How God Can Use Your Imperfect Hospitality | Guest Post by Sue Donaldson

Does your desire to be a perfect host get in the way of inviting people over? Perhaps you aren’t the best cook, or your home doesn’t look like the ones in the magazine. Find out today how to let go of these thoughts and begin opening up your home. After all, God wants to use your imperfect hospitality to further His kingdom.   

Today, we have the honor of welcoming my friend Sue Donaldson as our guest on Embracing the Unexpected. In my eyes, Sue is the queen of hospitality. But don’t let that phrase put you into a panic. She has a beautiful way of taking away the stress of entertaining and concentrating more on showing the heart of God. Her website, “Welcome Heart,” is one of my favorite places to visit each week.  

Does your desire to be a perfect host get in the way of inviting people over? Find out today from our guest, Sue Donaldson, how God wants to use your imperfect hospitality to further His kingdom. #SueDonaldson #WelcomHeart… Share on X

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God Loves Using Our Imperfect Hospitality-

A Shared Blessing

Guest Post By Sue Donaldson

When I invited 35 to a surprise birthday luncheon honoring my friend, Ceslie, I knew I would need to include protein. My friend needs her protein.

I also knew I would need help. Many friends offered, and I took them up on their offer. Taking people up on their offer is right out of basic training, Hospitality, 101. I don’t know why that’s a hard one, but I’m here to say:

When someone says, “Can I bring something?” you say, “Sure.”

Even if it’s ice.

Or rolls.

Or half-in-half.

You can always use more half-in-half.

Jill said, “Can I bring something?”

And I thought: My Costco-sized half-in-half is due to expire soon. A ladies luncheon for 35 needs their half-in-half.

I replied to Jill, “Can you bring half-in-half? It will save me a trip back to the store As well as curdled coffee.” A ladies luncheon for 35 would not like curdled coffee.)

She said, I’ll bring you Rosa’s – I’m spoiled by Rosa’s.” I didn’t know what that meant, but it sounded wonderful. I like being spoiled in general, and by food and drink, in particular.

 

Here’s the point. You say “yes” to the offer, and wonderful things happen:

• • You save yourself another trip to the store.
  • We share the load with another: finances, time, creativity, labor.
  • You share the blessing with another — the benefit of giving — which, as you givers know, is the best kind of blessing — so no keeping it for yourself!
  • And you may get a new recipe–or a new type of half-in-half.

We will receive all those great things and more.

 

DO YOU WONDER WHY GOD’S CALLED YOU TO DO HOSPITALITY?

Isn’t it just for perfect people—excellent cooks, impeccable decorators, amazing everything, every time?

God invites us to His table, and He expects us to extend the invitation to others. Why doesn’t He send the request directly? Why does He involve you and me? We’re not perfect. He is. Why choose imperfect people?

 

Here are some reasons:

Humility. If I hosted perfectly, I’d think I was pretty hot stuff. God is the Hot Stuff. I’m closer to Him when I remember that.

Though the LORD is great, he cares for the humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud. Psalm 138:6 NLT

God uses our imperfection, so people focus on Him and not us. Humility is good for the soul, if not for the complexion (she said, red-faced.)

Oswald Chambers wrote: “One of the greatest proofs that you are drawing on the grace of God is that you can be humiliated without manifesting the slightest trace of anything but His grace.”

That could be a new bumper sticker: “Humiliated for Jesus.” Maybe not. Too much attention.

Relatability. When I make mistakes in the presence of my company, it makes them feel more comfortable. People know themselves. They know they are not perfect. When they see you–the Hostess-With-The-Mostest–dry out the pot roast, they will like you better. It’s true. They want to know they can be who they are. We wear too many masks. Not the COVID kind. Showing our imperfection helps everyone be themselves. Vulnerability brings people closer to Jesus.

Dependence. The best reason for God using our imperfect hospitality is that we get the opportunity to rely on Him, the Perfect Host. I don’t want to do anything without Him–anything at all. Challenging situations like an extra person at the table or awkward dinner conversation or your kids misbehaving or your worries that your kids will most certainly misbehave – anything that throws me for a loop–all these and more, throw me on my Savior’s breast. And that’s exactly where I want to be.

God loves you in all your imperfection, including your imperfect hospitality. Makes you want to try tonight, right?

The world's idea of hospitality warps our view, making hosting so much effort that we give up before we begin. #imperfecthospitality #hospitality Share on X

 

ALLOWING SOMEONE TO HELP OUT REMINDS ME OF MY IMPERFECTION

“I really can’t do it all” is a truth that protects my mental health and allows another to share the load. Accepting help will help me do more hospitality, and now more than ever, people need to know they are loved and cared for.

Saying “yes” to the offer is something I learned from my mother.

Maybe your mother didn’t teach you that, but you saw it in another woman and still learned. Not all mothers teach the same; we can all learn something from someone else’s mother. We could call it: “Mother Mentoring But Not Your Mother.”

When you offer what God offers you, the blessings are great—blessed to be a blessing.

We don’t have to host as our mothers did, we don’t have to host like our friend’s mother, and we most certainly don’t have to host like Martha Stewart, but we do need to host.

Polly and Lars invited people over every Sunday evening for popcorn. Laurie would call friends to meet them for a “Blizzard Run” at Dairy Queen. Steve and Karen used the 3 P’s: Pizza, Pepsi, and Ping Pong for regular youth gatherings.

It’s that simple.

You may desire to share Christ and what better place than on your porch or in your backyard, for now.

Make this your Motto: “It’s simple to do when you keep it simple.” Make a list of how you would like to host, and then cross out a third of what you would need to do to accomplish it. You might break out with a huge sigh of relief. (Which is much better than breaking out in hives from stress.)

Bottom Line: Hospitality is a metaphor for how God woos us so that when we welcome others, we welcome them to God. (He kept it simple: “Come to Me.”)

Second Bottom Line: When someone offers to help, say, “Yes.” It will make it simpler for you and be a shared blessing.

People can find Jesus at our table, and that's the biggest blessing. God has a welcoming heart, and we get to show His heart through hospitality. It's a privilege. #Jesus #hospitality Share on X

We would love to know how you are letting go of perfection and permitting God to use your imperfect hospitality.

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Speaker, author, Sue Donaldson and her husband, Mark, live in San Luis Obispo, California. Sue taught high school English, part of the time in Brazil with Wycliffe Bible Translators. She and her husband, Mark, have raised three daughters who keep them at the bank and on their knees. Sue loves connecting people to one another, to God, and to His Word, and has been speaking for the last 20 years or so with long pauses for babies, diapers, and soccer pasta parties. She blogs at WelcomeHeart: Knowing and Showing the Heart of God and hosts a weekly podcast: Make it Count: Living a Legacy Life. You can also find Sue on Facebook and Instagram. 

Available on Amazon, Sue’s books include: Come to My Table: God’s Hospitality and Yours, Hospitality, 101: Lessons from the Ultimate Host, a 12-Week Bible Study, and Table Mentoring: A Simple Guide to Coming Alongside.

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