Gifts

For years I've thought it would be so great to run a Bed & Breakfast. I love having people in my home, and I love breakfast. That desire was confirmed in a Spiritual Gifts Profile I did yesterday, which showed me that hospitality is the most intense gift I have. As I was immediately thinking about that gift and what it means in my life, I thought about how I live alone. Wouldn't someone with that gift be more inclined to have a bunch of roommates and cook them breakfast and such? Well, I don't. I think that part of me just wants to have the whole place to myself, so I'm ready at all times to have people over or host people in town for a bit. I don't want to get approval to be hospitable.

Yesterday I spent some time at garage sales, and bought a couple things. As I looked back at my purchases after I took that "test," I laughed at the choices I made. First I bought a bed frame so that people in my guest room no longer have to sleep on a bed that's on the floor. I want them to be comfortable in a bed at a normal height. The second purchase was a blow up mattress. Funny. It's not like I ever need one for myself. But I don't like only having one bed to offer guests. And now I have two to offer, which is extra nice since I have 2 spare rooms. Now I'm ready for more people to stay here with me and enjoy this home that has been such a gift to me.

In the description of this gift, it says this about people with the gift of hospitality, "In a word: Sociable." Odd. I'm an introvert. I need my own space and I need time to myself in order to function well in my life. I'm not sociable all the time, but having people in my home doesn't mean that I have to be with them all the time. Also, once people are in my home, I sometimes have a hard time serving them. I get all caught up in hanging out with them, that I forget to offer them drinks or anything to make them more comfortable. I need to learn how to use this gift better.

The next two gifts that rated highly on this "test" are giving and showing mercy. I'm pretty sure that I've had giving in the top 3 every single time I've done this, but showing mercy was a new one. I love to give stuff and money to those who need it. It's fun for me, and when I get a raise, I get all excited to figure out how I am going to use the new money I'll be receiving. The hard part with that one is to give the money to the right things. I really, really don't like wasting it, and I normally do research to figure out where to give. I want it to be used well and for what was intended. Sometimes, though, I find that my giving is rather selfish, since it makes me feel so good. To me, it's more of a sacrifice to give completely anonymously or to give to something/someone when I don't get to decide how it's used or I don't know how it's used. I'll work on that too.

About the showing mercy. This one was a surprise to me. I don't often feel very merciful. I keep noticing my bad attitude bust out when it shouldn't or I find myself very far from believing the best in people. It's easy to see someone in obvious pain and desire to alleviate it. But in my heart I feel like sometimes people deserve what's come to them. That's terrible and that means that I'm blaming them for their pain. I'm not sure how I rated so high on this one, but maybe it's just a reminder to show mercy to everyone, despite whether or not they deserve it. I sure don't deserve it very often.

So, overall this "test" has been more enlightening than it has been in the past. I want to show mercy without judging. I want to give without false motives. I want to be more proactive in using the gift of hospitality, and to remember to meet more needs than just a bed with clean sheets.