Accepting Hospitality

I had the opportunity to be in Adoration for two whole hours today.  Two hours!  And I almost passed it up, because I was hesitant to accept someone's hospitality.

I was invited by a very kind woman to enjoy Jesus' presence for two hours this morning, and she was even offered to take care of the children so the mothers could be with Jesus, undistracted.  My eldest is almost eleven, and I have never done something like this before.  Never!  My older kids have been left for a class, or at a friend's house occasionally, but I've never left any of them in any sort of childcare.  And you know what?  They did just fine.  All of them, even the 15 month old.  Sure, he stayed pretty close to his big sister, but they all had a good time and everyone enjoyed the experience.  And thanks to this good woman's hospitality, I got to sit, undistracted, at Adoration and I got to go to Confession as well.  And to think I almost passed up this opportunity because it was out of my comfort zone, because I was afraid to leave my kids in someone else's (quite capable!) hands.

Hospitality requires an openness to others, an openness that works in both directions.  And both directions require humility and a willingness to serve and be served.   I have to have the humility to see that I am not so indispensable to my children that I can't leave them every once in awhile for a couple hours.  And I have to have the humility to be willing to invite people into my house and my life, even if it isn't perfectly clean, decorated, and ordered.  Even if my toilet is stained from our iron rich water and sometimes scares small children (true story!) and my house is unfinished.  Even if I get distracted and forget to offer people things, or I struggle in trying to make conversation or keep one going, especially as I try to put the finishing touches on things and get food served.