She Was a Treasure at Welcoming Her Guests
For years, one of our highlights was to pack our bags…and travel games…and snacks…and all our kiddos (whether it was the three we began with or up to thirteen of them at a time!)…then we’d head to visit my mom in Southern Illinois. When I’d tell her not to wait up because we would arrive late, she’d always reply… “Will leave a light on for ya!” (a saying I think a hotel owner must have gotten from his own mother some time ago!)
She was a treasure at welcoming her guests, especially when she’d treat everyone to Mackie’s Pizza after we fulfilled her list of “honey-do jobs” that she’d swear we didn’t have to do but always knew we would (evident by the list she’d always “just happen to have ready!”). The pizza was just an added bonus all the kids grew to love, and not a required payment (in all actuality, I think she just really wanted pizza but didn’t want to make a trip to get it for just her!). The best part for our kids through those trips was realizing they were loved and treated as family.
Hospitality is something we have been shown often…whether traveling to speak for Shiloh, going on a big family trip, or popping in on old friends. It’s also something we love to show here at Shiloh. During the summer, our work groups have often outgrown our bunkhouse bed space, and we’ve had the privilege of opening our home to “the extras” (which always blesses us above and beyond!). All of our Shiloh homes take turns opening our homes to feed some of our work-group guests, which gives us a chance to get to know them better, as well as for them to see what family life here is like, up-close and personal!
Recently I read, “Hospitality does not require a perfect home or expensive food…it simply means making people feel safe, valued, and included.” Whether we are working together…sharing a meal in our homes…hanging out at the pond and chilling…or doing evening worship and devos at the pavilion, my husband always says, “It’s like a little taste of Heaven.”…and now I’m humming the old hymn, “When we all get to Heaven , we’ll sing and shout the victory!”
In His Service, Ken & Beth