{"id":568,"date":"2011-05-24T05:25:10","date_gmt":"2011-05-24T09:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=568"},"modified":"2011-05-22T23:09:50","modified_gmt":"2011-05-23T03:09:50","slug":"welcome-to-our-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/welcome-to-our-home.html","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to our home"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>As I waved good-bye\u00a0the last group of visitors, new folks were arriving on Friday.\u00a0 Yesterday, the senior pastor of a large church spoke to a staff gathering about the importance of being willing to have our homes open for visitors.\u00a0In our society, as Christians,\u00a0\u00a0there are a vast variety of things attached to our “job description.”\u00a0\u00a0With the pressures of everyday life, almost out of necessity,\u00a0the scriptural mandate to be \u201cgiven to hospitality\u201d becomes \u201cother duties as assigned.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the years, hospitality has been one of the delightful aspects of\u00a0 ministry for my husband and me.\u00a0 We enjoy sharing our home with others; and we are deliberate\u00a0to\u00a0open\u00a0it to others.\u00a0 Sure, there are hazards.\u00a0\u00a0Things do go missing.\u00a0 My husband received many relics from\u00a0outer space because of his employment with NASA.\u00a0\u00a0These \u00a0ranged from\u00a0slivers of\u00a0rocks from the moon to pieces of the rope that tethered the astronaut who ventured from the vehicle on the first space walk.\u00a0 These were history-making events and keepsakes.\u00a0 We treasured them and proudly displayed them on our shelves in the living room.<\/p>\n

One day we woke up to realize that almost all of these items had disappeared from our home along with a few other valuable pieces.\u00a0 The realization came soon after we discovered a teenager who was a chronic liar slipping one of keepsakes into his pocket.\u00a0 He, of course, put it back and he never returned to our home.<\/p>\n

We learned to take appropriate precautions; but we also understand the logical risks involved in having many people coming into our home.\u00a0 Then as the years have passed, at-home hospitality evolved into a pleasant memory of the past for this and other households.\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>Perhaps it is because more and more women have entered the marketplace for paying jobs.\u00a0 A quiet dinner with a couple of friends gathered around our dining room table\u00a0isn\u2019t as convenient as meeting a few folks at a local restaurant.<\/p>\n

However, a few years ago, Special Gathering founder and executive director, Richard Stimson decided to revive the age-old tradition for his programs and suggested that we do the same. \u00a0Special Gathering is a ministry within the special needs community. \u00a0We minister to people who are intellectually disabled. \u00a0Stimson’s plan was to invite two families into our home for dinner each week until all the families we serve\u00a0had been asked to share a meal with us.\u00a0 He suggested a simple menu that would not hurt our budgets.\u00a0 I believe this venture may have been one of the most beneficial things we have ever done to garner favor and familiarity with our members and their families.\u00a0 Even though it\u2019s been years since that initial time, our members still say to me, \u201cRemember when we came to your house for dinner with my mom and dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The scriptures are clear about the importance of the meal and the bonding that happens during the \u201cbreaking of bread.\u201d\u00a0 It is no coincidence that one of the few ordinances that Christ left for us took place during a meal.\u00a0 More orthodox denominations call it \u201ccommunion\u201d or by the Greek term,\u00a0Eucharist<\/em> (which means \u201cgive thanks\u201d).\u00a0 I was raised in the Christian tradition that called this meal, \u201cThe Lord\u2019s Supper.\u201d\u00a0 I love all these terms because each one speaks of the bonding that takes place over a meal in our homes.<\/p>\n

With the demands of my husband\u2019s care over the past two years, my life became more closed into my house.\u00a0\u00a0However,\u00a0I\u2019m looking forward to having more people to our home.\u00a0 It’s true that my schedule is not ordinary, and I’m sure each of you would say the same.\u00a0 Time is such a pressing and demanding commodity in almost all of our lives that it seems almost draconian to say that homes should be opened to other Christians or our neighbors.\u00a0 However,\u00a0the scriptures haven\u2019t changed.\u00a0 We may need to pray about how we can better implement this important Biblical guide into our lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I waved good-bye\u00a0the last group of visitors, new folks were arriving on Friday.\u00a0 Yesterday, the senior pastor of a large church spoke to a staff gathering about the importance of being willing to have our homes open for visitors.\u00a0In our society, as Christians,\u00a0\u00a0there are a vast variety of things attached to our “job description.”\u00a0\u00a0With…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,3,40,10,16,28,12,4,1],"tags":[690,21,688,696,104,7,106,107,701,691,694,19,689,692,700,105],"class_list":["post-568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-inspirational","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged","category-religion","category-simple-truths","category-uncategorized","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-church","tag-communion","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-eucharist","tag-hospitality","tag-inspiration","tag-inspirational","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-mental-retardation","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-religion","tag-spirituality","tag-the-lords-supper"],"yoast_head":"\nWelcome to our home - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Welcome to our home - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As I waved good-bye\u00a0the last group of visitors, new folks were arriving on Friday.\u00a0 Yesterday, the senior pastor of a large church spoke to a staff gathering about the importance of being willing to have our homes open for visitors.\u00a0In our society, as Christians,\u00a0\u00a0there are a vast variety of things attached to our “job description.”\u00a0\u00a0With…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/welcome-to-our-home.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-24T09:25:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-05-23T03:09:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/05\/4498222169_a6699bdc86.jpg.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Welcome to our home - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Welcome to our home - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"As I waved good-bye\u00a0the last group of visitors, new folks were arriving on Friday.\u00a0 Yesterday, the senior pastor of a large church spoke to a staff gathering about the importance of being willing to have our homes open for visitors.\u00a0In our society, as Christians,\u00a0\u00a0there are a vast variety of things attached to our “job description.”\u00a0\u00a0With…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/welcome-to-our-home.html","og_site_name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","article_published_time":"2011-05-24T09:25:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-05-23T03:09:50+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/05\/4498222169_a6699bdc86.jpg.jpeg"}],"author":"Linda G. 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