Our A/C is broken. And with the 90-degree heat and humidity of the past few days, our home has become stuffy and unbearable to sleep in. I hate to say that, because it’s like we’ve grown so used to just one comfortable temperature that we can’t stand a little heat? But it is what it is.

Since it’s stifling to sleep in…and since Cody and I get really grouchy when we are hot and tired…we’ve been staying with our parents the past few nights. Fri. and Sat. we were at my parents’ house and last night we were at his parents’ house. And let me tell you, it’s so nice to feel welcome somewhere, especially when you kind of miss your own home.

We decided at 10 p.m. last night we had to leave and sleep somewhere else. So we packed up to head to the Hergott household. By 10:30, we were fast asleep (and maybe a bit cramped) on a full bed with clean sheets in Tyler’s room. The next morning, I woke up, got ready, and found a pot of coffee and monkey bread waiting on the counter. I chatted with the folks for awhile before heading to work.

On my drive, I felt so loved. It was such a simple thing…but both our families loved having us stay the night and did everything to make us comfortable to we would sleep well and be on our way the next day. It’s been awhile since I’ve let other people care for us instead of trying to do it myself. We were welcomed with open arms.

I think sometimes as Christians we need to do that more often…the gift of hospitality is a blessed one, and I can’t help but think God is the ultimate host. The bible talks a lot about Jesus preparing a place for us…about a feast and a house with many rooms and everyone being united as one. Think of the last time you were eating or just hanging out with people you loved and how nice it was that you were all just enjoying and loving each other. I think that’s what it will be like…and what it can be like now..

But too often, we leave people out. We definitely leave “unbelievers” out (I hate that we even have/use that label), and we even leave those in the church out. We should be the welcomers of society. When no one else will let people in, we should be the ones going above and beyond to provide for the healing and comfort of others. We want people to be ‘fixed’ before coming and sharing at the table…the table that overflows with strengthening food and life-sustaining water. Wouldn’t it make sense to get there first and take the only kind of life that fulfills us? Have we forgotten the way we had to stumble and crawl to our own place there, begging God to make the emptiness and brokenness just disappear?

As Jeff put it a couple weeks ago, God is an experiential God. He is so confident in the warmth and love of His hands that He keeps them spread open, allowing us to choose and knowing that if we genuinely catch a glimpse or even taste a crumb of what He has to offer, we will know it’s real and won’t turn back.

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.

-psalm 34:8

(This photo is from our honeymoon…I would read while Cody snorkled and he would collect shells for me, safely keeping them in his sandal. This photo both brings back happy memories from that week but also reminds me of God and His gleeful love for us…He has countless treasures waiting for us if we would only accept the real thing and the real life He offers.)