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The ringing telephone matched the nighttime howling Midwestern wind. My pastor husband, just home from a board meeting, went to answer it.
“I’m sorry we can’t give you money for food, but we’d be glad to see that you receive something to eat. Tell me about your family and where you are located.” After several minutes, I heard my husband say, “Let me give you directions to our house. We will feed you and put you up for the night. In the morning, we will see how we can help you.” The father expressed his gratitude. The family would be right over. I checked the clock; it read 10:15 P.M. I groaned slightly and slid out of bed. The text “And let us not be weary in well doing” (Galatians 6:9, KJV) followed me all the way to the kitchen. While my husband switched on the porch light and checked the extra bedroom for stray toys, I prayed silently for guidance in fixing a meal the family would like. Everyone likes potatoes, I thought, so I quickly put some on the stove and found some applesauce for the baby. By 10:50 P.M., the table was set, and a warm meal was waiting on the stove. At 11:00, we surmised that the family had made a wrong turn but should arrive any minute, but 11:30 came and went. Fifteen minutes later, my husband turned off the porch light and announced bedtime. Anger, frustration, and exhaustion knotted my stomach.
I was hurt. A see-whether-I-care attitude occasionally tempts me, but the Lord is good and gently reminds me, “We must gather warmth from the coldness of others.”* Our gift had been rejected, but that must not stop us from continuing to give.
“The Bible lays much stress upon the practice of hospitality. Not only does it enjoin hospitality as a duty, but it presents many beautiful pictures of the exercise of this grace and the blessing which it brings.”† Hospitality is a tool to encourage people and point them heavenward. Marybeth Gessele
* Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5 (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press®, 1948), 136.
† Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6 (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press®, 1948), 341.