Hospitality 102
I used to think of myself as a pretty hospitable person. But that was before I met the Samuels… and the Stonemans… and the Carlsons… and the Bultemas….. and the Chaveses… and the Pughs… and the Eubanks… The list of guest presenters in my Hospitality 102 class this year is long.
I know I have written about it before, but the level of generosity and hospitality extended to us throughout this year is staggering and humbling, and it has taught me that I have so very much to learn. In studying for my take-home exam, I’m a little overwhelmed.
Here are a few nuggets from the syllabus this year:
- Talk to strangers.
- Invite strangers to dinner.
- Share holidays and Holydays.
- What you have is Enough To Share.
- A friend-of-a-friend is a Friend, even if you’ve only talked over email.
- Invite guests to just “do life” with you.
- Accept help from your guests (it’s even ok to ask!).
- Reach out to people in different life stages.
- A welcome note makes people feel especially loved.
- Don’t feel like the house must be perfect.
- You don’t have to constantly entertain your guests.
- Eat together.
- Play games together.
- Pray together.
- Tell family stories.
- Be spontaneous.
- Ask big questions, and listen to the answers.
- Offer your home even if you won’t be there.
- Thanksgiving Dinner with 24 hours notice is not as impossible as it sounds.
We Wildpeople 5 do not land lightly. Our family footprint is not small, no matter how big the house or how close the friends, which just elevates the status of the folks below even more to Generosity Giants.
For example, we were invited to spend the entire week of Christmas with the Bultema family in Turkey. They had never met us — we are friends with her brother in Virginia. Pastoring a church, hosting church family events and running a community cafe, Christmas is their busiest time of year– who would possibly consider taking in a sight-unseen family of five on top of that crazy schedule? Yet in advance of our boisterous arrival, the closing line of her email was “Our home is open to you.” Ridiculous, right?
Here are some of the giving folks who opened their homes to us throughout this year. They fed us, clothed us, housed us, laughed and cried with us, celebrated birthdays and holidays and lost teeth with us.
Blessings, every one.
(clicking on any photo will launch a larger gallery)
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- Rebecca and David in Bannalec, France
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- Sophie in St. Nazaire, France
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- Penelope and Kim in London, UK
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- Phil and Katherine in Congleton, UK
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- Michael and Robin in Bowness, UK
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- Si and Di in Windermere, UK
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- Jonathan and Laurie in Brussels, Belgium
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- Mark and Mary in Weisbaden, Germany
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- Jean and Sarah in Lausanne, Switzerland
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- Erik and Soraya in Esperaza, France
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- Jason and Angie in Limoux, France
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- Brooke and Max in Casablanca, Morocco
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- Ali and Nurcan in Davutlar, Turkey
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- Renata and James in Antalya, Turkey
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- Sherrilyn and Alex in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
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- Courtney in Kigali, Rwanda
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- Caleb and Louise in Musanze, Rwanda
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- Chaves/Amina family in Nairobi, Kenya
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- Sam and Lynn in Nairobi, Kenya
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- Melinda and Mark in Chiang Mai, Thailand
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- Blooming Night Flower in Mae Sot, Thailand
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- Karen and Dave in Chiang Mai, Thailand
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- Louisa in Beijing, China
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- Natalie, Jenny, Rachel, and Emily near Beijing, China
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- Carrie and Greg near Beijing, China
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- Brian and Wendy near Beijing, China
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- Phil and Laura near Beijing, China
We were so blessed by your visit, and so was our church! The staff was amazed by your offers of help – it spoke volumes. Thank you for sharing your round-the-world trip with us.
I love this! We have been learning similar lessons, though in less exotic ways…it’s great to see the list you’ve made- will be coming back to these!
xo
(this was from Libby:))
Sorry the Briggs Family were out of China while you are there. Hope the boys are writing logs as well as the parents. so much too remember.
We loved China, Sue! Sorry not to be able to connect with the Briggs. And yes, the boys are keeping logs… But the tragedy of the lost luggage is that their 2nd semester notebooks were in it! We’re counting on photo albums to fill the gaps.