The doorbell rang, and I swung the door open wide to let our friends inside. I greeted them barefoot with a friendly smile, a warm hug, and a welcoming heart. We shared a meal together, and not once did I worry about the broken toilet in the guest bathroom, the wispy dog fur floating around on my wood floors, or the stack of mail on the kitchen counter. Now, this may not sound like a big deal to you, but for me, this shows I have come a long way in understanding the true meaning of hospitality. The dictionary defines hospitality as “the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers,” but a long time ago, I discovered that hospitality means so much more than that. How do we become hospitable people? For years, I thought that in order to invite ... View Post

Behind the Scenes of a Grieving Mother is a guest post written by a Hope*Writer friend, Christina. She shares below how the grief over her mom's death affected her, and what she learned about herself through this difficult experience. I believe you will find this essay to be both poignant and encouraging. ***** Three Septembers ago, in the space of 24 hours, I lost my mother, my three-year-old broke her elbow, and I miscarried our third child. It’s difficult to utter this string of events without a little chuckle, as in, Can you believe this could happen? Each occurrence hit like a tidal wave on the heels of the next, and it has taken me three years of busy escape to say—It hurts. I’m angry. I don’t understand. This is not what I wanted. I barely had a chance to catch my breath from ... View Post

  An Ode to Joy~ I sat down to write something entirely different, but as the words failed to come, I became frustrated and discouraged. Discouragement robs me of joy, so instead, I began to focus on what is bringing me contentment right now at this very moment. I jotted anything and everything that came to mind. Coincidentally, I was listening to my writing music (always something instrumental) and the song, “Ode to Joy” began to play. Are you familiar with this song? It was an ode written in 1785 by a German poet. Beethoven then composed “Ode to Joy” in 1824 as the final movement of his most famous symphony, Symphony No. 9. A hymn was later written in 1907 set to Beethoven’s music from the 9thsymphony.   Have a look at these lyrics: Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, ... View Post