Uncategorized

Popcorn and People

RefreshHer

A new ministry was introduced to our church congregation last night – Popcorn and People. The significance behind this ministry is getting church families together in one another’s homes for a simple time of fellowship, with something as simple as popcorn being served. My husband talked about the call to hospitality, Romans 12:9-13. We’re to show kindness to strangers. The attitude of hospitality as in I Peter 4:8-10 is to do it without grumbling. The motivation of hospitality is Christ. The blessings of hospitality that he mentioned were numerous, and if you’ve been the recipient of a home that has displayed this gift to you I’m sure you could list some yourself.

I have a little booklet that I purchased many years ago in the bookstore of The Wilds Christian Camp. It’s entitled, “Around My Kitchen Table”, by Lorraine Strohbehn. In the booklet she shares the blessing of her kitchen table being used as a primary source of family times, discipling of young women, of doing crafts there, and of hospitality. One paragraph in this section reads,

“Many families are not comfortable having guests in their home. The reasons they are using are, first, that they are too busy, and second, it costs too much. Scripture does not seem to make those exceptions. Remember, we give the most to whatever is most important to us. Scripture clearly tells us to have guests in our home. This makes a difference in our children and family. We can have a rich ministry to others by making them welcome in our home.”

Sometimes people also argue that their house isn’t in order and they wouldn’t want to invite people in to see it in disarray. I’ve found that having guests is a really good motivator for me. Often the things that I would have let go until another time got put up on my priority list because I was having guests staying in my home. Let someone stay in your bedroom one night and watch how motivated you’ll be to do some good thorough cleaning and organizing! Of course for a Popcorn and People fellowship no one will be back in your room, so the main rooms would be the ones to target and straighten up. No one’s going to come in with a white glove, so there’s no need for a spring cleaning. A vacuum and dust rag should do it!

I’m in no way a professional at having guests, but I had a really good teacher in my mom. Some things I’ve noted about her way with hospitality are:

  • She thinks about the needs of her guests – Will they be thirsty? Hungry? Need a meal or snack?
  • She keeps things on hand that she could offer for drop-in company. Her pantry is a favorite place to her family company. It’s full of all kinds of good treats! Bottled water or soft drinks are stashed away for guests. The freezer often holds cookies or ice cream that could be served.

  • She does things in a beautiful way, but keeps her guests feeling comfortable.

  • She doesn’t mind going to the grocery bakery and purchasing something prepared. I’ve found that the stores’ bakery departments often have baked goods on sale and you can buy a cake, cupcakes, muffins or cookies for what it would cost you to make them.
  • She does things ahead of time so it seems that her labor is effortless. This makes the guest not feel that they’re putting a burden on the hostess.

Tomorrow I’ll post about some inexpensive foods to serve (besides popcorn, which is a favorite snack of mine!). Meanwhile if you have any ideas, recipes, or thoughts on being hospitable be sure to leave your comments here for us to read!

Unknown's avatar

Published by RefreshHer

One thought on “Popcorn and People”

  1. Food City has a discount section in their bakery where you can buy quater sections of cakes and pies for $1! Often there are cookies and 4 packs of cupcakes in this section, too!
    I can't seem to keep my house spic and span at all times and I don't have a parlor so I am sometimes embarrased with unexpected company but a 5-15 minute warning is usually all I need to get reasonable neatness.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment