Hospitality

We Sheffers love to have guests over. It is something we do often and something we really enjoy. We are grateful to God for providing the means to open our home up to groups both large and small. I grew up in a home that was open to anyone and everyone. My Mom thrives in creating a welcoming home. My hope is that someday my children will also love to open their homes, that they would eagerly embrace 1 Peter 4:9. So it was a great delight the other day to see the table Karis had set.

I was quite impressed with the detail. She actually gave each plate a fork, knife and spoon and put the knife and spoon on the same side. Now I would LOVE to give myself props for teaching her this put that would be just an outright lie, no table I ever set looked that nice!

But then later that same day Karis looked at the kitchen while I was making dinner for just our family and she asked, "Mommy, are we having guests over?" I said, "No, not tonight." She then asked, "Then why is there so much food."

As I reflected on her question I thought why do I make more and better food when we are having guests and then just skimp on our family dinner? Shouldn't I treat the people in my own family as the best guests in the world? Do I delight in making a meal for the most important people in my life and or do I grumble at the work? And then am I really serving others through hospitality? Am I honoring God or myself?

Good questions for me to ponder as I'm sure I'll be serving leftovers sometime again this week (and you can probably imagine it won't be to guests)!

I'd love any thoughts anyone has on how to bless your family through your family meals.