Elementary Lessons after Undergraduate Graduation

I remember hosting a summer Bible Study one week at my house during high school. My youth group, needless to say, did not do a very good job of keeping things clean. In addition, most of my relationships in youth group were not very substantial. Many of the people I had grown up with had been replaced by a completely different group by my junior and senior years in high school. I had very few if any deep connections. Taking into consideration these two things, I became extremely agitated and upset at them. Furthermore, I became frustrated at the fact that something seemingly so simple as letting people come over to my house had become such a burden. Why was it this difficult? Why did I have to be so meticulous and uptight? I remember expressing these sentiments and many more to my youth pastor afterwards, and, in the midst of the conversation he asked me, "But do you love them?" to which I replied "I want to...if I don't now, I really want to be able to say that I do."

These last few days, it's been nice having people crash our place on their way in and out of St. Louis; there's a sense of home and hearth that the dorms will never replicate. At this same time, this has reminded me of my own reluctance to give up my own comforts. This includes everything from offering food that my mother has brought from home to needing to be quiet when people decide to sleep early. Whether I get anxious over the increasingly cluttered nature of the apartment or simply wishing that I could have friends over for dinner without feeling the need to cook for an additional 3-4 people that I don't know as well, I am learning that to be hospitable is not simply doing what I already want to do (like hosting people I would already enjoy hosting) or giving up something that I'm already accustomed to giving, but it is intentionally and willingly offering up that which I value so that Christ can be honored more.

I have been blessed to have so many friends that are generous with their money, time, and possessions, and I hope and pray that I will continue to learn to do the same.