“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,” wrote the author of Hebrews, “for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” “Did we talk about that [the following event] then?” I asked Sissy the other day. “I don’t remember,” she responded. Maybe our brains were still reeling from the bourbon. I asked […]
When You Need to Seam Home
The men are laying new vinyl today. “Do you want the seam here… or there?” asks the one in charge. And I’m thinking, I don’t care. I won’t be living with it. This will no longer my home. I’m losing my sense of home. I’m already separating from it like a dying person begins to […]
Simple Touches of Hospitality
Several weeks ago, our Sunday School class held a Chili Cook-Off. I brought bowls of shredded cheese and sour cream to help calm anticipated spicy fires of the tongue. I also won second place with my vegetarian chili, substituting ginger ale for the beer. The recipe is in GraceTable’s free Fall-Winter Volume I cookbook […]
To Serve Up Love
I’m sitting at our white porcelain-topped farm table facing a new stainless steel sink (goodbye rusted white cast iron) with the bronze faucet that reminds me a little of an old well. The 50-year-old cabinets I painted blue when we moved in 25-plus years ago are gone. They’d been disintegrating and dusting themselves all over […]
When Hospitality Is Caked With Dust
Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. (1 Peter 4:9 ESV) My dad’s told the story a quadrillion times. How I overheard him say he’d like fish and fried potatoes for breakfast. So one morning I rose early (Dad says I was probably only 10 years old), grabbed my fishing pole and a can of […]
Breaking The Border of Self
I shook my head and sighed as I folded yet another frayed towel. We’ve had these light mocha (now practically cream) towels for what seems like forever, and to replace them is low on the needs list. But the other day I used a Target gift card to buy just one big, fluffy, white bath […]