That Meal Was Gross!

Apple cider with
frozen cider hands and gummy eyeballs

We decided to make a meal for our Wednesday night kids that would reflect our warped sense of humor. The kids asked before taking any of the food since they weren't sure what the food was and it looked so gross.

Bleeding heart brie

Everyone loved it! We placed creepy spiders all over the counter and table and a skull held vials of bats blood (o.k. it was really ketchup darkened with food coloring). We floated gummi eyeballs and ice severed hands inside the cider filled punch bowl.

Body parts salad

I made a pork mummy, a phyllo-wrapped pork tenderloin. We had a bleeding heart brie cheese with cherry preserves wrapped in dough.

Our body parts salad was black cherry gelatin with cherries and oranges. I wrapped breadsticks around hotdogs and made them look like mummies.

Mummy pork tenderloin

A taco salad stared back at us as we proceeded to eat it. We finished off the meal with bat and bug topped cupcakes.

These evenings with our Wednesday night kids is so wonderful. We get to keep up with what is going on with them and at the same time make sure they are getting a good home-cooked meal at least once a week.

Taco salad with sour cream eyeballs

Skull with vials of bat's blood

Skewered mummy hotdogs

Mary Liz "Lizzie Borden" chowing down

A Little Good News

This morning while watching the news I was impressed by a group of girls who showed hospitality. While playing a college softball game senior Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon made her first home run hit. Her joy quickly turned to pain as her knee buckled at first base. Her pain was so great that she wouldn't be able to continue her victory run. If she didn't continue around the bases she would not get credit for her home run. If her teammates touched her she would not be allowed to continued.

The situation was being discussed with the umpires and Sara's coaches to come up with a solution which would allow her to keep her home run. In steps Mallory Holtman, first base player of Central Washington—her opponent. Her solution was the offer of allowing players from her team to carry Sara around the bases, stopping at each base and having Sara touch the base.

Yes, you heard right. The umpires huddled to make sure this would be legal. After everything was checked out Mallory and shortstop Liz Wallace gently picked up Sara and carried her to each base, lowered her so that she could touch each base.

Part way through this unusual play the girls began to giggle, when they arrived at home base it was to a standing ovation. I imagine not a dry eye in the stadium either. Western Oregon won the game 4-2.

Many wanted to know why would Central Washington be willing to help their opponent. Mallory's modest reply was "She hit it over the fence. She deserved it. Anybody would have done it. I just beat them to it." She also stated that her coach Gary Frederick had instilled in the team that "winning is not everything."

So hats off to Coach Gary Frederick and his team.

Here's the news report:

My Enemy Into My Friend

As I was reading a book on hospitality, one statement that leaped out at me was "God calls me to make the stranger into a guest, my enemy into a friend." This was exactly what the Good Samaritan did in Luke 10. Not only did this man stop his own schedule and treat the wounds of a stranger, but he took him to an inn and made sure he would be well taken care of. And this was his enemy, what an example of what we are to do.

A wonderful act of hospitality was when the crippled man was brought into the house where Jesus was staying. The friends couldn't get through the crowd and instead of saying "oh well, we tried. I'm sure if it was meant to be we could of gotten through. Maybe next time." No, they carried their friend to the roof and lowered him into the house. Can you imagine the joy of the friends when they realized that they were a part of a miracle?!

At our last church we had a wonderful man, Fred, who was not able to speak, hear or have control over his body. Many dismissed him because he had a disease that robbed his body of the ability to obey his commands. Some never got past the drool that would escape his mouth. What they didn't know was that his mind was sharp and he worked designing aircrafts. He offered to encode the audio sermons for the church's web site. Now, you may ask how can he do this, since he can't hear and didn't have use of his hands. Fred watched a meter on his computer that showed the level of the sounds and he adjusted the whole hour-long sermon watching just this VU meter—without ever actually hearing it. Fred would then upload it to the web site using his breath to control the computer. This was a service to God that he was very proud of. When Fred's body was taken to be with the Lord it was wonderful to see the testimony that he had been to those all around him, Christians and non-Christians alike.
We need to make sure we give those among our congregation who would be labeled "handicapped" a chance to serve God. We all have a gift to offer and as long as we are open to learn there is something they can teach us. Jesus was hospitiable to those who were often shunned by society. In fact that was one of the issues the church officals had with him.

Ungrudging Hospitality

1 Peter 4:9 tells us to "Practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one another." But what is hospitality? In German the word for hospitality is Gastfreundschaft which means "the freedom of a guest." This can be very difficult when we think of the dirty fingerprints on our windows, the extra dishes and food that would be required, our time or the fear of letting someone into the deepest part of who we are. In churches we commonly use the term "fellowship" and think this is hospitality. Hospitality is so much deeper and personal than just a get-together and sharing of time and food.

What examples of hospitality do we see in the Bible? Many think immediately of Mary and Martha and the single instance of disharmony that was brought before Jesus. But considering the close friendship between Lazarus and Jesus it is unlikely this was a first time visit. Mary and Martha felt close enough to Jesus to send for him when Lazarus died, then commented that if he had been there Lazarus would not have died.

My feet after walking in sandals

I imagine Mary and Martha actually were a good team since Martha was taking care of their physical needs, while Mary was focusing on giving herself to her guests.

But Jesus shows us the ultimate example of hospitality. How many of us would be willing to lower ourselves to wash the feet of those in our own church? And think of the shoes we have today versus the shoes of Jesus' time? What about the road conditions of Biblical times? When I think of Jesus humbling himself at each step, getting a basin of water, a clean towel and bending down to wash the disciples in order to serve them, I can only guess that after each disciple fresh water was needed before going on. He continues in his service to us each day as we bring our prayers to him and he interceeds on our behalf to the Father.

Often it is at an inconvient time, how many would pass a broken-down car on our way to church so that we will not be late. Sometimes we may the only person who can meet that person's need. A little over a year ago we were on our way to visit our son at the hospital—a three-hour trip—so I took his blanket that needed to be mended in order to make good use of my time. Little did I know that blanket would be needed by a young man in a terrible accident. As we traveled on the divided road I saw smoke comming from the trees, we turned around and found that we were not the first ones to stop. A truck driven by a young man was stuck between two trees and men where helping him out, as the white smoke poured out of the car. It was a very cold morning so we ran back to the car and grabbed the blanket, threw it down to the men to keep the injured man warm until the paramedics could arrive. I was very glad to see so many people on their way to church stop and help.

Just this past weekend as Rich was returning to the hotel from the event he was photographing, he got lost. Fast approaching him were two homeless men asking for money. Since he doesn't carry money around the city or to events that he must focus on, he had to say he didn't have any. They thanked him and went on their way. Then he remembered the Metro ticket in his pocket, after using less then $2.00 of the $5.00 we had put on it, he called to them and offered the ticket. They were very thankful for something we would probably have just lost or misplaced before being able to use it again.

I believe God gives us opportunities every day to be hospitable to others. It is up to us whether we take these opportunities or not. I find that I miss more opportunities then I take. As I continue to read and share my new book I hope to see more clearly and take the opportunities God gives me.

Hospitality

Two weeks ago we explored a used book store and I was intrigued by a book entitled "Creative Hospitality." My preconceived idea on the theme of this book was quickly tossed out the window when I pulled the book off the shelf. I had imagined something along the lines of creative tips on entertaining. This book had no slick pictures on floral arrangements or how-to tips on making a guest room inviting or about creating a comfortable home for entertaining.

Creative Hospitality

My second thought ran along the lines of how to be seeker-sensitive in our church. My concern is that many people who are trying to meet the "felt needs" of people coming into churches today are ignoring the people's eternal needs. Some churches are removing the words sin and repentance from their services and buildings, instead offering feel-good-about-yourself services (not more than 5 minutes long).

Coming from a mother's point of view its as if my son came to me with a deep gash, filled with gravel and dirt, to have me to make it better. If I kiss his cheek and place a bandage over the wound it will make him feel better in the short-term. But what my son really needs is for me to clean out the wound and take him to the doctor perhaps for stitches and then kiss him. Which hurts more? From my son's point of view the second scenario does, but if allowed to have his way it will lead to more pain.

A book about entertaining I would be interested in, but not a seeker sensitive book. But upon opening this book I found that this book was neither kind. I used my usually practice of opening a book in the middle and start reading. I have found that I can determine if the writer is interesting and if the material is something that will hold my attention. In this case I opened to a chapter called "Biblical Hospitality" and another called "Models of Hospitality." I checked the front of the book and found the full title was "Creative Hospitality: As a Means of Evangelism." After each chapter there are even questions for review or discussion. I had found my book!

As I have begun to read I found that the subject is even more relevant now then it was in 1981 when Bruce Rowlinson wrote it. The book involves hospitality not only in our homes, but also in the church building. It is about real hospitality, not the manufactured kind that many churches put into place.

We saw this at one church we visited. It was a large church that had a "hospitality committee." It was very easy to see what was required of them. The first two weeks we were welcomed by many couples with name tags on. The couples explained that to become involved in the church it would be wise to join one of the small groups the church organized. The third week no one spoke to us, waved or even smiled. They had done their "job." None of the couples encouraged us to become friends with them personally, just others in the church. We didn't stay long. Yes, it is also our responsibility as guests to try to be friendly. But we were never able to become close to any of the people at the church. I am glad to say that at the church we attend now, we found just the opposite. We were at a personal low when we first visited and they opened their hearts and arms to us. They are also very open and understanding to our son's issues.

As I read this book I think of a wonderful Christian who put hospitality into practice, Joanie Barb. Joanie was a wonderful role model for this wife as I began married life almost 22 years ago. I will be sharing this book as I read it.