☕️💙💕 oh, mercy, sometimes I swear the Spirit is getting on to me and nudging me by placing what He wants me to learn right into my lap. and by reminding me of who raised me and what she would say.
So here I am adding my thoughts laced with Mema’s wisdom on this study that Jesus made sure I got my hands on at this exact time.

Nature (Well human nature not just my beloved trees ❤️)

Human nature makes us tribal. It becomes second nature to distrust what is different, thus pushing us to be uncomfortable. We find comfort in familiarity, which makes genuine hospitality difficult. As Alvin Sanders shares, “Christ’s goal was not to eliminate ethnicity but to transcend it.” For ethnicity to transcend, it is essential to accept, experience, appreciate, and learn to leverage all that is unique. It is not possible to achieve this without radical hospitality. To move the borders of ethnic differences, we must become flexible in the traits we hold onto tightly and let ourselves become defined by Christ, not our nations.

Jessica Wrobleski shares, “The Hebrew Scriptures identify the practice of hospitality to the vulnerable as an important moral duty which in turn shaped the thought of Jesus, Paul, and the early Christian communities.” Immigrants, refugees, and anyone who falls into the category of vulnerable deserve the dignity God created for them. It is vital to welcome them and know them as a moral duty. We are co-participants in God’s creation, which includes His Grace. John Chrysostom shared:

“If you are always so scrupulous about the character of your guests, many a time you will pass by a person of esteem and lose your reward. Yet whoever receives someone, not of high status, has no fault found with him, but is even rewarded. So don’t busy yourself with people’s lives and doings. For this very extreme of stinginess, to nitpick about a person’s entire life to avoid giving them one loaf of bread.”

Chrysostom’s words echo many’s sentiments when discussing a sojourner’s plight. Questions are raised about their background and filled with what-if questions. For example, if someone is hungry, feed them. It does not have to be a difficult decision. A simple loving action might change the course of their journey.

Over time hospitality has changed. It has gone from welcoming the sojourner to becoming an industry. Our homes have become secure fortresses, with security cameras, guard dogs, and more to allow only those who live inside. Hospitality has also become an industry with mega-hotels, spas, and relaxation centers. It is often unheard of to invite someone to stay or for a meal to be kind. The Gospel advancement is through hospitality.

Our actions speak volumes. Our hospitality begins the relationship, and our steps that follow can show our love and welcoming nature, or they can destroy walls. We are ambassadors of Christ wherever we are. The neighbors know we are Christians by watching our actions.

Uncommen Questions:

Rather than assume the worst about someone, what if grace were extended to that person?

What if we gave them the benefit of the doubt?

Uncommen Challenge:

Open your heart and home to someone unlike yourself for a meal, coffee, or just a chat to get to know “the other.”

☕️💙🤟
So here I am, trying not to cry but feeling the tears swell up in my eyes.

Three weeks ago, I noticed my oldest son standing outside by the brick pillar on the front porch. He had left the house to go to dinner – by himself, again.
I walked outside and touched him and he turned to me and said,” Mom, it’s just so hard sometimes.”

We sat down and we talked about how loneliness can lead to bad decisions, or can lead to becoming closer to God and all the complexities of it and I kept thinking of both what Mother Teresa said about loneliness being the hardest thing and also about how people miss out on getting to know a person just because they are “different”

My son is deaf, like me but with his cochlear he hears pretty well.
He’s extremely well-read, and observant and genuinely one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet.

But he’s also an introvert and he prefers one on one conversation and not group settings. He’s quiet and takes his time to get to know people and very few people have ever looked long enough.

He’s gone to so many many churches over the years, only to have his hand shook at the beginning of services and that’s it. No one has ever invited him for coffee or lunch or made any effort to get to know him.

Just a few weeks ago he decided that God was leading him to go to Bible college and one of the requirements was to have references from people attesting to his character.
He said “Mom, who do I ask…nobody really knows me very well.”

As his mom that broke my heart because the truth is only a very very few people have ever taken the time to have a conversation with him in all his years.

He’s overlooked and under valued. He doesn’t fit in and he doesn’t stand out . He’s asked to work but never to enjoy. He’s taken for granted instead of taken seriously.
And sometimes I’m afraid he’ll be taken for a ride because someone will take advantage of his kindness and loneliness.

Finally he decided on a man that he became friends with when he lived and worked at a horse ranch. This guy now lives in Tennessee but they stay in touch with email and texts.

He also asked his sister and she probably knows him better than anyone. She gets him. She also gets the benefit of having an incredible role model for her kids which he loves unconditionally.

Just the other day, Ruthie Jane only wanted to be held and so for hours, he walked around with her in his arms, her head on his shoulder, arms around his neck.

That’s my son. That’s who he is. He’s the one that will give up his seat and his plans to do what is needed

But ever so often, I hear the ache in his voice and see the loneliness in his eyes.

And I think about hospitality, about this devotional and about my Mema and how she would always be inviting people over

Her house wasn’t fancy and she wasn’t rich but there was always , always a pot of beans or stew on the stove and cake in the oven and an open invitation to anyone.

I remember her sending my kids across the street to get the widow women to come join us and the ones that couldn’t, she would send my kids back over their houses with bowls covered in foil “because they need to eat some good food.”

There was a homeless man that lived in the woods walking distance from Mema’s house. She would fill up the Parkay bowls she saved just for this reason with stew and wrap several pieces of corn bread in foil then cut a big piece of chocolate cake and get a coke from the fridge and we would drive over to him. He would walk out to the car and Mema would hand him the food and then, every single time, she would grasp his hands and pat them and say,” You eat good now and you take care of yourself.”

One day I asked her if she was worried about catching any germs from his hands and she looked at me like I was crazy and said something I’ll never forget

“I can always wash my hands , they have touched a lot more dirtier things than this man’s hands, but you can’t wash away how it makes him feel when you touch him”

Damn straight, Mema!

When she touched his hands, she was blessing him and giving him dignity and value. She was feeding his soul just as well as his stomach and she was showing me love in action, again.

This went on for years until one day he didn’t show up. We liked to think he finally went home but I do know this- Mema showed him hospitality and that was her gift.

He was “different” but he mattered to her and he matters to God.
My son is “different” but, oh, how he matters to me and how much he desires to follow God in all that he does.

So y’all, step out of your comfort zone, your fortresses, your busyness and open your heart, open your home, open your schedule and touch someone.

You just might be blown away with the kindest person you’ll
ever get to know.

writingmyheartout #jeannasoul #jeannasoul #damnstraight