Hospitality...





My mother taught me many things, one of which was how to show hospitality. While I was growing up, we hosted many people around our kitchen table, with meals my mother and her daughters prepared together, and in a home she taught us girls  how to clean and keep tidy. While I did not appreciate this in my teen years, for varied reasons, of which I take responsibility for failure on my part, I certainly have come to appreciate and put many of these things to practice now.

Hosting company can be a bit intimidating. It makes you vulnerable (defined: Exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally), as people will be coming into your home, your private place that is usually 'safe' from outside judging, snooping and gossiping. And if you have encountered that kind of thing in your lifetime, satan uses it to target you when you want to honor the Lord by reaching out in hospitality to your friends and neighbors.

I want to encourage you to go ahead and walk in obedience to the Lord anyway in this area of hospitality. It means dying to ourselves to reach beyond serving our own families to others (although I caution all of us mothers to not make hospitality a huge deal if we are busy minding the little ones God has blessed us with; it may mean we do not host as much company or are not able to send meals to others as often as we would like but 'to everything there is a season' and when your children grow older, you will have time to reach out in hospitality more than you do now).

Here are a few things I have learned about hospitality, some from my mother, and some from experiences I've had as I've walked this area with God.

*Don't feel you need to impress others. Hosting guests is about blessing them with your love and friendship. So we can learn (and teach to our own daughters!) that when we prepare for guests, we are doing it as unto the Lord and not to men. We are hosting guests to bless them so when we clean and decorate our homes, we are doing it to bless them with a pleasant place to visit. When we make the food, we are doing it to nourish their bodies and to provide comforting food for them to enjoy. When you plan activities, you are doing to encourage and uplift them and to refresh their hands in God.

*Keep it simple. Elaborate meals are usually more than I can fit into my schedule as a wife, mom, homeschooler, and woman of God reaching out to bless others. I am not sure that the Lord really wants me to be serving alot of rich foods and besides, to 'get elaborate' places me in that category of 'impressing others' instead of simply serving them and honoring the Lord. Also, if I do not keep it simple, my relationship with my family suffers as I get nervous and uptight about things.

*Include your daughters (and sons, if you have them) into preparing for and serving guests. Teach them to offer to take coats from their guests and hang them up. Or perhaps they could be assigned 'water refill' duty at lunch, or removing first course plates and replacing them with dessert plates at the appropriate time.

*Have a few things handy for guests who may have forgotten something. These things could include new toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, hairspray, a bib for a small guest, hand cream, baby powder, baby wipes, and even disposable diapers (yes, I have doled these out on occasion).

*If there are overnight guests, prepare their beds ahead of time if you can. Ask them about dietary needs or food preferences they may have and plan to accommodate them as much as you can. Make your home their home away from home. Make them feel welcome and comfortable.

*Make meals ahead of time where this is possible. I like to have taco soup (a family favorite) canned or frozen for times when I am needing a quick meal for guests coming in a more unexpected situation. Add to it flat bread (recipe also following), a salad (I usually have salad fixings in my fridge!) and some fresh fruit (this also is usually not hard to find at my house) and a simple meal is soon served.

Above all, keep Jesus Christ first and foremost. Live His life. Let His compassion and caring cause you to reach out in love to your friends, neighbors and strangers, making them feel welcome in your home. This way, we will be sure not to "neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.". (Hebrews 13:12)

I am glad for my mother's example to show me these practical things of hospitality. I have been the unworthy but blessed recipient of many wonderful moments in the homes of those who showed me and my family loving hospitality. I also really enjoy having guests over to my house, so if you are ever in my neck of the woods, be sure to stop by!

God bless you,
Marcia

Taco Soup for a Crowd

 

makes about 15 quarts

In a large stockpot, brown 3 lb hamburger

(I season with Adobo and dried onion)

Add:

3 quarts black beans

4 quarts small red beans or kidney beans

7 quarts tomato juice

3 quarts frozen whole kernel corn

3 cups diced peppers

 (fresh or frozen; I freeze them from my garden in summer)

1 T sea salt

1/2 T black pepper

5 rounded T Taco Seasoning without MSG

(I use McCormick's brand which I buy in large containers from a wholesale club)



Heat altogether and simmer to blend flavors (maybe 1/2 hr, stirring periodically as it does tend to stick and burn if you don't watch it)

Cool and freeze in quart boxes or can.

To pressure can:

Fill canner according to manufacturers instructions.

Can at 15 lb pressure 20 or 25 minutes.

 

This is really handy for lunches on school days, too!

 

Flat bread:

Take your favorite pizza crust recipe, spread it onto your jelly roll sheets half as thick as you

normally do for pizza. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and cheddar cheese (as desired).

Bake at 400* for 15 minutes.

Cut into 'breadsticks' or squares and serve with soup.