One of my areas of growth is that of opening my home for hospitality to neighbors as well as fellow Jesus-followers. This is a new area for me because, since my wife went to heaven, I am now the cook! Anyone brave enough to come to my home and try my culinary experiments deserves some kind of medal (or an antacid)!

I previously shared about my steep learning curve as I invited my Muslim neighbors over for dinner. I had hoped to use some beef patties I already had, only to be reminded by a friend that my neighbors may require halal beef!  You can read about it in my prior post called Dinner with my neighbors.

Well, I recently had the idea of inviting people from my local church over to my home after the Sunday morning worship service in order to have some personal interaction with our first missionary. I announced it as a potluck (which I have always defined as “pick a pot and try your luck!”) so that we would not starve. But I also knew I should fix something in case others could not bring food.

So I emailed my daughter who loves to hunt online for recipes, “Please can you find me some easy crock-pot recipes that I can just pour in canned stuff?”(dumb right?).  She came back with several options that were (I guess ) on the easy side.  So I decided on the tortilla soup, and, if I do say so myself, it came out DELICIOUS! (Notice the way chicken soup was meant to be… big chunks of chicken!)

More importantly, we had a tasty casual meal. Others brought salad, sandwiches, pizza, and cookies. We had nice conversation around the table, and then adjourned to the living room for a time of prayer for our missionary. As everyone left, I felt gratified that my home had been used again for God’s work.

Tweet This  Raise a glass to trying new recipes and hospitality for Jesus’ sake!

What experiences have you had in opening your home?