Hospitality

Hospitality is a way of life for some folks. If you grew up in the South like I did then you know what I’m talking about. The definition of hospitality is: 1) the friendly reception and treatment of guests or strangers.  2) the quality or disposition of receiving and treating guests and strangers in a warm, friendly, generous way. Over the years, the way hospitality has been expressed has changed. There was a time when picking up a hitchhiker didn’t feel life threatening. In the years before hotel chains, folks would open up their homes to out of town guests. Even if they didn’t know them!

Today, however, we live in suspicion of the “stranger in our midst”. Hospitality has evolved into an industry. It’s a very profitable industry. It was while I was working at the “hospitality for profit” job that I fell into the church. I was amazed at how these folks would show such care and concern. If I had to work Christmas, they would invite me to spend the night Christmas Eve and open presents with their families on Christmas morning! If I was sick and missed church, my phone would ring off the hook after church. “Are you ok?” “We missed you?” “What do you need?” “I’m on my way over with lunch.”

In my years working in the industry, I knew all the secrets of hospitality. There are books and training manuals written about it. “Don’t just meet expectation… exceed expectation.” That was the most popular mantra in the hospitality business. Hospitality can be learned. But these “church folk” lived it! Hospitality flowed through them from some other source. They weren’t doing this for their own gain. I was intrigued. I had to know the source of this overflowing generosity. I dare say I found the source, and I have dedicated my life to following Him.

I challenge you today… tap into that source of life and let your light shine in the darkness. Only God knows how you could change the world today.

See you Sunday!
Missy