Book of the Month: March

I was hoping that I would have 2 books to report on for the month of March, however, it was a busier month than anticipated.  One big reason was the move of our colleague.  Remember the one that I started house hunting with, oh, 6 months ago?!  She found a house the end of November and patiently waited for the reconstruction to be completed, finally making the move 6 weeks after the promised move in date.  To make a long story short, she painted the walls one week prior to moving in only to discover that it was all done in vain.  There was a huge problem with humidity and mold in this place and her walls looked like this.

Not exactly good for one's health!

She made the move with all her things and started to unpack only to decide 4 days later she had to move.  Everyone was in complete agreement on the matter.  The only issue was that this house took us months to find.  Thankfully we serve the God of the impossible!  The Tuesday she decided to move, that evening she received a lead from a friend in our church who knew of an available apartment in his complex.  She made a call to the landlord the next day and was able to view the apartment on Friday.  By Monday she received the official "okay" from him and was given the keys on Wednesday.  That was after he fixed several cosmetic things and repainted the apartment for her at his expense!  And then move #2 occured on Friday, just two weeks after the first move.  Catherine lived with us during those two weeks.

Having just completed my reading of Practicing Hospitality: The Joy of Serving Others by Pat Ennis and Lisa Tatlock, it was a timely application for me.

I would highly recommend this book to every Christian woman.  It begins with the Biblical foundation of hospitality and what the character traits of a hospitable person are.  Then over the course of the book the authors address the issues of practicing hospitality to strangers and to your own family.  How to manage your home and create a home that is a center for evangelism and refuge.  How to teach hospitality to your children.  How hospitality works to show compassion to others.  How different cultures impact hospitality.  How hospitality is essential to ministry.  These are just a brief recap of the chapters.  This book is an excellent read individually or would be great in a group setting as well.  In the Index there is listed for each chapter it's theme(s) and a scripture reference for each of the themes.  So if you want to do a Bible study on your own or with others, this is a great working base to start from.  The book is also filled with many recipies at the end of each chapter.  All around a super helpful and practical book for me since hospitality is my major avenue of ministry here.

One of the major things I took away from my reading was how often I fail to bathe each phase of my preparations (cleaning, cooking etc.) and "event" (conversation etc.) in prayer.  I so easily get caught up in the prepping and trying to make things perfect that I can easily lose sight of the "why" I am doing what I am doing.  The goal is not to have the perfect home or perfect dinner, but to make people feel invited in to our lives and use each opportunity as a way to show the love of Christ to them.

I am so thankful for the generations of women in my own family who have demonstrated to me the joy in serving others.  My grandma taught my mom, and my mom taught me.  I am continually learning from them BOTH as I observe them practicing hospitality in so many ways.  Just this week my mom made 3 meals for families in need.  (And she would never want to be recognized for that, but I say that to emphasize the example she is to me and my desire to be more like her in this area).  It is a running joke in our family that whenever the Fisher's get together for a meal, there is always enough to serve an army (literally).  However, that was just one way of extending their service and love to others as each family was able to take a full meal home with them from the leftovers.

If you read this book, I can guarantee you will be challenged, encouraged and inspired!