Multitude Monday

#112: an unexpected, precious letter and gift from a sweet sister in the Lord telling me she is thinking and praying for me. Love in action.

#113: A small booklet in said letter that I can't wait to read: From Brokenness to Community by Jean Vanier

on the back:

"The text in this book originated as two lectures given by Jean Vanier at Harvard University in 1988. He speaks eloquently of the lessons he has learned from the disabled adults he serves at his community in France and at other houses. He speaks of his own healing and his own need for people. He speaks of the power of belonging and how it satisfies the deepest needs in people. Vanier does not romanticize community. For him, community is a place of struggle and sometimes of conflict. Community is a place where ego dies, a place of surrender. However, it is also a place of celebration, joy and ultimately of human fulfillment."

#114: sweet bare legged babies. A-hem, toddlers.

#115 Three birds' nests in a row under our deck!! Brave birdies!

#116: a relaxing Father's Day amidst a busy work schedule.

#117: flourishing Lavender

#118: my hydrangeas I planted last year!!!

::right now::

Right now, I am::

::waiting for my children's school year to be over. (One more week!)

::planning a trip to the Japanese bookstore in NYC sometime in the next couple of weeks...

::thinking about what to put on our Summer List

::praying about some hard words that need to be spoken...

::learning a little every day how to Trust Him more and more.

::revisiting this post by Jewels for such Godly comfort. And this one.

::looking at my letters that need to be responded to.

::dreaming of my two weeks down at the lake in the South that will be coming up soon.

::feeling discombulated and needing some time to organize thoughts.

...I'll be taking a short hiatus from this place for a little bit. Not sure how long, but for now, I need to rest with my thoughts for awhile. God is doing some deep probing of my life, and I need to sit with Him and figure it all out. Prayers appreciated. I hope to come back to this place very soon refreshed and re-energized.

God in the Yard: Hospitality

I thought it was interesting that while L.L. spent time in her yard every day for a year, that a lesson she learned was hospitality. God is the originator of hospitality. He freely gave His creation for us to enjoy, learn from, relax in, and live in. Isn't that wonderful? As L.L. says about her experience in her yard: "I'd come to think of this place as God's home."

Many Christians forget that hospitality is a command. We are to love Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, but we are also supposed to:

"... Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms." ~I Peter 4: 9-10

Hospitality is a means in which to strengthen relationships within the church, and to evangelize our neighbors and friends. Again, in God's economy, He knows what works. If we are neglecting to obey the command of hospitality, then we as a body are not working to full potential. I have felt the neglect of others not obeying this command. I often feel that because we have a large family, then people are hesitant to invite us over. That is very hurtful. I also wonder if people think because there are so many in our family they might think we don't need the ministering to in that way. I will tell you that we do!! We may not be orphans or widows, but we have needs of hospitality. So ask the Lord who to be hospitable to. It may not be the obvious people in your church who live by themselves or the single mother. (Though they most definitely have that need.) It might be the family with many children who doesn't have family nearby to spend holidays or weekends with. Like us!! Am I alone in this?!!

L.L.'s chapter really got me thinking about what hospitality really means. It made me go deeper into just the tried and true method of inviting people over. The first person I thought about was a dear man at our church named Papa John. He was a greeter in our church. We could always count on seeing Papa John at the door welcoming us every Sunday. He always gave you a hug and sometimes a kiss on the cheek. He would bend down to your children and make them feel like they were the most special children on earth. He welcomed you into church and he welcomed you into his heart. He definitely had a gift. Sadly, he passed away last year. I just kept thinking about the impact he had on so many people by just being interested in us and in our lives for those few minutes every Sunday morning. He had so much love for all the people in our church. I miss his presence there even today.

All this made me think: "How can I show hospitality in other creative ways?"

At the end of L.L's time in the yard, her prayer was: "Let my home be as Yours."

An excellent prayer. How can my home, my resources, show someone Jesus? How can I invite someone into my home to serve them, refresh them, encourage them? As Jesus does.

I think women get so hung up on their houses. It's too small, it's too messy, I don't cook well. If you are not using your resources to bless, then others are suffering and you are too.

Jesus' hospitality is not about your house, your food, etc, etc, ad nauseum. It is about serving. As Sandy Coughlin says on her blog The Reluctant Entertainer :"It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful."

Where does hospitality start? The verse right before the command of hospitality in I Peter 4, it says in I Peter 4:8: "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." What do we do first with our fellow brother/sister in Christ? Love them. With that neighbor? Love them. Then we are hospitable to them.

"Hospitality is a state of mind, not a prescriptive agenda." ~Duchess

Again, hospitality may be a command, but the first rule is love.

Not a set of rules or schedules, but love.

It starts at the heart:

"The idea that God is life, the Life of the life of all living things, is a key to the practice of hospitality..." ~Nanette Sawyer

How can this thought radically change your view on hospitality? Making it more about loving others because He loves us, and less about your home or the food?

A posture of welcome:

Hospitality can very well happen outside of the home. I think about Papa John. Says Sawyer,

"In a state of reverence, we stand in the full presence of another, while being fully present ourselves. There is deep acceptance and love in this state, as we encounter the image of God in each other."

Generosity:

"Generosity is a posture of nurture," says Sawyer.

"Nurture comes in so many forms. It can be the process of planting a seed (literally or figuratively), giving physical or emotional sustenance, picking up the pieces when something has broken (a life, the loss of life). True nurture flows from receptivity and reverence. There's a fine line between this and duty." ~L.L. Barkat

What are some other creative ways to show hospitality?

~initiating a potluck with another family at the park?

~initiating pizza in the backyard?

~bringing a meal to a home and sharing it with another family?

~letting go of our expectations for how hospitality "should" be?

Weekend wrap up

1. I got to go on a date with my hubby for his birthday on Friday night. Got to put makeup on and fix my hair. I love that.

2. Feeling sore today. But a good sore. I am doing Couch to 5K with a friend of mine. We are training to run this in October with 3 other ladies. Can't wait!

3. My husband had to work this weekend. But I made it through! Did you know

this post is my most googled post on my blog?

4. We also had strep throat in our house this week. Ugh. Thankfully we have an new urgent care that opened up near us so I was able to get antibiotics on a weekend.

5. I finally planted my vegetable garden on Saturday. It's looking pretty pitiful. But on another note, the hydrangeas I planted last year look great! I'd say my thumb is light green.

6. Finally, Spring has really hit the Northeast. I love June in New York. It's my reward for enduring winter here.

In all circumstances

"Mom, what are we having for dinner?"

My back's turned to her as I stir the sauce. Mentally, I cringe, and I slowly close my eyes and take a deep breath.

"Pasta." I say, not giving anymore information.

I wait, my eyes still closed.

"But we had pasta this week!" she protests.

And I go through the spill, again, "well that was pasta with asparagus and lemon butter sauce and salmon, and tonight it's tomato sauce..."I falter off, not wanting to indulge her in this conversation.

It's the daily dinner question: "What's for dinner?"

Some nights I'm good at handling it, some nights it's exactly what they want to eat and they don't protest it, and some nights, like tonight, I just feel sorry for myself.

Child, don't you know how stressful the past two hours have been? Wrangling baby from the cabinets, steering him from the snack cabinet, pausing to talk with teen about a school project that I have no brain cells to even think about, helping 10 year old with her emotions from a bad day, taking care of a sick little one with strep throat and whines from the five year old because I turned off his favorite show...and dinner's not done and I have to go get husband from the train, because we only have one car this week, and...and.....don't you realize I do my best around here?

And why can't you just be thankful for my effort--for this home made meal made for you...don't you realize the time and effort I put into feeding this family and how hard it is to make dinner for 7 people every night?

And I catch myself, and stop my pity party because He reminds me:

Child, how many times have you complained to me because of what I've done?

How many times have you been ungrateful for My effort?

And my "best" is really "Best"!

And yet you are still ungrateful.

And I say, "Lord, Lord, you are right. I need to trust You more. You're in all this. You do all things well. I will rejoice and be glad in You."

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. ~I. Thessalonians 5:18

#107 Flowers from a dear friend's garden.

#108 A mentoring relationship.

#109 Being able to cook dinner for my family every night. It blesses me so much.

#110 Food that nourishes and strengthens little bodies, even if they don't realize the blessings of that just yet..

#111 Your Word, your Word. Your precious Word.

Slow writing

{from My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams}

“I am sometimes quite discouraged from writing. So many vessels are taken, that there is Little chance of a Letters reaching your Hands. That I meet with so few returns is a circumstance that lies heavy at my Heart.”~Abigail Adams

Much has changed today. Information gets to us quickly, we can text or email a quick message to someone, even phone calls get information quickly to our loved ones. I suppose that's why I have been so anxious and felt so guilty for not being prompt in returning letters to my C.L.A.S. friends. When I receive an email or a text, I like to respond quickly, or the message gets lost in the recesses of my inbox or phone. Deal with it now, don't wait, or it will never be dealt with. Such is the time we live in.

I've felt that way with my letters, and I realized the other day that I shouldn't apply that same type of "quick response thinking" to my letter writing.

In the past, especially in John and Abigail Adams' time, letters took months to reach each other. You did not expect a quick response. John Adams work in the War of Independence took him away from home frequently. There were some 1, 160 letters between them that survived.

So, with this information in mind, I am cherishing the lost art of letter writing. Slow, deliberate writing that can be started and stopped without having to click "Save". It makes for more enjoyable correspondence than an email or text hastily written out. Letters cherish the English language: there is no "lol" or "brb". (God forbid I ever write that in a letter.) We are patient in writing, and patient in receiving a letter in answer.