A Kind Invitation; A Lifelong Friendship
“The LORD opened her heart to respond to Paul’s
message…she invited us to her home.”
Acts 16:14-15 (NIV)
It was raining Saturday morning when two month old Birdie James, our newest granddaughter, arrived. The ominous dark skies predicted an all-day soaking. I carefully got Birdie James out of her car seat and found my favorite rocker in her dad’s old room. She slept peacefully cradled in my arms as I rocked. Looking absently out the window, I watched the rain droplets gather on tree leaves before eventually falling to the earth below. Suddenly I was remembering another baby and another bedroom in another city almost 45 years ago.
Bruce and I were new parents with a five-week old daughter when we moved to a small town about an hour outside of Birmingham. He had accepted the head football coach’s position at the local high school, and I was transitioning from a successful career to being a stay-at- home mom. Our closest family member was over an hour away and though I was quite busy, I was also very lonely.
We began visiting local churches when Meredith was about two months old. One rainy Sunday morning we found ourselves attending a small PCA church that was meeting weekly in an old car dealership building. The church facilities were so limited that the church altar was literally located just in front of a large oil grate! After the worship service, a kind woman in her late thirties approached me and invited us to her home for Sunday lunch.
I quickly declined insisting that I had to go home and nurse Meredith. Beverly laughed and said, “You can nurse her at my house!”
That exchange began a lifelong friendship. We followed Beverly and her husband George to their home located just outside town. It was a lovely log home that had been custom built on acres of beautiful farmland. As we entered their house, Beverly directed me to her bedroom and pulled an old rocker over to the sliding glass doors. She then instructed me to sit down, feed my baby, and watch the rain.
“By the time the kids get their clothes changed and I get lunch on the table, you’ll be ready to join us,” she explained.
Much like Saturday morning with Birdie James, I rocked, fed my daughter, and watched the rain fall gently outside as it hit the beautiful plants growing in Beverly’s garden. I was surprised by this radical hospitality that invited strangers into your home at a moment’s notice, I was also surprised that Beverly seemed unfazed by the various children’s socks lying scattered on her floors. Sunday mornings with three children ages 12, 8, and 4 and a less than perfect house were no barrier to her hospitality.
Our Sunday lunch consisted of ham sandwiches and homemade vegetable soup, a simple meal really, but a veritable feast for a lonely young mom adjusting to a very new life. The Perkins’ home proved to be an oasis for us as we hungered for biblical fellowship and community with other believers. Only later did I learn that our encounter with this family wasn’t the exception; it was their rule. During our eight years living in that small town, the Perkins home hosted countless church fellowships, bridal showers, small group Bible studies, and potluck dinners.
The Bible has a lot to say about hospitality. Rahab the prostitute opened her home and gave protection to the two spies from Israel. The poor widow at Zarephath gave Elijah food and drink even as famine and drought gripped the land. The Shunnamite woman gave the prophet Elisha a room to use whenever he came to town. Lydia opened her home to Paul's ministry team and eventually housed the Philippian church.
Each woman extended the "gift of place" to someone in need. The gift of place is not just a physical location; it is that place where one is accepted, affirmed, and allowed to grow. Each woman also made her guests feel welcome, wanted, and worth the trouble. Those 3 "W's"- welcome, wanted, and worth the trouble- are the hallmark characteristics of biblical hospitality. Most importantly, each woman opened her heart BEFORE she opened her home. Hospitality was a byproduct of her relationship with God, not a means to gain favor with Him.
Hospitality is one of the many “one another” biblical commands found throughout the New Testament. A command is not an option! Mother Teresa once wisely noted, “Loneliness is the leprosy of the modern world.” Who do you know that would benefit from a kind invitation to your home?
”Practice hospitality.” Romans 12:13