This photo is one of my favorites. It’s from Christmas Eve when my family was living in an apartment community of 900 residents.
This photo is not my favorite because everyone’s best outfits and sparkling smiles are on display (no one is even looking at the camera), and it’s not my favorite because our apartment was decorated beautifully (I was given the neon tree light that night). This picture isn’t my favorite because it shows a fun and flashy event we planned for our community. But this photo is my favorite picture because it sums up what I’ve been learning about hospitality.
You see, our neighbor, David, wanted to go to church because he had never been to an American church. So, our family took him to the candlelight Christmas Eve service at our church. After the service, our friends from church came to our apartment and decided to hang out and eat with our friends from our apartment community.
We didn’t have enough chairs. We didn’t have enough plates.
Our friend and neighbor, Obrian got off work late and casually walked into our apartment at 10:30PM. A woman I hardly knew started washing my dishes. Our dog slobbered all over any guest who made eye contact with her. Another neighbor brought leftover items from a charcuterie board, and I served garlic rolls shaped like Christmas trees, chili, and Jingle Juice. Someone brought a game, but we didn’t play it. We were much too busy talking about everything and nothing.
It’s our family’s tradition to attend a midnight Christmas Eve church service downtown so we piled in cars, and after church, my kids raced back to the car like they did when they were little. On the way home, I declared my love for a traditional church service, and no one replied. Then our daughters demanded the whole car listen to an Ariana Grande Christmas song.
It was a Christmas Eve filled with regular events and regular people, people we didn’t know well, but people who were our neighbors, and that’s exactly what made it special.
Create space, notice people, invite them in, initiate depth. Share life. That’s hospitality.
I don’t really get it yet, but I’m learning that a lot of times you won’t have enough chairs or plates, and you will find yourself serving mediocre chili to people who are actual chefs at the fanciest restaurant in town, and you know what? Everyone will be perfectly fine with it. I promise.
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This post is part of the From Door to Discipleship series. Find more resources and ways to engage residents in apartment communities located within our online platform.
Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2
