hcfwomen

Boundaries, Fruitfulness, Health, Identity

Caring for “Me”

February 20, 2017February 19, 2017by hcfwomenLeave a Comment

“Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?” Song of Solomon 8:5

I have never in my life had such a definitive change in seasons.

All my past season changes were kind of blended like fall blends into winter and winter into spring.

This season change is almost like a nuclear holocaust…just a blank landscape with a wide open space of nothing except the debris of what used to be.

I have been a care-giver most of my life, starting as a child of a single parent. I gave care to my mama, my brother, and our home to help relieve some of my mama’s burden. Then came the season of marriage and child-raising. We all know what that requires of a wife and mother. Then all of a sudden the season of caring for the elders in my family arrived, and it lasted longer than the season of child-raising.

Now that all of these seasons have come and gone, I find my soul is weary and so is my body. As I sit in my woman-cave, I look around at all of the clutter that has accumulated during this past season and ponder: “Is this indicative of my heart, Lord? Is my heart so cluttered from the weariness and emotions of this past season that I need to be decluttered?” And as I quietly sit here, I hear my Jesus’ voice:

Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

(Matt. 11:28-30 NLT).

So, I have a choice. I can get in my normal “who” of being task-oriented and ABC-123, and slog through this wilderness in my own effort and keep on keeping on. Or I can stop and wait.

I can wait at the edge of this new season until I am refreshed in my soul. I can wait until I can see clearly God’s plan for me in this new season. I can wait and not be discouraged as I allow Holy Spirit to clear the clutter of emotions out of my heart and help me clear the clutter in my home. I can wait while the “Mary” in me is refreshed and revived, and the “Martha” takes a rest.

So, for now I plan to do some self-care, taking time to rest by not having so many self-expectations. I can enjoy doing life with my husband without having to put others’ needs before ours. I can be content keeping busy at home. I can still care for others through being diligent in prayer. And I can look forward with expectation to what God has for me.

This post was written by Kitty Shipman. To read more about her, click here.

Books, Family, Honor, Identity, Marriage, Parenting

Wild Men

February 6, 2017February 7, 2017by hcfwomen1 Comment

wild-men-1 Even after being raised as the only girl among brothers, this little lady had some eye-opening learning curves to scale as a young wife to a real-live, flesh-and-blood man and a mother of two rough-and-tumble sons. Oh, I should have been used to the constant wrestling, the competing, the bleeding…the frequent stitches, athletic events, and sheetrock repairs. However, when I found myself yoked together with the love of my life and responsible for managing our active household of little lads whom I absolutely adored, I’m afraid my uber-responsible, controlling side rared up and rather ruled the day.

You probably know the feeling. That twitching, worried, hyper-protective maternal instinct kicks in, and we believe with all our hearts that Momma Knows Best in All Things! And what Momma wants is to keep all her babies close and safe and free from trouble, preferably surrounded by bubble wrap.

Now, I’m not going to tell you that I had an instantaneous transformation, laid down all my control issues at the altar, and have walked 100% free all the days thenceforth. What I can say is that my Father God gave me moments of insight and revelation into the masculine heart and soul—and that led me to come into agreement with Him and how He wired these guys we all love.

Reading the book Wild at Heart by John Eldredge was so impactful in that season of my life. I accepted how my husband and sons were designed by God to be aggressive warriors, adventurers, and leaders. For example, they desire to be respected and trusted as they do hard things, carry heavy responsibility, face danger, rise up to meet challenges, and overcome adversity without being rescued or micromanaged by me.

Truthfully, God used all of this revelation to start healing deep places in my own feminine soul as well, inviting me to get in touch with beauty, softness, nurture, comfort, and the freedom of submission in a way I had never experienced until then. I made crazy-wild choices to actually trust my husband’s decisions for our family instead of resisting, learning to lean into his leadership and trusting the Father’s voice in and through him, to me and to our children.

Over seasons of walking with the Lord as a wife and mother, I continue to relinquish my fears to Him when they arise. Basically, I have come to such a solid and peaceful place of faith in the fact that God’s will is for there to be order in our home. I invite you to join me in that place of faith for your home. That order and peace is totally worth fighting for!

What a generous gift that the masculine and feminine hearts are absolutely being restored and healed in our generation, as we continually surrender to the ways of our Father’s kingdom.

This post was written by Jill Brown. To read more about her, click here.

Faith, God's Presence

Re: Awareness of His Presence

January 30, 2017December 24, 2016by hcfwomenLeave a Comment

During the month of January, we will be reposting some of the top posts from 2016. We hope these will encourage you and connect to your heart. Stay tuned for all new posts coming in February 2017!

When I was in my early 20’s, I attended a Walk to Emmaus. During one of the talks, a woman told us how she spent her quiet time with the Lord every day. She had a cozy chair, in a specific spot in her house. She had a CD player that continually played worship music. She had a journal that she faithfully wrote in every single day. She read a chapter in the Old Testament, a Psalm, and a chapter in the New Testament. She used different colored highlighters to mark certain topics in her Bible. She seemed like she had it all together! So I took out my paper and made a checklist of all of these things. I figured that if I did everything she did, my personal time with the Lord would be….…EPIC!

Unfortunately, keeping up with her checklist for myself left me frustrated, feeling inadequate and like a failure. Can anybody relate to this?

I had to learn this truth: I will never experience abundance or fulfillment in my personal time with the Lord if I am fixated on the process itself. It’s not God’s intention for us to just feel good about ourselves, because we read our Bible today. Psalm 86:11 says, “Teach me Your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name.” He wants us to know Him, and He wants to reveal Himself to us. This takes practice, patience, perseverance, living in your truth, having an undivided heart, being aware of His Presence, and being vulnerable and obedient to His Spirit.

This looks different at different seasons in our lives. Currently, all four of my kids are in four different schools. I’m also a preschool teacher to fifteen 4-year-olds. I’m a pastor’s wife, a worship leader, and a life group host. I have thousands of loads of laundry to do. Somebody has to feed all of these people in my house. Then there’s the “driving everybody to all of their stuff” everyday! Life is pretty overwhelming right now in this season. BUT, my Father has things to reveal to me. And I want to know Him more every day. So I wake up very early, and I spend time with Him. I pray. I worship. I read His Word. And I listen.

But that’s not all!!! I have friends who speak life to me. I have a church family that surrounds me in prayer and love. God even reveals Himself to me in the 4-year-olds that I teach. You see, He is everywhere all the time. The time you spend with the Lord doesn’t have to be confined to your comfy chair in your special place in your house, with your vast assortment of highlighters, and all the right worship music. It is living life, being aware of His presence, and responding to His love by bearing good fruit to all He puts in our lives. Jesus says in John 15:16,

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.

You, Beloved, have been chosen by the Father. He has great things in store for you! Make the choice to commune with Him today and see what He reveals!

This post was written by Allison House. To read more about her, click here.

Honor

Re: Honor in the Workplace

January 16, 2017December 24, 2016by hcfwomenLeave a Comment

A little child is walking in the woods holding a light and looking at a glowing red door on the path for a mystery or imagination concept. During the month of January, we will be reposting some of the top posts from 2016. We hope these will encourage you and connect to your heart. Stay tuned for all new posts coming in February 2017!

When my husband and I moved to Plainview, we were newly married, swimming through life with love and a whole lot of immaturity! We joined Harvest, and God began to put my husband and I on a path of learning honor that started in our home.

I began to learn that honor was a state of my heart. It didn’t matter what Jodie did or didn’t do or deserve, my heart was called to honor this man. Wait, what??
That would require me to humble myself, bite my tongue, and allow the Holy Spirit to transform my heart? YES!

I was given the incredible opportunity to have a family and be called to work outside the home. I was also put on another path: learning to honor in the workplace. As much as I often struggled with whether to work or stay home with my kids, God always led me to a place of work outside the home. For a long time, I beat myself up over what I thought Christian women would say about me if I didn’t stay home with my kids. But I knew God had called me to work outside the home; so I embraced it, gave it my all, and have chosen to not be ashamed to walk in God’s best for me!

So, how do we as women embrace honor in the workplace? How do we cultivate a heart condition/environment that honor will flourish in?

There will always be many work situations that are both positive and negative. You may work for the best boss in the world, or you may have a boss that is controlling and rules with an iron fist. Either way, does it change God’s desire for us to live from a place of honor?

How do I respond when my boss makes me mad? What if I disagree with a decision that was made? How does my “talk” about him/her show honor? What if they make a mistake? How do I respond? What if others try to draw me into their negative conversation about my boss? Do I do the same amount of work when I am monitored and when I am not?

Ephesians 6:5-8 says,

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

This scripture is pretty straightforward. Do your “work” as unto the Lord. But if the state of our heart has not embraced the foundational truth of honor, then this scripture will be offensive, out of reach, and defeating.

How do we begin this journey and get on a path of honor?

It begins with surrendering and believing who we are in Christ. If I don’t believe who I am in Christ—that I am righteous, whole, and lacking nothing—then my boss, husband, or any authority figure can send me into a “tizzy” real quick. No matter what my boss does, I am ok and secure in Christ. My faith is not in man but Christ alone.

I can honor my boss and cover him/her because of who I am, not because of his/her merit. We can’t change anything on our own. We can’t “will” or try harder for our heart to change; only the Holy Spirit can do that. In the process of allowing God to transform our beliefs, our choices can start to mirror God’s heart. When I learned this powerful, life-changing truth, my world was turned upside down, and my “work” blessings have multiplied 100-fold!

As I began living out the truth about honor, God began to show me, as the picture above so beautifully portrays, I was like a child who needed foundational truth. I needed to embrace the reality that honor is not about the other person; it’s about the condition of my heart. The result of growing in honor is a doorway to endless possibilities and blessing.

Come join me on this journey?

This post was written by Amy Meek. To read more about her, click here.

Honor, Marriage

Re: Honor in Marriage

January 2, 2017December 24, 2016by hcfwomen1 Comment

Happy New Year! During the month of January, we will be reposting some of the top posts from 2016. We hope these will encourage you and connect to your heart. Stay tuned for all new posts coming in February 2017!

Not long after we were married, Curtis and I moved into a small, old farmhouse WAY out in the country. We were pretty much newlyweds, and I was blissfully unaware of what life would be like out in the country. For the most part, it was fun. Some of our favorite memories of marriage are when we lived in the country. But it was also where we had our first big argument.
Well, it was a fight. I’m just going to be real.

I came home one afternoon after work, and the toilet was in the dining room. In. The. Dining. Room. Curtis had a saw and was cutting a hole into the wall of our one and only bathroom. He proceeded to tell me that we had a leak, and he was fixing it. I asked him, WHEN HE WAS GOING TO PUT THE TOILET BACK IN THE BATHROOM!? He told me we would be without water for several days, but he put a bar of soap out by the windmill and some toilet paper outside if I needed to go to the bathroom. Y’all, he was serious. I FREAKED!!!!!

Although we both come from good, God-fearing families, we came into our marriage with two TOTALLY different experiences. For example, when something broke at Curtis’ house, they fixed it. When something broke at MY house, we called a professional to fix it.🙂 This seems very insignificant. But I soon found out that this was important to me. Honestly, the toilet in the dining room was merely an inconvenience that I had to experience. It was certainly not the end of the world, and we laugh about it now (Because when things break, he still fixes them himself).

In hindsight, this was one of the first lessons I learned about HONOR in my marriage. My expectation was disappointed by reality. Ladies, this happens in every marriage. If it hasn’t happened to you yet, it will. We all react differently when we are in our “pain cycle.” As for me, I spoke loudly and erratically. Well…I yelled, ok?

After I calmed down and we talked about it, Curtis informed me that it was not ok for me to speak loudly and erratically to him when I’m upset. That’s just not how things were going to be resolved in our home. And he’s right. Even though I felt like I had the right to be angry with him, I still had to learn how to honor him when we disagreed (Or when he was going to fix something that was broken).

Proverbs 31: 12 speaks of a wife of noble character relating to her husband: “She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.”

Notice it doesn’t say she will bring him good, not harm….only when she feels loved and cherished by him; or only when he listens to all of her problems and gives her his undivided attention; or only when he comes home from work and helps her cook dinner, cleans up the kitchen, helps with bath time, and puts all the kids to bed. It doesn’t say she will bring him good, not harm…only when he becomes the spiritual leader of the home; or only when he stops looking at pornography; or only when he treats her the way she expects to be treated.

If I’m honoring my husband ONLY when my expectations are being met, then I’m not really honoring with God’s grace. Actually, if this is the only time I honored Curtis, I would be setting myself up for an unhealthy marriage, an unhappy husband, and an unsatisfied life.

So what does HONOR look like in a marriage when your expectations are constantly being disappointed by reality? It looks like:

praying for your husband even when you really want to speak loudly and erratically
learning to be patient when you really want to nag
treating him the way you want to be treated when you are frustrated with something he’s done (or not done)
being his cheerleader even when you think you know how to do it better
being his advocate when others put him down
learning how to manage your home so you’re not co-dependent on him

So what if your problems aren’t just the run-of-the-mill marital problems? What if there is abuse or addiction? Get help. There are so many incredible professionals who can help you walk through any and every kind of situation.

We’ve got to start letting go of trying to “fix him,” and start seeking the One Who created marriage, knows our every desire and need, and brings us complete joy in this life when we surrender to Him. We all have the ability to be a wife of noble character, whose husband has full confidence in her–to be a woman who fears the Lord. This takes honesty, diligence, vulnerability, repentance, and perseverance. This will take a lifetime of learning who you are in Christ and how you can be one flesh with the man God gave you. Don’t give up, friend! I want to encourage you to examine your heart and look for new ways you can honor your husband today!

This post was written by Allison House. To read more about her, click here.

Family, Holidays

Surviving the Holidays with Family

November 21, 2016November 20, 2016by hcfwomenLeave a Comment

family-holidays “Surviving” and “Holidays” seem like two words that do not belong together; however, the reality is that the holidays can be a very difficult time for a plethora of reasons. The holidays can be a not-so-gentle reminder of past hurts involving family members, an opportunity to grieve those that are no longer with us, and a platform to build up more resentment in struggling familial relationships. This season also lends itself to helping us lose focus on the most important parts of Thanksgiving and Christmas: We become inundated with school plays, holiday parties, and shopping. We are both so eager for the holidays to arrive and eager for them to be over.

I want to challenge each of us to approach this holiday season differently. I am such a visual and kinesthetic person. In an effort to shift my thinking and also the lenses through which I am viewing people, I often picture the following scenario: I picture different pairs of glasses. There are clear ones that are my correct prescription, sunglasses with orange tinted lenses, glasses with weird shapes in the lenses, and a pair with lenses that distort objects.

The reality is that the truth of what I am viewing doesn’t change when I use different lenses. Instead, it is my perspective that changes.

As I approach the holiday season, I am asking the Lord to provide me his lenses through which I can view his people. Using his lenses allows me to love those individuals that are difficult to be with during the holidays. His lenses also allow me to identify hurting people during this season and position myself to love and encourage them. I am so thankful that, this holiday season, we can be a church that chooses our lenses intentionally so that we can participate in what the Lord is doing in the most incredible of ways.

We have the ability to shift our thinking from a mode of “survival” to a position of opportunity this holiday season. I am excited and eager to see what the Lord reveals to me as I ask for his lenses.

This post was written by Lindsey Wesley. To read more about her, click here.

Gratitude, Holidays

Preparing for the Holidays

November 14, 2016November 12, 2016by hcfwomenLeave a Comment

family-pic The leaves are changing, the air is turning cooler, and the expectancy of the holiday season is upon us! My heart leaps when I think about the holidays! I still feel the same expectancy that I did when I was a child, eager for Christmas morning!

However, I have found myself a little anxious about the holidays this year because of the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping, finding the right presents, scheduling family events, and already feeling behind in my normal holiday routine.

Recently, the Lord has been impressing on my heart a few things that have brought me a lot of peace and joy. Instead of the focus and attention being on what gift we are going to receive, the perfect gift we are going to buy, the menu for Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner, the schedule of who goes where, when, the endless parties to attend, and let’s not forget about teacher gifts…let’s look for the “new” in our traditions and the people we enjoy!

Many of us have the same traditions year after year. Looking back, as a child, some of the happiest memories I had were during this time of year. Instead of taking for granted the “process” and people we love this year, how about we notice and really “see” them? Look for the amazing qualities that we may have missed over the past year (or years). Let’s live our traditions out this year like it could be our last, really taking the time to enjoy the moments we get to spend with family and friends.

The years go by fast, and time is fleeting before us. Our children are getting older, our parents are getting older…our “normal” becomes just memories!

I don’t want to miss a thing this year! I don’t want to take one thing for granted. I want to go to every event with expectation in my heart for something new! I want to buy something for someone that brings meaning to their life.

The Lord has brought forth blessings overflowing in my life. This holiday season, I want to be grateful for every person, every gift, every smile, every endless side dish full of carbs, every Walmart line, every pile of leaves in my backyard, every cup of coffee filled with holiday creamer, and most of all Christ’s love and sacrifice for me!

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Colossians 2:6-7

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:17

This post was written by Amy Meek. To read more about her, click here.

Fruitfulness, Hospitality, Identity, Recipes

How I Defeated Fear with Cherry Pie

November 7, 2016October 28, 2016by hcfwomenLeave a Comment

cherry-pie As a kid, one of my most favorite places to be was in the kitchen. Standing next to my mom and watching her maneuver her way through the kitchen was incredible to me! I wanted her to teach me everything she knew about cooking. I wanted to become a great cook, and not only feed my family, but anyone else who walked into my home. To this day, I get so much joy from being in my kitchen and cooking food for people.

My sister-in-law recently got married and she asked me if I could make a few pies for her wedding. I was honored to be able to help contribute to her special day and immediately said yes. I opened our family’s cookbook and browsed around, and finally decided I wanted to make a cherry pie! But I wondered if it would be “good enough” for the wedding? The thought crossed my mind to make a homemade pie crust, but I was a little unsure about that because I had never made one before.

That’s when the fear, negative thoughts, and doubt started rising up in me. I told myself that I just simply couldn’t do it, that it was going to be way too hard, and if I tried it and failed, then I would be letting my sister-in-law down. After believing all those lies, I made the decision to just go with the good ‘ole store-bought crust.

A few days passed and I started thinking about the decision I had made, and I didn’t like it. Why was I so fearful? I walked into the kitchen and noticed the verse written on our chalkboard: 2 Timothy 1:7 –

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

That was just what I needed to hear! God reminded me just then that He did not design my spirit to be fearful and timid. He designed my spirt to be full of power, love, and self-discipline!

Self-discipline is the ability to control one’s feelings and overcome one’s weaknesses; the ability to pursue what one thinks is right despite temptations to abandon it.

God gives all of us the ability to control our feelings and overcome our weaknesses. The power to do that lives in us and it cannot be taken away!

I want to encourage you to do whatever it is that has been holding you back lately. Whether it is an art project on Pinterest; trying a new recipe for supper; implementing new changes at work; standing up for someone or something you believe in; trusting your children to make the right choices; submitting to your husband, or letting unhealthy relationships go.

Everyone has fears; that’s part of life. But at what point are we going to stop letting fear control us? You have to stand up to that fear, look it in the eye, and tell it, “You have no stronghold over me!” If you don’t, then the enemy has won, because fear is not from God.

I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.

Psalms 16:8

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Incredible Pie Crust

2 1/2 C. Flour
1 tsp. salt
2 T. sugar
1 1/2 Sticks cold butter, cut into 1/4in pieces
1/2 C. Cold shortening, cut into pieces
1/2 C. Cold water

Combine 1 1/2 Cups flour, salt, and sugar then mix together. Cut in butter and shortening with a pasty cutter until its all mixed together and resembles cottage cheese. Add remaining flour and mix. Sprinkle water on top of dough and with a rubber spatula, mix dough and liquid with a folding motion, pressing on dough. It will be very tacky. Divide dough into 2 balls. Place each ball onto a large square plastic wrap and flatten into a 4 inch disk. Wrap plastic around dough. Refrigerate 1 hour. May keep in refrigerator for up to 2 days. If not using right away you can put dough into the freezer. When ready to use let it defrost in refrigerator and then roll out for your incredible pie crust. Makes 2 pie crusts.

This recipe was given to me by my cousin Chana Miller Van Houten.

This post was written by Rae Leach. To read more about her, click here.

Family, Grief, Hospitality, Identity

Making a Home: Words for a Care-Giver

October 17, 2016by hcfwomen4 Comments

My perceived golden years were supposed to be the time when ingathering was finished and I could enjoy the fruits of my many years of labor. The time when most of my bucket list could start happening and I could do the things I had put on the back-burner and told myself I’d do when I got old and gray. Then life got in the way and things didn’t go as I dreamed. My Little Mama’s golden years became tarnished by the patina of Alzheimer’s and she needed a care-giver. My golden years had changed into something totally different than I expected.

In seeking God‘s perspective for this season in my life He reminded me of this promise in 2 John 1,3:

To the elect lady and her children (family)… Grace, mercy and peace WILL be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ…

He reminded me that these words were much more than a salutation. They were HIS words of LIFE to me and that if I received each one and laid claim to them for my own as a daily blessing from Him then I could be who He wanted me to be for my family in this season.

GRACE. MERCY. PEACE. These words have nothing to do with what I do to make my home comfortable for my family….they have everything to do with who I am in my home with my family.

It is God’s grace that helps me when I have to parent my parent to make sure she remains safe and healthy. It is His grace that helps me in the times buttons from childhood get pushed and I want to respond in a defensive, emotional, or hateful way. It is His grace that helps me to be able to walk away from the physical clutter and chaos that this disease brings into a home.

It is His mercy flowing through me that gives me compassion for the times Little Mama comes to me scared because she doesn’t know where her parents or her husband or her puppy is. Mercy for when she doesn’t know where she is or why she is living with me so that I can comfort her and make her feel safe. It is His mercy that lets me know it is okay to be messed up emotionally at times when I get frustrated or when I see the confusion and pain in Little Mama’s eyes.

Most of all I find I can have inner peace because I know I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing in this season. Honoring my Little Mama and knowing this pleases my DAD. And if I continue to press in to receive and live in these blessings from Him, my home will flow in abundance of what He wants it to be….maybe not Better Homes and Gardens perfect, but God-Perfect….a life-giving, loving, warm, comfortable and safe haven for my family’s spirits.

This post was written by Kitty Shipman. To read more about her, click here.

Hospitality, Singleness

Making a Home During the Season of Singleness

October 10, 2016October 9, 2016by hcfwomenLeave a Comment

To me, hospitality means creating a welcoming place…for others as well as for yourself. It’s creating a place of beauty and rest. But this will look different for each person.

What does it mean to have a heart of hospitality, and how can you do that during a season of being single?

Some of you may think that you don’t really need to be “hospitable.” No one ever comes over to your house anyway! Or maybe you live in the dorm…How can you show hospitality there? Or maybe this whole idea of hospitality just overwhelms you, and you don’t know where to start. Let me tell you a few stories…

I learned about welcoming people into my home at a young age. When I was in junior high and high school, my parents helped lead the college group at our church. At least once a month (often more frequently), we would have a group of students over to our house. I learned to set the table (or set out TV trays!), greet everyone at the door with a smile, and help wash the dishes after everyone left. I didn’t realize then that I was learning a valuable tool for my future.

Learning how to implement hospitality in different settings sometimes takes creativity.

When I was in college, there was an upstairs lobby in our dorm. Besides using it for weekly dorm Bible studies, it was mainly abandoned. I asked my RHS if I could decorate it, and she gave permission. For less than $30, I blew up some pictures that I’d taken myself (mainly of landscapes or flowers), put them in a whole bunch of empty box frames from my parent’s garage, hung the pictures on the walls, and decorated the window frame. Then I would plug in my hot water kettle and invite people over for tea (Even some non-college adult women friends kindly humored me by coming to my little corner!).

Hospitality is not just for others; it’s creating a welcoming place for you to come home to, especially if you live by yourself. Two things that I learned from the book The Spirit of Loveliness:

Light lamps; It’s always nice to come home to at least a lamp lit in the hallway and in the bathroom (this has been true no matter what apartment I’ve lived in)
Play music; Music changes the atmosphere, and always puts me in a happier mood, even if it’s just for washing dishes

You don’t have to have a big or fancy place. It’s the atmosphere—the feel—that you give people when they come into your space. Do they feel welcomed? Do they feel relaxed? Do they feel at home?

Creating a place for people to come and feel welcomed is a spiritual activity. As we prepare and pray over our “space,” it opens our hearts up to the people who are coming in. And it opens up people’s hearts to experience the welcoming love of our God.

This post was written by Heather Dillard. To read more about her, click here.