Loving Your Children With Hospitality


Dear Mothers in Christ,
"Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the Word of God." Titus 2:3-5
So nice to be back with you all in this beautiful verse. Today I would like to talk to you about loving your children with hospitality. Oh, how children love to have friends over to their house. Their eyes just light up at the thought of it. It has been my pleasure to have many of my children's friends over for the day or for the weekend. There is nothing like hospitality to warm a heart. The Bible teaches that we are to "practice hospitality." I find a wonderful way to practice hospitality is to practice it with His Children.
Sometimes I know in advance that my children are having a guest over; and other times we may decide at church to bring one of their friends home with us. I have learned that children are wonderful "to practice" on. They are very forgiving and very flexible. And they are not afraid to ask for what they need which helps me to be more prepared for them in the future.
I have entertained many a child at my table. I am comfortable with children and love to chat with them. One of my son's friends loves to talk to me as soon as I take my position at the computer or start to read a book. He will lean against the couch and talk to me about what is going on in his eleven year old life. I find him very interesting. So I will sit back in my chair and listen to him as my mother use to do when I interrupted her typing or her reading. He is one of my favorite guests who graces our table frequently. Each time I try to "practice" a little bit more of what I have learned about hospitality with this boy.
I have learned to have one room that is nicely clean just in case we should have a guest. (For me this is our living room.) It is so peaceful knowing that a room is ready should the LORD desire someone to come by for tea or for supper. Likewise with the bathroom. We have one bathroom, but I try to keep it clean throughout the day for anyone the LORD brings to use it. And when I cook in the morning, I try to remember that the LORD might desire for us to have a guest over today. So with my one room ready, and the bathroom clean, and something extra on the stove or in the oven, I am prepared in my home as well as in my heart. If it is Saturday, I try to have the sheets changed on the bed that our guest would use (usually one of my son's beds) if the LORD should bring someone home with us from church. And I love to have cookie dough in the freezer or bread dough rising in the refrigerator ready to pull out and pop into the oven at a moment's notice on our arrival home from church.
It has been my pleasure to practice hospitality with the many young people that the LORD has brought to our home. In doing so I have now found that I am more comfortable having adult guests with us. I know better their needs in advance and how to make them comfortable. I learned this from the many young faces that have sat at my table or slept in my children's beds. For the children who have stayed here have helped me to relax and enjoy the simple pleasure of hospitality, be it planned or spontaneous. They have helped me to practice what our LORD holds dear to His Heart: the refreshing of one heart to another in a home with His love. May His Children, no matter the age, feel this in our home.
Love,
Laine

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