The Biggest Lesson I Learned in My Military Wife-Life – How to Cultivate Community (Part 3)

This is part 3 of a post on how to cultivate community in the military wife-life.

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Learn how to be hospitable.

To open my home to more people to cultivate community, I had to learn how to be hospitable.

I  learned to lower my expectations of what hospitality had to look like to open my home. I couldn’t maintain my high standards for a home that didn’t look lived-in while opening my door each week. So, I changed my perspective of what my house needed to look like to welcome my small group. I came to realize that HOSPITALITY WAS MORE ABOUT CONNECTION THAN PERFECTION. My house is not perfect. There might be toys lying around or unread mail stacked up or even some dirty dishes. The toilet isn’t perfectly clean but what is welcoming is my heart. 

I think I have the gift of hospitality, but it might not be what you think hospitality should look like. I’m not posting any photos of my hospitality on Pinterest or Instagram. I’m not an awesome entertainer. If you came to my house, you’d not be impressed by the food or the decorations or anything. But I open my home and I am willing to have people in my house as an opportunity to do life with them. On several occasions, I’ve served folks leftovers for dinner because that happened to be what we had available. Generally, I stir up a pitcher of country-time lemonade and brew some coffee and that’s it. I’ve come to believe that hospitality is opening your life up for God’s glory. It's moving from being self-focused to thinking about those around you.

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