Practicing Hospitality

You might have noticed this book was sitting atop my 'Currently Reading' list for some time; Isaac and I were attempting to go through this book together, but now my beloved husband is reading approximately 23.7 books and 17.6 articles for his classes at SBTS.  He has been diligent about discussing chapters together, but we decided it would be okay from me to go ahead and finish the book now while he works on his seminary reading (Let me insert here how incredibly proud I am of my hubby; he is doing such a great job of reading and studying consistently every day, and he is working hard to balance school, work, church, family, and other activities.  He is also blogging through his Biblical Counseling class on our friend's Barry's site; check it out and leave him comments telling him how awesome he is).

Several months ago, I completed and wrote a review of Open Heart, Open Home, which was one of the original books published on the topic of biblical hospitality.  After our trip to the Middle East opened my eyes to practicing hospitality (not merely entertaining) on a regular basis, I decided to find a few books on the matter.  Practicing Hospitality was written by Drs. Pat Ennis and Lisa Tatlock, both professors at The Master's College in southern California.  The book contains only eight chapters, but those eight chapters are jammed packed with historical information, Scripture, and practical advice (including some yummy recipes).  One of the most helpful things included in the book is suggestions and ideas gleaned from an extensive survey Ennis and Tatlock sent out to their former students from The Master's College.  What wonderful ideas those women had for incorporating hospitality into their daily lives and family traditions!

In each chapter, Ennis and Tatlock provide biblical evidence and reasoning for a particular aspect of hospitality.  Probably my three favorite chapters were the ones concerning management, family, and culture.  Though the management wasn't the one that I was most excited about reading, it provided me with some much-needed conviction about managing my home in such a way that it can not only bless my family, but others- including friends and strangers- as well.  Learning to share with others in both our bounty and need is definitely a lesson which I am learning right now.  It was easy to share and give to others when our family had two full-time incomes, but now that isn't the case, and I'm fighting the attitude of hoarding everything we can get to keep for ourselves.  This book speaks to this issue within the Church; looking back, it was great preparation for this season in our lives. 

The other two chapters which I thoroughly enjoyed were the ones which focused on family and culture.  I obviously enjoyed the culture chapter because I love learning about and experiencing other cultures; I believe that our cultures reflect the Lord in many different ways, and I am fascinated by how much we can learn from people who are so different than us.  This chapter discussed how we can appropriately relate to people from other cultures.  By simply taking the time to learn a little about their way of life, we can more fully enjoy their friendship as we mutually learn from one another.  This chapter also contains some of my favorite recipes in the entire book, so the book is worth reading just for those few pages!  The other chapter I really enjoyed focus on hospitality and family.  Obviously, we don't have children yet, but that doesn't mean that we can't begin to prepare for them by determining some family values and traditions (such as our Focus of the Month).  We want our children to be gracious and giving individuals, and planning a hospitable family atmosphere where the focus is on serving others is one method we plan to employ in our parenting.  This chapter also contained some of the best suggestions by the authors' students; in fact, we are already implementing some of them in our household.

Overall, this book was a great read; I recommend it to anyone and every one, but I would especially encourage young families and even people who are getting married in the near future to read this book and begin to consider how you will show hospitality in your family and home.  A fair warning if you're getting married and I'm attending your wedding: your present just might be this book and Noel Piper's Treasuring God in Our Traditions- two of the best books for newlyweds in my opinion!