Hospitality can be defined as “Love to strangers.” It’s the practice of welcoming, feeding, and sheltering travelers – those who come to your door – with no thought of personal gain. The following is one woman’s story of the surprising joy she experienced from simply obeying God’s invitation to open up her home.
She made her way into the pool house that Monday morning for Moms in Prayer. I’d never seen her before, but our small group of ladies was delighted to have a new mom come pray with us. By the end of our meeting, Sung Mi shared that she and her husband had moved to Fort Worth to attend seminary, and her son was in 5th grade – same as my son, Hudson. She prayed aloud in her native Korean to close our meeting, and we enjoyed the richness of worshiping a God who hears the prayers of every tribe, tongue and nation. That morning Sung Mi shared not only her sweet smile and prayerful countenance, but an international breath of fresh air – a reminder that God’s presence is just so much bigger than Fort Worth, Texas.
Later that morning I found myself praying as I tidied up the house, “Lord, you know Sung Mi’s need, please provide her family with a comfortable spot as they are about to be between apartment leases for a couple of weeks…”
I felt the Lord practically interrupt me, “You don’t need to ask me for this. I’ve already given it to you.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“You don’t need to ask me for a home, a shelter for Sung Mi, when I’ve already given it to you.”
“You want me to offer our pool house to Sung Mi and her family?”
“No, I want you to offer my pool house to Sung Mi and her family.”
“But Lord, I don’t even know her. I’ve literally met her for 45 minutes. I don’t even have her phone number.”
“I think you can figure that out.”
“Ok but this pool house, it’s like five minutes old. The construction was just completed a couple of weeks ago, it’s all brand new, and our kids and their friends are already using it constantly.”
“Yep.”
“This would be for two to three weeks, and that means our kids would be kicked out.”
“Sung Mi and her family are my kids too.”
“What about communication? She barely speaks English! I don’t know much about the South Korean culture, and what about food? What if it’s uncomfortable for our families to be right here together for that long?”
“I’m asking you to share the home I gave you for my children. Food, communication, culture, that will work itself out.”
“Oh GOSH, this feels like a risk. An uncomfortable risk.”
“Yes. And you know that’s how I work. I need you to trust me with the details, and to obey what I’m asking. I’ll work out the details as you go.”
I called Sung Mi (turns out her number was in our school directory) and offered the pool house. Within a few days she and her family moved in. What I remember from those weeks is that our pool house was filled with an indescribable light. We instantly connected with her husband, who was so kind and joy-filled. Hudson and his new friend Sung Yu were inseparable – playing chess, learning Rubik’s cube algorithms, laughing and engaging. Sung Mi hosted us for a Korean meal that our kids still talk about. She taught us how to julienne vegetables and wrap them in rice paper, and we feasted and laughed together throughout the dinner. Communication was not the least bit of a barrier, but rather a lovely bridge. Sung Mi’s family brought blessing into our home.
As Christ-followers, offering hospitality should be important to us because it was important to Jesus. Many of His followers were not the wealthy, with large homes and extra food. Biblical hospitality was never convenient, and almost always a surprise. Jesus simply valued making space for strangers, giving his time, giving himself.
We’ve opened our home many times over the years, and the opportunities were often met with my hesitation. It felt too heavy, too long, too inconvenient, or with people we didn’t know well enough. We have also definitely declined requests when our family needed some down time. But more often than not, we’ve sensed the Lord’s whisper, “Let’s do this.” And way more often than not, our home overflows with blessing that these travelers usher in.
What does it look like for us to open our homes, and more so our lives, to those he brings our way? Whether our guest room is perfectly appointed, or even if we don’t even have a guest room, we have the privilege of offering hospitality – welcoming and fellowshipping with believers and non-believers so that they (and we!) may see Christ more clearly. And while the home matters, the shelter and table and meals matter, what really matters is sharing our lives. All points to Jesus – HE is our true shelter. Only His presence brings life and light. Our obedience in hospitality is simply an overflow of remembering what He’s already done for us. And in the sharing, He brings blessing into our lives – sometimes even in the form of chess and julienned vegetables .
Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Matt 11:28
Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Rom 12:13
**Written for and posted on the Dwellings Blog, 12.13.23