David and I wish you a Happy Mother’s Day!(Thanks to Meg Strout Loomin for one of our favorite pix together! She caught David about to say something funny–love his dimples!)
How do we teach our children the skill of valuing others? By having hospitable hearts! Plus, there’s a bounce-back for our kids.
Folks will focus on us for Mother’s Day. But what’s all the fuss about really? Here’s one thing all good moms do well. They welcome others with hospitable hearts. Clearly, hospitality is so much more than hosting parties.
As mothers, we all know welcoming others into our lives always bounces back to bless our children. Our kids become more confident when they see the value God puts on all people.
For instance, take this poignant example of how important a warm welcome is.
“I had crossed the line. I was free; but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land.“~Harriet Tubman
Imagine achieving freedom after traveling hundreds of miles in hiding, days and nights spent in life-threatening danger. Yet, in the moment of her tremendous victory, Harriet Tubman felt the absence of welcome.
“To have freedom but be missing a welcome, it (welcome) is THAT important,” agrees Anna.
(Click above for more of Anna’s hilarious questions to teach your teenagers so they can start up great conversations, like, what to ask your prom date. Or find more Fireside Talk Radio podcasts by clicking here.)Hospitable Hearts
For Anna Krafve Pierce, our daughter and one of my favorite cohosts, a hospitable heart means going “deeper to the idea of expanding my heart to include new people, even those people who may seem unlovable to other people.” She added the perfect example of a heart full of love for whoever God brings across our path that day.
“When you say hospitality, I immediately visualize my daughter sitting on the front porch. With her cookie. In her little red dress. Waiting on the first guest,” says Anna. It was her daughter’s first tea party as co-hostess with the grown-up ladies and she was giddy with excitement!
With effervescent enthusiasm, my little granddaughter dashed across the yard to greet the first guests even before their car doors opened. Smiling, she welcomed them in by the hand to enjoy the tea, the cookies, the fellowship.
“I was thinking about what is the first ingredient of hospitality,” says Anna. “I think it might be anticipation.”
Released From Negative Self Talk
Maybe, like me, you struggle with feeling unworthy–how do we reach out to others when we feel yucky? How do I encourage myself, even in those self-loathing, self-rejecting moments?
I hear this over and over as I talk to amazing successful women who’ve conquered tons of stuff. We all know women commonly feel discouraged and anxious. So how do I offer my own heart the same kind of welcome I want to give others? Anna thinks we can build confidence in our kids long before negative self-talk ever takes root. (For more on raising confident girls, click here.)
Anna offered some wonderful examples of how we include others in our lives, to set the stage for our kids’ success and confidence. Not to mention our own emotional and mental health!
She suggested a hospitable heart overflows with the same kind of love God expresses for each one of us. His love initiates in celebratory anticipation. She compares it to Christmas morning.
A Christmas Morning Kind of Love
“When a little kid knows they’re gonna get the bike. Wouldn’t it be awesome if everywhere you went, you knew the person who was there was already anticipating you in that way?” she explains, “It makes heaven look really wonderful because we know God is anticipating us in that way.”
I have a friend who habitually greets people like they are her long-lost friend, even if you just saw her yesterday. She always wraps her arms around us with enthusiastic love and welcome. She became my perfect example of how I wanted to greet others.
When I mentioned this friend anonymously on-air, Anna knew exactly who I meant. (For more on building great friendships, click here.)
“I almost always have a ‘contract’ with her when I have a party, ‘Yes, you’re coming because it won’t be a party unless you’re there,’” laughs Anna. “She is so dear.” Her way of welcome has now influenced our family into three generations. TO READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE, CLICK HERE.
