The crown of the home is godliness;
The beauty of the home is order;
The glory of the home is hospitality;
The blessing of the home is contentment.
Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933)
Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
~ Hebrews 13:1-6
The proverb most surely rightly says, “who practices hospitality entertains God himself.”
This writer and his beloved shared a wonderful day with family today. It was a visit Filipino-style with various flavors of cousins and nieces and nephews. The flavor of the Filipinos are those more southern with a gentle dialect and manner and an easy smile.
The family members started rolling in about noon and the day just meandered along into the evening with the cooking and eating and cleaning up of a couple of meals; everyone helping and sharing and eating and smiling. It was a quiet day with naps and chats and trips to the pool. No TV. No video games. Just some music in the background and the music of the gentle rhythm of family pulsing through the day. Kids were flying around and screaming, and yet everything was calm and pleasant.
And the wonderful thing for this writer is that he had never had a family gathering with this family. He was only married into it a few weeks ago. It was wonderful to simply be completely part of something so real and imperfect and good and true.
My dear spouse and i just decided to have these folks over to our new apartment and it was like a meeting of old friends (which it was for them), but i was simply one of them – except for the fact that this Anglo is a bit more pink than the average Filipino.
What a blessing. What a day.
We sent the kids off with some clothes and housewares and money and love. Our only hope was that they felt loved and that, perhaps, all of them got a slightly better opinion of who their G_d is from today – even though they all hold Him in high esteem.
Love days like this.
