Much of my time is spent thinking about hospitality. I am constantly thinking about how to make sure my home is welcoming to friends and family of all ages. I am planning meals for our family, guests, and freezer meals for last minute visits. I'm thinking about welcoming people to our church and how we can show Christ's love. Needless to say, hospitality in numerous forms is something always on my mind. But recently, it came to my attention that we were shown amazing hospitality while we were on a trip.

We don't typically get invited to people's homes. Between being the Pastor's family, having children with food allergies, and animal allergies, we don't get invited many places. I don't normally have the experience of being a guest in someone else home or church, so this past month was such a nice break to be the guest for once. So what does hospitality on the road look like?

Hospitality from Churches

There are many different forms of hospitality that can be seen throughout a trip. The first stop on our trip was Sunday Worship at a new church since Jacob was off. We love to visit other churches and partake in worship with other believers. It is always so encouraging to be reminded that our Christians family goes beyond the walls of our own church. The atmosphere of each church is different, but one thing that is similar among churches is their hospitality. But what exactly does hospitality in a church look like from the view of a guest?

Today I wanted to share some of the ways we were shown hospitality at the two different churches we had the privilege of attending. When stepping into these churches we were welcomed by smiling faces. These faces were quick to say good morning, offer a bulletin and point us in the right direction. There is something comforting about being greeted so warmly when visiting a church. It is one of the greatest things about being a part of the Church. We are all apart of the same family and can joyfully worship with one another even when we have never met.

Acceptance of Children

Being greeted warmly is always the first indication of the church you are entering. We bring our children into worship and they stay with us the entire service. This is different than many churches and a great way to see how the church body handles children. Now, it is not always possible for the 2 year old to sit through the entire service quietly. Many times, I will need to leave to tend to him. This is another indication of hospitality form the church; how do they handle squirrelly kids and talking toddlers.

My husband and I welcomed into the church, but people said good morning to our children and speak with them. They did not push our children away somewhere different, but accepted them as members of the church family and welcomed them to worship. When our youngest started fussing, Jacob took him to the lobby in which he found he could hear the entire sermon. Due to the set up of these churches he was also able to walk around with a tired toddler while still hearing the sermon and participating in the service.

It is such a blessing to families of young children, when there is a space they can go when their children becomes noisy. A place that is welcoming, and not secluded away from everyone else but instead is still apart of the church family without being disruptive. Showing love and hospitality to a visiting family is one of the traits of a True Church.

Hospitality from Family

Speaking of the church family, we were also show hospitality from our extended family. When traveling we were blessed to see many family members, who went out of their way to show us love and hospitality. They allowed out children to play in their play room, welcomed us to their table and took time off work to just visit.

We also had the privilege of staying at the house of extended family. Our family went above and beyond to show us hospitality. They had a room set up complete with beds for all our children, extra blankets, and a lovely room set up for me and Jacob. These rooms contained all the amenities you could ask for, and were so accommodating to our food allergies. They gave up fridge and freezer space and adjusted their schedules to those of our family. It was so nice to be able to sit in their home, spend time together and feel truly rested.

One of the greatest works of hospitality I have seen was shown by this family on the second day we were there. There was an unexpected emergency with a family from our church, and we had to change out vacation plans and leave. As devastating as it was that we had to leave our week long vacation after only 2 days, our extended family supported us. They again rearranged plans and schedules to spend those last couple hours with us and gave us the support we needed to leave. It was a very hard time, but also very encouraging to see how much we were loved by them. Hospitality has been shown by our church family, our extended family and even strangers.

It is such a blessing to be on the receiving end of hospitality. Hospitality extends beyond our front door and should exists in everything that we do. How can you show hospitality to someone this week?