"...Prepare a guest room for me, for I trust,
through your prayers I shall be granted to you"
Philemon 22
Even
before Mother gave the responsibility to me in my early twenties, I had hosted many of the holiday cooking at her house and sometimes at my sibling’s
houses. Since I liked it so much, Mother finally gave the family holidays to me.
Today, my
home is a large farmhouse, built in the 1820s. It’s nice but it needs much
help. It has odd smells, stains, and is very static in the arrangement of
furniture. While many people have visited, entertaining has limits.
In
the winter, with the woodstove cranking out the heat, guests are elbow to elbow
on the opposite side of the room, far enough so as not to be charred. To watch
the sports on the television causes a major shift and someone inevitably, from
the next room, looks through or over the semi-circle of the fortunate facing
the screen. In the summer, the decay of the fallen down barn invades through
the open windows.
Without
a proper dining room, it takes imaginative rearranging. To accommodate more
than six, a sheet of plywood lays atop my table. This means shifting the refrigerator
against the cupboards by the kitchen sink, thus rendering four useless and causing
a shortened counter top. While the stove is in use, no one can sit on that side
of the table until all the cooking is complete.
For all of this, hosting is wonderful and I
would do it more often.
My
hosting imagination has designed a specific Dream House. It has the normal
master bedroom with full bath, kitchen, guestroom, home office, and household bath
with washer and dryer.
However,
my fantasy has yards of floor space, set with easily rearranged furniture. To accommodate
crowds, there’s a custom kitchen with at least two ovens, a six-burner range, a
grill, separate freezer and refrigerator, an island with food-prep sink, and
long reaches of counter space. There’s casual serving dining bar with stools but
the capstone is comfortable dinner seating for a dozen with addition to serve more.
To have such a venue sounds wonderful.
I
love cooking. I love hosting. I love the gathering of all the hundreds of paraphernalia
my guests may never notice. I like searching for new and exciting recipes. I
love giving gifts and trinkets. I love the table settings and centerpieces. I
love doing the little things and arranging the surprises.
Hospitality, and kind, friendly behavior
should be a trait highly visible in Christians
My
largest entertaining accomplishment to date is organizing a Harvest/Hunter’s Supper
at my home church. While I didn’t do all the cooking or necessary gathering, I
was the go-to person. Even so, credit goes to our small congregations’ involvement
and the praise was all to God’s blessing the event.
"It
was awesome!"
The
turnout was fantastic and we fed almost hundred people, many who had never been
in a church before. I couldn’t stop praising God.
Another
ministry opportunity came as my Husband and I hosted a Thanksgiving Day meal at
our church for the people in our congregation who had no place to go. That was
very satisfying knowing they weren’t sitting alone on this day of giving of Thanks.
Anyone
who enjoys cooking enjoys watching their guests eat what they’ve prepared. When
the only sound is rattling silverware, you know you succeeded. Like when a stranger
buys one of my paintings without ever meeting me. My work has spoken for itself
and my presence is unnecessary for their approval.
“(be)
hospitable, a lover of what is good,
sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled”
Titus 1:8
My Dream House
is an inviting place where people want to be. It is open to Missionaries, pastors and their wives, and other traveling
guests. I imagine holidays, ceremonies, Bible study groups, children’s Bible
groups. Best of all, I imagine inviting unsaved people for good food and fun.
In my open home, I’d introduce them to my Jesus and His free salvation. I would
tell them of heaven and its awesome splendor that outshines my temporary house
on earth.
“Set
your mind on things above, not on things on the earth”
Colossians 3:2
Looking
to Heaven and describing my Dream House? It’s a slimy, water-slogged, decaying,
moldy mud hut compared to my Heavenly Father’s house.
"But
while I’m on earth, I would like to host parties,
especially where Christ is always
welcome
and gets to meet with people at my table"
"Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,
sweetness to the soul and health to the bones"
Proverbs 16:24
