The Boundaries of Hospitality
My family has lived on the campus of a Bible college in Southern Africa for the past six-and-a-half years. We love living in close proximity to our multiethnic neighbors, being heavily involved in the lives of students and the life of the school, and the ease of living where we work. We struggle, too, and […]
A Table Overflowing
As we pull into the driveway of our house, I hurry the kids inside as typical Icelandic winter winds attempt to whip us away from our destination. Stepping into the foyer, my eyes quickly survey the coats and outdoor clothing tossed around. I tell my children to tuck items into corners, at the very least, […]
Sacrificial Hospitality + Roasted Pork Tenderloin
Two apartments and eight years ago, we lived in a first-floor apartment on a university campus. The kitchen faced the street and was the length of our apartment. Long, skinny, and one wall full of windows. Since we were on the first floor, anyone passing by could see into our kitchen. Upon first moving in, […]
Meeting Friends Where They Are
Early on in my time in Rwanda, I was blessed with the friendship of a woman I’ll call “B”. B is one of the kindest, most Jesus-loving women I have ever met, and the Lord saw fit to bring us together in a way only he knew I needed. B’s kids were just a few […]
This Month’s Theme: Hospitality
“True hospitality consists of giving the best of yourself to your guests.” — Eleanor Roosevelt Many of us love to welcome guests, but as cross-cultural workers we have the added, and sometimes complicated, layers of culture and language. What does hospitality look like where you are? Does your hospitality look like your passport culture, your […]
The Grove: Gifted
Remember those spiritual gifts tests? You’ve taken one, right? What did it say? Probably not: “Gifted in uprooting her life, leaving her home and finding her way in a foreign place.” And yet this is what you’ve done. Packed in your bags you brought with you two kinds of spiritual gifts. You brought the gifts you know […]
To Those that Send Me…
To get my juices flowing for this post on “Hospitality,” I looked up the word in the dictionary. Original idea, I know. Here’s what one of the definitions said: “Hospitality is to treat others with warmth and generosity.” Those words triggered a rush of memories and a flash of faces, faces that are to me […]
Practice Hospitality
I took one of those spiritual gift inventories in college. Hospitality was at the bottom of my list, right above mercy (sorry, kids). There are those who can just sit down at the piano and play because it makes sense to them. In the same way, there are those who can just do hospitality because […]
How to Make Your Table Holy Ground
The train would roll into town in the wee hours of the morning. After a summer away, we were, with a sense of both relief and exhaustion, returning home. Home was an apartment building/guesthouse on a campus in the northeast of China. The school would use our apartments during the summer, so all the bits […]