As I sit here on this cold, icy day in northeast Kansas and think about the topic of hospitality in the pastor’s home, my mind is blank. And then . . . after a nap on a cold winter’s afternoon, I wake up with a brilliant, beyond brilliant idea! Well, I hope so anyway! You’ve heard of Christmas in July sales? Well, how about June hospitality in February!
1 Corinthians 16:14 says,
“Let all that you do be done in love.”
Love – isn’t that what the month of February is all about? Shouldn’t that be what all the months are about? Love what you do, no matter what is going on in your home. Today, as I sit here at the computer, watching the birds pick at the frozen ground, waiting for my daughter’s cat to tap on the window ready to be let in, listening closely for any sounds from my sick girls upstairs, I think:
“What can I do to make this snow day/sick day and day with a guest in our home special?”
Wait, what? A guest in your home, your kids are sick and it’s snowy and icy outside? Yep . . . and not just any guest – my husband’s best friend from college! Yikes! Not really…I have learned over the years to love what I do, and no matter who is in my home or what time of year it may be, I try to make them feel loved, special, cared for, relaxed – my home is their home for the duration of their visit.
So, when unexpected weather makes his visit a day longer, I think to myself –
“what do I make for supper tonight? I was planning on just having leftovers! What do I have in my freezer/pantry/cupboards that I can whip into a nice meal?”
Then it hits me . . . soup is always good. My sick girls could use some soup and Monster Cookie Bars – those are always a hit. BAM! Done!
God has called us all, pastor’s wife or not, to do all things in love. I love to have people in my home! I think I learned that from my mom and my grandmas. I also learned many things from a dear family friend who is now living with the best host of all, Jesus Christ. She taught me as a young pastor’s wife many things about making my home inviting, from cleaning out the clutter on top of the fridge to decorating my home to be a warm and loving place where people want to come to again and again.
I’m not a perfect hostess by any stretch of the imagination (I almost burned the frozen pizza the other night with company in my home!) but I have learned to do things in love. I have learned to relax. My home doesn’t have to be a picture perfect, brand new home, but it does have to be a home filled with love. My goal is to make my home filled with love for whomever may walk through my doors, whether it be the head of the mission organization my husband and I are a part of, one of my daughter’s friends, the church chairman and his wife and kids, or the oldest member of our congregation; I want my home filled with love no matter the season. I want my guests to see Christ’s love shining through.
I am a country church pastor’s wife – my home was built in 1901 and sits next to a stately white frame country church built in 1900. The trim work needs a fresh coat of paint, the windows need washed, the yard needs to be landscaped, but I pray that as guests walk through my doors, they enter a home filled with love. A home that welcomes them no matter their situations in life. I want it to say
“Come, have some tea and a Monster Cookie Bar and relax.”
I have had many people tell me over the years,
“I love coming to your home! I can always relax when I’m there.”
And that brings a smile to my face.
Help me Lord, to continue to use Your gifting for Your glory and to put on love, which binds everything together. (See Colossians 3:14)
