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Hospitality

By Thomas Bailey Aldrich

When friends are at your hearthside met,
Sweet courtesy has done its most
If you have made each guest forget
That he himself is not the host.

I am trying to work on being more hospitable.  I enjoy having guests in my home but have done very little about it lately, apart from having some of the kids' friends over.

While we were renting I didn't often have people over because it was not my own home.  Now that we have bought a house I keep thinking we should wait until we have a sofa for the sitting room, or a barbecue, or an outside table.

Sometimes hospitality just feels like too much hard work, especially after a long week at work.  Yet I also think that if I am blessed with a roof over my head and food on my table then I should be willing to share - and generously.  Guests rarely care if the house is messy or there's not enough furniture.

Certainly, I am better at inviting friends to my home than strangers. Yet not so long ago I was a stranger in this city and others welcomed me into their homes.  How short is my memory!

How do you practice hospitality in your home?

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.  

Hebrews 13:2