Thank you for joining me in my series 31 Days of Finding God. Each day I am going to use a prompt from Kate and incorporate that into how I am finding God in my everyday!

Today’s prompt is Wake!

I hadn’t ever flown on Southwest Airlines before this past weekend. So for those of you who are also new to this, the idea is that you are assigned a boarding section A, B or C…and depending on that number you are allowed to get in line and pick your seat. They do not assign seats, so you want to be in the first boarding section if an aisle or window seat appeals most to you.

I decided to pay the extra $25 roundtrip and did early bird check in so I was able to get in the A section both times. I love the window, being able to see what is happening so far below, and not being in the middle row for 4 flights was worth the $$!!

As people continued to board after me there was a woman who came to the seat in the aisle in front of me. Apparently a gentleman, who had already boarded, had left his jacket on the seat and was back using the restroom. His brother was seated across the aisle.

The woman saw the jacket and demanded to know who’s it was. The man across the aisle said “that is my brother’s jacket, he is back in the bathroom”….so the woman starts asking people in the back (in a very loud and sarcastic voice) to check to see if there really is a man in the bathroom.

Now from my perspective initially, I wondered what this guy would need to lie about? But the woman wasn’t convinced. She picked up the jacket and moved it to the aisle seat in my row. Loudly stating something about her brother who was also on the plane and must be in the bathroom as well.

I was stunned.

Do people actually act like this in public? The man, frustrated and openly irritated, grabbed the jacket and headed further back in the plane.

Now maybe the brother was in a different boarding section and he really was saving a seat for him…but I am the type that likes to believe the best about people…I wanted to believe he was in the bathroom.

We have the ability to create waves don’t we?

Sometimes the wake from our waves is small, maybe we are short with our kids and the wake is felt, but doesn’t pull us or others down.

And then other times our actions and behaviors cause bigger wakes. Ones that roll and swirl and threaten to sweep us off our feet. Negativity can sure infect a space can’t it?!

Maybe when we are all fighting for the “best seat” we will do anything we can to get it? I don’t know…

That morning I felt like we needed to have some Allume on the plane. I spent the weekend talking and learning about hospitality. Discovering what it means to open our hearts and lives to others. Offering grace and being kind.

It is a message that we all need. Even the lady in 17A. I don’t want to judge her because I have acted the same in my own situations. Maybe not on a plane, but it happens when I get angry and yell at my kids, or fight with my husband over something silly.

So I am taking that experience as a lesson to me. To be more gracious, to give up my seat if necessary. To believe the best in others and love well even when others aren’t able to be kind and loving themselves.

Is this hard for you as well?

It is easy to judge, to believe a lie, be disrespectful and unkind. I think it can be hard work to be intentional about loving well. But I want it to be the posture of my heart, every day.

Now that I have written it out I guarantee that God will allow me many opportunities to practice this kind of love and grace. My prayer is that I will be a good and faithful servant, and that the wake that I create by my actions will be one of beauty and peace, so that I can continue to be a light in this dark world!

In Him, Kristin

Photo Credit: Vince Alongi

Thank you for joining me in my series 31 Days of Finding God. Each day I am going to use a prompt from Kate and incorporate that into how I am finding God in my everyday!

Today’s prompt is Visit!

As many of you know I have spent the last several days in South Carolina at the Allume conference. The entire theme this year surrounded the idea of hospitality.

I would like to think that I have the gift of hospitality…but I have been thinking about it this weekend and while I do think I have that gift, it is conditional.

If my house is clean enough or I can present you with the perfect meal then you are more than welcome to come and visit me.

But what would I do if someone just showed up? Even more would I ever be willing to invite a stranger in?

I don’t know why I have to associate good hospitality with having it all together?!

A few months ago we were approached by a friend from church asking if we would be willing to host a small group each week in our home. This is the first time since we moved here that this was a opportunity for us and I was excited. We have been blessed with the perfect home for entertaining, with plenty of places for people to sit/gather. Dominic and I both agree that God gave us such a gift with our home and we should share it with others.

But the Sunday afternoon before the first meeting I was running around like a crazy person. Vacuuming (which is truly a MUST with 4 children and a dog), dusting, cleaning toilets in the bathrooms that people may use, washing all the mirrors and appliances down.

Oh and then about 2 hours before everyone showed up I thought that spot cleaning the rug in the family room was something that HAD to be done, so I cleaned about 6-7 bad spots….and realized about 20 minuted before everyone came that the spots had not dried. So when everyone walked in the room there was the risk that they would step in the spot and wonder if they had stepped in dog pee.

Ah yes, the life of a crazy women with the gift of hospitality.

I had lost focus on the real reason that I wanted people to come into our home. The heart connections that were possible when they all came to visit. We sat around the table, a mix of ages and backgrounds and talked over tough issues and laughed over good treats.

The spots on my carpet didn’t matter. I don’t believe they matter to them…why did they have to matter so much to me?

I want my home to be a welcoming place for people to come and visit. I want to always be open to swing wide the door and offering an invitation to life with someone else.

If other people can look past the dust and the stains, the handprints on the wall, why can’t I?

If we want to build community, be hospitable, we have to be willing to let people see the imperfect parts as well as the clean. This is easy to write and more difficult to implement for me but I am willing to try.

So you are all invited, I don’t need advance warning. I may have dishes in the sink and dog hair on my floor….but if you come and visit, I promise that I will spend my time cherishing the guest and not stressing about the mess.

In Him, Kristin

Photo Credit: WaywardShinobi