8 Surprisingly Simple Ways to Show Hospitality
I accidentally read a book about hospitality last month. Maybe no one accidentally reads an entire book, but that’s how it went. I started reading the book because I met the author this summer. She struck me as authentic and kind, and I hoped her words might offer a few new ways to show hospitality in our lives.
As I leafed through the book, the words began to echo in the deepest recesses of my soul. An Invitation to the Table: Embracing the Gift of Hospitality by Michelle Lazurek changed the way I perceive hospitality.
Her words also showed me that hospitality is much more than a clean house and good food:
“Hospitality is more than just inviting some friends over for dinner. Hospitality means messing up your life and sacrificing every convenience and comfort for the sake of promoting the gospel. . . Jesus set the expectation that if people wanted to follow him, they had to forgo everything they ever knew and, in essence, become foreigners and aliens in the land, relying on other people’s willingness to accept them into their homes. . . In the same way, we must offer our lives as an example of hospitality and live hospitably with others.”
One of the Most Powerful Ways to Show Hospitality
Michelle’s words have echoed in my mind for weeks, especially the words, “messing up your life.”
Hospitality is more than opening our homes.
It’s opening our hearts to others and providing safe places for connection.
Hospitality can happen in our homes, but it can also happen on the corner of Main Street, the bleachers of a high school basketball game, or the produce aisle of the local grocery store.
Hospitality is reaching into someone else’s world and inviting them into yours.
Creating a Culture of Acceptance
I was somewhere between middle school and high school when alternative music started making waves through Sony Walkman headsets across the nation.
Bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Live changed the way our generation jammed.
They echoed the unspoken angst we experienced in our adolescent quests for identity.
Michelle writes about this movement in a way that captures the culture of the 90’s:
“They did not just change the way I listened to music, but everything else changed too. I soon found myself walking down the hall decked out in identical Converse shoes and red plaid flannel shirts with my friends. Soon, I was not myself anymore. I found myself belonging to something much bigger than the music – a whole way of life. Because I liked the same music as my friends, I found something I had in common with them. They soon invited me to parties and to sit with them at lunch. My commonalities with my newfound friends helped me relate to them. Soon I wanted to do what they were doing and go where they wanted to go.
Nirvana wasn’t just any band. They changed the face and future of music. Although their music was original and innovative, they didn’t just create a fan base, they created a culture.”
What does Nirvana have to do with hospitality? By creating a culture in which people felt connected, they unified young people who were questioning everything about their lives.
I’m not proposing we model or repeat the messages portrayed in all of Nirvana’s songs, but I do propose we create cultures of love and inclusion wherever we go.
8 Simple Ways to Show Hospitality
How do we follow Michelle’s advice and embrace the gift of hospitality? Here are a few simple ideas:
1. Host a messy house play-date.
The rules are simple: Invite your friends over with their kids or grandkids. You’re not allowed to clean your house. Take turns hosting!
2. Gather over a shared interest.
Call up some friends and meet for a bike ride.
Join a running club, start a baking club, or meet to discuss your favorite natural health remedies.
Find something you love to do and then share it with others.
3. Enjoy dessert and inspiration.
Our friends used to host a weekly Saturday night gathering called “Pie and Piper.”
It was simple. They invited friends to their house, ate pie, and watched an inspirational John Piper video every week.
Choose your inspirational teacher, download some videos, whip up a dessert, and you’re all set.
4. Make your own…
. . . soap, Father’s Day cards, Christmas ornaments, Thanksgiving decorations, or whatever you choose. Pick something you’ll actually enjoy creating, and chances are, your friends will enjoy it too!
Creative Ways to Show Hospitality in Your Community:
5. Visit an elderly neighbor or your very own grandma and offer the gift of opening your heart.
Extend hospitality outside the home by visiting someone who might be lonely. Elderly people are often eager for a visit.
6. Start a team or join a league.
Find a local softball or volleyball league and gather some friends to make a team and join the league.
Not up for a league?
Meet weekly in your backyard for volleyball, bad mitten, corn hole, or horseshoes.
7. Mentor someone who is a little younger.
Look around your sphere of influence, and you’ll probably find someone with fewer years of life experience.
Invite this younger friend to meet for brunch, coffee, ice cream, or a walk.
You never know how much of a difference you might be able to make.
8. Take it on the road.
Deliver cookies or zucchini bread to the neighbors or cold drinks to road crews working on a hot day.
Remember that hospitality can happen anywhere.
Open your heart and create a space where people know they belong. This is the heart of hospitality, and it can happen anywhere!
Open your heart and create a space where people know they belong. This is the heart of hospitality, and it can happen anywhere! #Christianhospitality #openhearts #hospitalityideas Share on XRefuse to Angy Clean, Angry Cook, or Angry Host Ever Again!
Do you ever feel overwhelmed when it comes to inviting people into your home? I spent years grumbling because I felt like the workload entirely fell upon me. Then, God changed my perspective. I invite you to join me as I confess to Angry Cleaning, and we’ll talk about how to have joy as we show hospitality!
For a limited time, I invite you to download and read a chapter of my life-changing book, Lean Into Grace, right here. This chapter will help change the way you see the work God has placed in front of you and align your heart with his heart. Download this chapter for free with promo code GRACE right here. I pray it blesses you!
Calling All Moms and Daughters!
Additionally, my 12-year-old daughter, Bekah, and I wrote a mother-daughter devotional book to help mothers and daughters grow closer together while connecting with God. Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith includes 60 devotions with Scripture, commentaries from both of us, conversation starters, and even a shared journaling section. Multitudes of mothers, daughters, mentors, and younger women are being transformed by this book! You can find this book in eBook form for free on the Kindle Unlimited Plan or buy a print copy for 11.99 right here.
Resources:
Michelle Lazurek, The Ripple Effect (Coudersport, PA: Michelle Lazurek, 2013), 19-20.Michelle, Lazurek, An Invitation to the Table: Embracing the Gift of Hospitality (Abilene, TX: Leafwood Publishers, 2016).
