jacob and leah {i know! just like in the bible!} are having a BABY!!!!
they ARE having a baby boy, however, they aren't planning on naming him levi, judah, reuben, or simeon, hehe.....
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our sweet church, oak hills pca, is full of wonderful women, and we had a rather lovely group all smooshed into the little leif abode :) |
throughout the weeks leading up to the shower, the Lord began stirring up something in my heart...
why do we give showers?
why do we think we need all this decoration stuff?
are we trying to impress?
how are we glorifying him through this?
because...
sometimes,
when i host things, i get all anxious last minute thinking everything needs to be perfect.
but, when i examine my heart and intentions in hosting, i see that it truly has nothing to do with impressing others and looking perfect.
it has everything to do with wanting to love a sista WELL.
LOVING WELL.
for me, opening up my home is one way i can love someone well,
when anxiety/stress/perfectionist tendencies ease in? then my intentions are heading down the wrong path.....
although i don't feel i have ever intentionally been a host merely to impress or be perfect, however.....i was letting those things slowly seep into my hosting experiences.
and this time?
being conscious of those tendencies?
it was so freeing.
my heart was so different.
i was curious to know specifically how the bible refers to hospitality, and such a beautiful charge to us as hosts:
1 Peter 4:9-10
Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.
i know, I KNOW none of this is about me.
it was leah's baby shower for pete's sake!
learning experiences that are all around us.
every day.
even when opening up your home.
drawing us to become more like him.
refining us.
glorifying HIM by loving others well.
MAKING KNOWN HIS GRACE, by opening my home.
i'm challenging myself to become a better host in 2012,
whether it's a coffee date, a playdate, a shower for baby or bride, or a dinner served.....
i want to intentionally love my guests well, making it nothing about me, but making about the LORD, serving in HIS name.
amen! i agree! it's so easy to get carried away, even when doing it with honest intentions. especially when it's for someone we really love. sometimes i think maybe all this hoopla is overdone...other times i feel like it's completely appropriate to honor someone this way. i guess it's a fine line. arg!
ReplyDeleteYou are so right! I struggled the same way when I threw my best friend's bridal shower. Great point to make it about the Lord, instead of about me. Thanks for sharing! :)
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