I get it all the time when I meet people from other parts of the country besides the South, "Oh! I hear things are very welcoming and sweet down south. Must be all that southern hospitality!" Yes, it's true. Hospitality has been a part of southern culture far longer than I have been alive. In fact, in the historical downtown district of Charleston, many town homes feature a plaque beside the front door knocker that symbolizes hospitality. The pineapple is a sign of being welcoming. While I will always appreciate being brought up in the southern part of the United States, there are parts of me that are being challenged to take those southern traditions and apply them to my faith journey. What I mean, is that I feel the personal call to make my heart a more hospitable environment. What would you do if I told you, a fellow Christ follower, that you aren't being asked to become a more hospitable person...you are being called.

You see, in the years of being a college student, I didn't think it was possible to make campus housing a homey and warm place to spend time. How am I supposed to take empty walls and make them cute and pretty, somewhere that makes studying and socializing a good environment? It wasn't easy, especially in the last two years of living in a dorm room. This year is different. I'm in my first apartment with the most fun, sweet, patient, and Jesus loving girls ever. We decided early on in the semester that this year, we wanted to see spiritual growth like never before and we wanted everyone who had the same desire to get in on it as well. We decided to open our home, small and quaint as it may be, to become a place to gather, eat, catch up, fellowship, laugh, cry, sing, and praise the King in. Through God's goodness, He has allowed us to create a small Bible study group right in our very own living room.

It has been absolutely incredible to see our group grow, but I can't help but wonder about what God tells us about being welcoming, warm people when we decide to make our homes a refuge to those that need a place to be loved. 1 Peter 4:9 says "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling." I don't know about you but that seems pretty clear to me. It's easy to offer hospitality to others when it's convenient to us, but what about when it's not? What if I've had a terrible day, have tons of assignments to complete for the week, and someone needs to come over for advice and to be prayed for? Without grumbling. Every single time: without grumbling. God's word tells us not to withhold goodness in ourselves when others need to be loved on, but to love openly and without worry of other things we could be doing with the time we spend showering others in His love.

For me, it's throwing some break-n-bake cookies in the oven before Sunday night Bible study starts. It's making sure our apartment has been freshly sprayed with Febreze pumpkin scented room spray. By the way fam, if you love pumpkin scented items as much as this girl, then this stuff is your GO-TO. Seriously, go get you some. While these things are little touches in our house to make it an atmosphere where others feel comfortable, I know that the little things in life turn out to be the big things. I know that the Lord loves when we take the time to go the extra little bit of distance to make our brothers and sisters feel loved. What can you do to extend hospitality this week?