Hospitality

Sometimes I feel really silly. I just finished Eugene Peterson's memoir, The Pastor, which is a wonderful look at his life and how he grew to be a pastor. I highly recommend to anyone who is a pastor or thinking about it. About midway through the book, he focuses on his wife Jan and her ministry. Her calling was to be a pastor's wife. What really caught my attention was his description of how she lived this--it was the life of hospitality, and not just "come on over for dinner" hospitality. As I was reading it, I realized that he was mentioning most of the words I had written on the giant Chazown bubbles. He talked about how she worked to build community in her neighborhood and church. She tackled social issues such as women's rights, and other larger scale issues of hospitality. I am glad God is patient with me. My last two posts were connected and I didn't even get it. My calling is not to be a pastor's wife (which Shannon will be happy to know), but it is all wrapped up in hospitality, community, and the defending the powerless. With some learning and creating beauty mixed in there. I still don't know what that means but I happy I am starting to understand what God is teaching me.