When our house sold in July, a month before we could leave town, my husband and I found ourselves without a place to call home. Leaving our home of 26 years to stay in a sterile hotel room seemed depressing. Our very generous friends offered to share their home with us. We are enjoying the abundance that spills over from their lives: a spacious home, fantastic meals with garden fresh food, the lively company of their children and grandchildren, friends that come and go. It’s a lively celebration of large and small moments spilling from one to the next. We are welcomed into all of this.
Enjoying our friends’ extensive hospitality and favor has given me a small peek into what Ruth found in the presence of Boaz with the major differences being that she was truly homeless and hungry. With warmth and respect, Boaz welcomed Ruth into his protection and care. Later, he opens up his heart to her and takes her as his wife. I can imagine the incredible joy the two brought to one another. The extraordinary generosity of my friends and the story of Ruth and Boaz point me to the ultimate hospitality offered by God through his Son, Jesus Christ. Hear the invitation:
In my Father’s house there are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you and I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. John 14:2,3.
Being in my friend’s home has changed me. It’s given me a new appreciation for gracious hospitality, and pointed me to my real home…lessons I never expected to learn while being homeless.
Kathy
Sixty-six books in a year 