her in the kitchen doing their own project: 1) making place cards w/ a Bible verse on it, 2) drawing pictures for the ones that would be coming, and 3) practicing a song or play for the guests. Together they participated in building the excitement for the evening.

4. Let them serve. Be willing to practice training them how to carry plates, cups, and other utensils to set the table at home in every day life in preparation for also serving your guests. Children as young as three can carefully serve dessert on plates, or offer beverages to a guest.

5. Keep the kids food simple. Remember that little ones are often pretty picky. Why not keep it less stressful by preparing something easy that they will be sure to enjoy – macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, hot dogs, etc. This way neither you nor your guests isn’t stressing out half of the evening trying to get the kids to eat their food.

6. Keep the menu simple. While we will be sharing some easy menu ideas later, I wanted to mention that keeping our hospitality menus simple has been essential! I stick to one pot meals, or a main dish and salad, or crockpot dinners. No five course dinners in this season of life. Any meal will be a blessing to your guest (remember they just appreciate the break from their own dinner preparations!), even if it is a simple pot of chili and cornbread. It’s hearty and delicious! Or simply, stick to dessert. This keeps your stress levels down, makes clean up easy, and hospitality doable with kids.

7. Consider feeding your kids in advance. I know when we host our weekly Community Group dinner, it doesn’t start till 6pm. By this time the kids are starving and cranky and constantly under my feet. If I can give them something easy and simple in advance, they will stay occupied while I put the final preparations together.

8. Remove breakables ahead of time, in addition to any loud toys you might have. Before we have company, any push or riding toys are moved to the garage. It just gets too loud with hard wood floors to be able to enjoy our company. The best easy toys for company seem to be a big pile of blocks or legos and a selection of dress-ups. They seem to meet the needs of both boys and girls. To keep the mess down, I specifically put half the toys up and out of the way, thus protecting against a big mess.

What inspiring ideas can you pass along for practicing hospitality with kiddos?

Only one life, twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last. - C.T. Studd

“The most important consideration is that hospitality is a reflection of God’s nature. God is a welcoming God. He pursues and extends relationship, meeting needs and providing safety. As we model a life of invitation, employing our resources to meet the needs of others, we provide the world with a picture of a much greater spiritual truth – God invites all to his safe embrace.” – Practicing Hospitality by Lisa Tatlock & Pat Ennis

God has beautifully designed each one of us to be His Ambassadors…his hands and feet to carry His love to those around us. His Great Commission (Matt. 18:20) was given to every one of us, young and old, every mother, father, and child. It is not limited to those He calls overseas. There is a harvest field ripe within our own back yards, be it the country or the city. It is a lost and dying world out there. Nor is the family an obstacle for ministry. The family is our vehicle for ministry. Together, our various giftings can be utilized, whether young or old, to minister to others of various backgrounds, ages, and lifestyles. To be devoted in our day and age to mission minded living takes focused intentionality. We have to prayerfully cut back in our schedules. We have to get a glimpse of the greater Kingdom purpose of our stay on this earth. We have to see that cultivating a hospitable life is a command for every believer.

Hospitality is:

• Proverbs 14:31 – a means of honoring and loving Christ by meeting the needs of the poor
• 1 Peter 4:9 – to be practiced without grumbling or complaining, or thought of reward.
• Hebrews 13:1-2 – literally “a love for strangers” – treating fellow believers (Rom. 12:3, 1 Tim. 3:2), widows, orphans (1 Tim. 5:1-16), unbelievers (Luke 5:29), the poor and needy (Luke 14:12-14), missionaries (Matt. 10:9-11; Luke 10:7-16), foreigners, immigrants, refugees (Gen. 18:1-22; Lev. 25:35), and even enemies (Rom. 12:20) as if they were your very own family.
• Proverbs 19:17 – helping the poor, understanding that the Lord will repay you!
• Meeting the basic needs of others – and can include preparing food, providing lodging, giving physical protection, sharing material possessions, offering a place of rest, extending love and encouragement, sharing the gospel and spiritual teaching or encouragement.

Ultimately, hospitality is not limited to a space or time. It matters not how large your home is or how generous your table settings. It is rather a lifestyle of generosity. It asks with each purchase: “can this be used to bless others?” When we evaluate our budget and spending, it asks: “How can we live more simply so we can have extra means to pour love on others?” It steps back at the beginning of each week and instead of focusing on ourselves, it starts by asking: “Who can I bless this week? What is one practical way I could minister to another?” The more we plant these thoughts and seeds, the more they will become a passion of our hearts. And in this process, we will be storing up treasures in heaven rather than on this moth infested earth.

Cultivating a lifestyle of generosity ignores perfection and entertaining. As Pat Ennis says, “Entertaining focuses on having a beautiful table decor or preparing gourmet food. Biblical hospitality is a demonstration of love. Food and other elements are merely tools used to express our love for people. Our motivation for being hospitable is a response to God’s work in our lives.” We have been recipients of such merciful grace through Christ’s work on the cross, and thus practicing hospitality and generosity is an outpouring of love and the joy that we have experienced as partakers of God’s grace. It is an overflow. Thus our focus should not be on the perfect meal or presentation, but on letting others see a glimpse of Christ in our hearts.

Let us start today and pray for hearts of love and enthusiasm for catching Christ’s call to be hospitable. Roadblocks and fear can be overcome when we humbly offer our hands, feet, and homes to the Lord’s use. He will surely bless it!

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