by Michele Morin
Across the miles they drove, journeying four hours north on washboard roads until they reached this country hill.
“We want to talk about the conference,” they had said on the phone. “We can fill you in on the details in person. The more you know about us, the easier it will be for you to prepare.”
I heard their words, but I was deaf to their hearts, because as the date of their visit approached, the puddle of panic around me grew deeper and murkier. The faithless ponderings multiplied:
They’ll be sorry they traveled all this way to meet someone so ordinary. What if they want to quiz me on my theology? I’m sure they’ll take one look at my tiny kitchen and my beat up wood floors and decide that I’m a mess, too.
This, for me, has been the challenge of the Christian life: to boldly welcome others into the mess that is me, and then to trust – to trust that God will build a bridge between our hearts, and to trust that others will respond with acceptance and love.
As it happens, my new friends arrived a few minutes late – GPS’s aren’t much help out here! More important, though, when they showed up in my driveway, they did not arrive bearing an impossible yardstick or hearts of judgment. They were not expecting me to look or sound like a conference speaker or to live in a museum of Pinterest perfection.
We exchanged warm hugs and settled down to business. They shared their stories and described their community, drawing me into their fellowship of women:
the diligent seekers after Truth;
the heartsick lovers of prodigal children;
the faithful caregivers who bridge and mend the generations;
the patient prayer warriors who battle daily on behalf of unsaved husbands.
We broke zucchini bread together and my worries about my mum-jeans and sub-standard housekeeping practices were forgotten as we engaged in sincere prayer for the planning of the conference and for the women who would be challenged by the Truth.
I was the girl with the teakettle on the stove and my Canadian grandmother’s delicate cups and saucers all arranged to receive guests, but these women who had traveled across two state lines on an early Monday morning were the true extenders of hospitality.
They transcended geography, opened their hearts, and welcomed me into their lives in the spirit that Paul describes in Romans 15:7:
Therefore, receive one another just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.
Stretching out both hands to receive the world, Jesus’ act of cross-shaped love still flattens the barriers that appear so insurmountable to this fearful and self-protective introvert. God is mightily glorified when, by grace, we reach across the artificial boundaries of politics, race, or denomination in order to truly “receive one another” in unity and acceptance.
Wanting to send my new friends on their way with sweetness, I pulled tiny jars of apple butter from my basement shelves. But the greater gift that day was offered to me — the priceless welcome and deep hospitality of friendship.
This piece first ran here. Cover photo by Hian Oliveira on Unsplash.
Michele Morin is a teacher, reader, writer, and gardener who blogs at Living Our Days. She has been married to an unreasonably patient husband for over 25 years, and their four children are growing up at an alarming rate. She is active in educational ministries with her local church and her writing has appeared at SheLoves Magazine, The Mudroom, (in)courage, and elsewhere. Michele loves hot tea and well-crafted sentences, poems that stop her in her tracks and days at the ocean with the whole family. She laments biblical illiteracy, finds joy in sitting around a table surrounded by women with open Bibles, and advocates for the prudent use of “little minutes.” You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Your well crafted words are always a feast. You will surely feed the flock at the conference.
Maybe you don’t know how often your words to me are also a sweet form of hospitality, and the welcome comes as an encouragement. This post was written a couple of years ago, but the timing today is perfect because I am preparing for an event on Friday evening. Good to be reminded that God came through then. He will come through once again.
What a beautiful testimony of lifting the veil so that God can bind kindred spirits.
We never know, do we, when God is going to knit hearts together or what circumstances He will use?
I’m grateful for the way this story happened and for the friendships that came out of it.
May Friday evening turn out to be more than you’ve asked or imagined, Michele.
Praying as I tap tap here …
Oh, Linda, prayers are SO appreciated!
Congratulations on being published on The Perennial Gen. Again! 🙂 What beautifully written words about friendship. I had to laugh when you worried about your “sub-standard” housekeeping. Any friends entering my house must turn a blind eye to a little dust and clutter. I enjoyed reading a lot!
Thank you!
I really appreciate this community!
And it’s good to know that you are also a believer in doing many things very well–and doing house work not very well at all!
I love your honesty and vulnerability here, probably because it resonates with my own feelings of letting others into my home and heart perfectly! Thank you for this 🙂
That makes me so happy!
I think a lot of the walls we put up around ourselves have EVERYTHING to do with our insecurity. Thanks be to God, He is big enough to handle that!
I enjoyed this when it was first posted, and enjoyed it again. And needed the reminders again.
I needed the reminder this week, too, Barbara!
Michele, you’re such an inspiration. Your words are always such a blessing, and I’m so encouraged to see how God uses introverts for His glory. It gives me hope. 🙂
I think extroverts have their challenges as well–they’re just different (and completely incomprehensible to us!!) 🙂
Carlie, I do appreciate your encouragement here. Thanks for reading and for taking time to comment.
This is beautiful, Michele. Hospitality is as unique as each person who extends it. I see it going all directions in your story!
It’s true that we have a very rigid view of hospitality and “how it should be done.”
What we really need more than perfection is true connection with one another. I’m learning that this can happen even in a house with a dusty piano.
Yes, true connection. I am thinking that is what we are seeking most.
I used to worry so much about getting the food just right, the house clean, and such, and now I am realizing that while those are nice, people really just want to connect.
Love your story here and how your worries evaporated.
That has always been my bottle neck as well, Theresa. I would spend so much time worrying about getting things “right” that I failed to really connect with the people. So thankful that God is patient with us!
This is a lovely post! I relate to your fear of letting others in and worrying what they will think of the mess, but it is amazing when we can push past that and find the kind of acceptance and friendship you describe!
And truly, when I examine my own response to the homes and the lives of my friends, I ‘m not consumed with their level of perfection. I’m just grateful to be invited and to be included in their lives.
With that in mind, I need to trust my friends to receive me in the same manner.
What a beautiful story! What a great reminder that when we extend hospitality we receive so much.
Thanks, Afton.
I’m so grateful for the friendships that have started around my dining room table.
Michele, I love this post as much as (if not more than) when you first published it. It remains a poignant reminder of God’s grace and how He welcomes us with open arms — without judgement, just full of love.
Thanks for sharing it again.
Blessings to you!
I want to extend that same kind of non-judgmental love as well, Marva.
It’s so easy to bottle neck the flow of friendship with our strong opinions and our “shoulds.”
Thanks for reading–Again!
I remember this from an original post and it was a joy to read again! The other day we had friends show up when we were unprepared, and their gracious, laid back way of visiting felt like hospitality brought into our home. Thanks again for this Michele!