Hospitality 201

The Dominican Republic was supposed to be the country where I learned about hospitality. Remember the sugar cane? The Europlast chairs?
 
If the DR taught me how to love on pop-in visitors, South Africa has taught me how to take overnight guests and make them feel like royalty.
 
It is the desire of our ministry contact, Chantel, that we have a month of refreshment. In order to accomplish this, she thought we should spend the first week of our month with host families. Surprisingly, I have never stayed with a family on the Race. I have had my fair share of camp-esque bunk beds and cool nights in my tent, but the whole sitting-on-a-couch-with-a-family thing? Non-existent.
 
Until now.
 
With Larissa (one of my team’s Exposure students) as my companion, I arrived to Yolanda Petersen’s house on a Sunday afternoon. Yolanda lives with her aging parents (Mama Bear and Papa Bear) and her sister, Petulia; she cooks, cleans, jokes and takes wonderful care of her whole family. We happened to arrive right before Sunday tea time, which consists of tea (or coffee), biscuits, candies, Yolanda’s ten siblings, their spouses… and lots of grandchildren.

This happens every single Sunday. The house is PACKED, and the sound of laughter follows you to each room. As I was sitting with the whole bunch, fireplace alight, I realized how much I love the Lord’s design of families and how much I miss my own.

That realization stayed with me all week long. I began to remember the feeling of coming home from work to people who love you and want to hear all about your day (for no reason other than you belong to them). I watched TV with an 80 year old and an 8 year old simultaneously. I was able to recall the feeling of dinners around a real table with real silverware…and napkins! 

 

As much as I love my World Race team of passionate twenty-somethings (and I really, really love those girls), I miss the perspective that I get from my older siblings and parents. I miss cuddling with my tiny nieces until they fall asleep. God’s design of family really is perfect, and this trip has accomplished nothing short of revealing just how blessed I am to have mine.
 
Even though Nance Pants didn’t get to spend the month with me in South Africa, I got the next best thing. For the first time in seven months, I felt the warm sensation of safety and love as I lived life with family. Someone, an older, wiser someone, was taking care of me!

 

Yolanda made us a huge breakfast spread every morning with sliced avocado, eggs and pancakes. She sent us to bed with hot water bottles to keep us toasty. She even drew me a bubble bath one night on a whim. A BUBBLE BATH! Her sister, Petulia, took us on several outings to see the sights and sounds of Cape Town. The family wanted us to feel right at home, and they succeeded with flying colors. Did I mention the part about the bubble bath?
 
I told you. Hospitality as its finest.

What have I learned? Hospitality truly is a gift. It is a gift that can showcase the love of Christ and heal hearts. It is a gift that always touches me, and I feel a strong conviction that welcoming people into my home will be a major part of my life’s ministry.
 
So. If you are reading this, you are cordially invited to my future home one day. When you come,

• I promise to greet you with a hug.
• I promise to make you a really good cup of coffee.
• I promise to have a table of food for your enjoyment (but I can’t promise that it will all be homemade).
• I promise to have a comfy couch for relaxation and warm bed with your name on it.
• I promise to have a listening ear ready for your story, your struggles, your joys.

While I’m not sure if it will be a small house or big house… and I don’t know if my address will read Nashville or Swaziland… you are still invited to come visit.
 
And in true South African fashion, you will be welcomed like family.