I like my space + I’m not good at sharing.
3 minute read
Sharing does not come easily to me. Like at all. My children know where the Mommy Chocolate is in our house, and they dang sure know not to touch it.
I’m not sure if this is an eldest girl/birth order trait where I was born inherently opposed to sharing clothes (hi sissy), and then it trickled out into other things in life, but sharing really anything makes me buck almost every time. I’ll eventually come around (unless it’s a bite of my sandwich, right Gup?), but it is definitely an ongoing test.
Closely akin to sharing is hospitality because with hospitality, you are sharing your space, your home, your time, your energy.
So much sharing in hospitality. So not easy for me and my “extroverted introvert” ways ;)
Sure, I can set a date and invite people I love to come over to my perfectly prepped menu and irritatingly clean house fully living out The Mom-having-company-over-stereotype Box Set complete with pillow karate chopping, rogue crumb finger sticking, don’t-sit-there!-ing, don’t-eat-that!-ing all over the place, but if we’re talking about an impromptu day-to-day open door policy… yeah, nope.
I’ve been particularly reflective of my hesitancy to share my space after my dear, wise friend Lauren mentioned in passing she was having someone over for dinner she doesn’t particularly jive with, and she was praying for the Lord to equip her to love this girl well.
It stopped me in my tracks.
Wait, you’re purposely inviting someone over you don’t particularly enjoy spending time with? And wait, you mean I also can pray for God to equip me to do the same thing?
🤯 (mindblown)
In hearing her talk about her very obvious (and very beautiful) gift of hospitality, my hyper-critical brain immediately chided me with You don’t have that gift.
Howeverrrr, as the Spirit has led me to study these past few weeks, I’ve learned I ACTUALLY DO HAVE IT.
And you do too!
Just because a particular gift is in the back of the closet with the Christmas china doesn’t mean it’s not there! Sure, some are easier to exercise than others and by God’s divine design of the Body of Christ, we are purposely more-readily equipped with some gifts over others. That said, when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are gifted and sealed with the Holy Spirit, and when this happens, we are gifted with everything we need to live godly lives.
Let’s see what our boy Pete has to say about this.
2 Peter 1:3 NLT
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
While I realize hospitality is not technically qualified as a Spiritual Gift, do you agree or disagree hospitality is part of living a godly life? Agree. Agree or disagree any/all of the other spiritual gifts align with living a godly life? Agree again. Agree or disagree when God tells us through Peter He has given us everything we need, He means everything. Agree x3.
The coolest, coolest part of this scripture is that by God’s perfect plan, we receive everything we need by coming to know Him, and how do we come to know Him? BECAUSE HE CALLED US TO HIMSELF.
Only through His marvelous glory and excellence could He do the planning, the executing and the sanctifying. Forever!
When I look at it this way, it really takes the heat off. It’s all done through Him, so my only job is to ask and trust.
Easy enough, right? ;) If only I weren’t a human lol.
Since the convo with my hospitable friend a few weeks ago, I have shared with Gup how much it’s been on my heart to be more hospitable. In true MC GO BIG OR GO HOME fashion, this past Sunday (Easter!), I woke up with it in my head we needed to not only invite people over, we needed to invite the whole neighborhood… that afternoon.
Really.
I went from no room at the inn to You get an invite! You get an invite! YOU, YOU, YOU get an invite!
Because he knows me oh so well, Gup gently suggested we wait until the caffeine wears off to reassess later that day. Wisdom, y’all.
While I agreed to wait to blast the text, I still stubbornly kept envisioning the party. That table can go here. Grill goes there. Bounce house in the front. Sprinklers in the back. Kids stay outside. Blah blah blah.
The more I planned, the more the Lord started to soften my resolve by gently showing me it didn’t need to be The Grand Entry Gala.
I started to ease off the idea almost exactly the time we got a text from our bestie Pitzer fam asking if we wanted to do dinner. After some deliberation, Crawford and I agreed we wanted to have them over (duh!) and maybe instead of blasting a neighborhood-wide text, we’d simply pray to be more open to any neighbors who walked by, and just see how it goes.
What a concept, right?! Lol. I realize we sound like Todd & Margo in recovery right now. You can judge, I’m judging too ;)
Fast forward to the evening, and in a way only He could, God gave me the opportunity to be hospitable to our really kind neighbors that evening without doing a huge thing.
What I learned about hospitality in this exercise is that it does not need to be some grandiose whole neighborhood affair.
It can be, sure, but hospitality is also seeing a neighbor outside, and rather than going about your business, you stop and chat. You’re not rushing. You’re asking questions and you’re listening. It can totally mean setting dates and inviting your easy company over, and it also means asking for (and believing!) He will not only give you the opportunity, but that He will also equip you to be hospitable to harder company.
Here’s a concept to ponder as we walk into a new week:
What if we start viewing whatever {fill in the blank} gift or attribute we think we don’t have as actually the greatest gift because THAT gift requires the most dependence on the Lord? Think about it: The gifts that come easily require less dependence on Him, and ipso facto, they often get taken for granted.
Maybe we also ask for a heart check on the gift (start with one!) you think you’re lacking and pray 2 Peter 1:3 over it while also praying for the ability to trust His word here. Lastly, let’s sit in gratitude for the gifts always at the front of the cabinet we pull out without a second thought… because those come from Him too!
Father God, you are marvelous and full of glory and goodness. You see and know each of us so very personally. Thank you for calling us to you! Thank you for blessing each of us with unique gifts to serve your kingdom. Thank you for the opportunity to depend on you every day. What a gift to walk with you! In Jesus name, Amen.
Suggested Scripture for the Week:
S/M: Ephesians 1:13
T: Galatians 5:22-23
W: 2 Peter 1:3
Th: 1 Cor 1:4-9
F: Romans 12:6-8
S: Philippians 1:6