September 8, 2014 · 4:30 am

Hawaiian Grilled Chicken and Coconut Rice

Hawaiian Grilled Chicken

I cook a lot. Food-related tasks probably take more of my time than anything else I do. From planning and shopping, to cooking, it’s a big job. I’m always looking for ways to streamline the process. (More on how I streamline the menu planning, shopping and meal prep in a later post.)

Seeking recipes that are quick and easy to put together is an ongoing process for me. Finding recipes that are budget friendly — without sacrificing taste or resorting to using sub-par ingredients or methods — adds to the challenge. I especially seek prep-ahead crowd-pleasers that facilitate hospitality, rather than stifle it. This is a lesson I learned early on…. It’s no fun for anyone when the hostess spends the entire time in the kitchen, cooking, and barely has time to interact with guests. I want meals that can be mostly ready before guests arrive.

This is one such meal. We can make it year-round here in sunny Southern California. It’s ideal for a hot summer day, because it keeps the heat of cooking out of the house. If I’m serving this to guests, I usually make a big green salad to accompany it, simply because I can make that ahead and it holds up well. I regularly serve it with broccoli or zucchini if it’s just our family.

[recipe title=”Hawaiian Grilled Chicken” servings=12 difficulty=”easy”]

  • 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (This is very important! Do NOT use chicken breasts. They will not yield the same moist, tender result.)
  • 2 cups low sodium soy sauce
  • 2 cups water
  • 1½ cups brown sugar
  • 1 bunch of green onions, chopped
  • ¼ cup chopped white onion
  • ½ tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 (13.5oz) can coconut milk

Remove visible fat from chicken thighs. Mix the rest of the ingredients together and combine with chicken thighs in a large bowl. Marinate chicken for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Grill chicken for 5-7 minutes per side (or until done) at a low heat so that the marinade does not burn.

Garnish with chopped green onion, if desired.

Serve with Coconut Rice.
[/recipe]

[recipe title=”Coconut Rice” difficulty=”easy”]

  • 1 (13.5) oz can coconut milk
  • 1¼ cups water
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1½ cups uncooked rice (I use Calrose rice. The original recipe called for Jasmine rice.)

In a saucepan, combine first four ingredients. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in rice. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 18-20 minutes, until rice is tender.
[/recipe]

When I make this for our family, I use 6 pounds of chicken, but use the same amount of marinade. From my experience, I think you could halve the marinade and still use 3 pounds of chicken.

Everyone loves this, so there aren’t usually any leftovers. The few times that there were, I found that the chicken reheated well, whether refrigerated or frozen.

For the rice: I have a wonderful rice cooker. I usually just adjust the amounts to fit the volume of my rice cooker and walk away. I have made it on the stove top a few times, and it works well that way too.

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September 2, 2014 · 4:30 am

Hands-full Homeschooling (2014 Edition)

School

Our homeschooling journey has always been hard, and full of obstacles. I don’t think there has been a year yet that hasn’t been interrupted by a major life event. The morning sickness of early pregnancy, the birth of a new baby, many toddlers and preschoolers needing my attention, health challenges and more.

Last year, it was Stephen’s in-home ABA therapy. Three or four days per week, we had therapists in our home, requiring at least my partial attention. And often my full attention. I’ve spent a lot of time feeling like a failure in the education department, but this past year that changed. Not only did I feel as though we had failed to achieve our goals, I also felt as though we had lost our joy. The joy of learning.

The kids were not enjoying their lessons. I was not enjoying teaching, I was not enjoying being the taskmaster, trying to keep them on track, checking off the boxes that proved they were learning something. But it was my job. So I kept going, hating every moment of it.

We finished the school year at the end of May. Not all the planned coursework was completed, but I declared that we were done. (A teacher’s prerogative, right? After all, I NEVER remember completing a textbook when I was a kid in school.) After a few weeks where I deliberately did not think about school related things AT ALL, I began the dreaded task of pondering and planning for the upcoming school year. And I started praying.

The thought of a repeat of last year was repulsive to me. I did not think I could cope. I once again considered other educational options. Private school was immediately ruled out due to the cost. Public and charter schools have their own sets of logistical issues that made me conclude they are still a less-than-great choice for our family.

So, I’m back to square one. Homeschooling and hating it. I needed something new. Different from what I have done before. Something that works with our limitations, not against them. I continued praying for answers.

I stumbled on a book called Ignite the Fire written by a fellow mom of many (http://www.ignitethefire.com). It’s inexpensive, and it looked promising, so I bought it. I read. I looked at the “other people who purchased this also bought” section on Amazon.com. I noticed a book called Teaching From Rest. It had a lot of great reviews. I went to the author’s website to read a bit more, and learned of a giveaway (on another blog) for the book I was considering, along with some companion audio files.

I decided to wait on purchasing the book, and instead entered the drawing. I prayed that if this was something that would be beneficial, God would direct me through the outcome. Three days later I learned I had won! I read some more. And I began to sense God directing me. Answering my desperate prayer for wisdom and guidance.

About two weeks later, through a series of seemingly random circumstances, I was put in touch with another mom who teaches her kids through a method she calls “delight-directed learning”. She offered to send me her notes for classes she has taught on the Delight-Directed method of learning, and articles she has written. I gratefully accepted, and continued reading. (She gave me permission to share her materials with others — just ask, and I will email them to you.)

I felt that all of these things would not likely come together by coincidence — that it was God’s way of directing my steps.

Don and I had been talking off and on about plans for the coming school year. I had all these random thoughts and ideas for change, but I lacked a concrete plan. I was starting to feel the pressure, with the start of school just a few weeks away. Every thing we considered seemed to have some major drawback. After almost 20 years of homeschooling, I know my own and my children’s weaknesses, strengths, shortcomings and passions pretty well. I wanted to work with the strengths and passions while safeguarding against our shortcomings. Most of all, I wanted to rekindle a LOVE for learning. A JOY in learning. DELIGHT in learning. We continued to pray together for wisdom and direction.

Gradually a plan began to form. For the first time in years, I’m actually excited about starting school. I think we will have fun. It won’t be total drudgery. Last week, when we presented the new plan to the kids, they were excited too!

What is the plan, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you, and then ask for your help.

After our desire to teach our children to love Jesus, and to build godly character in their lives, one of our highest priorities is to teach our kids how to teach themselves. How to figure out how they best learn. How to WANT to learn. How to search out and find information that they need and how to think logically and form conclusions based on what they learn. With this in mind we have developed a sort of checklist/guideline that our kids will use this year.

Every week or two they will choose an area to study. Some examples of areas they might choose:

  • historical figure (biography/autobiography)
  • war
  • period of history
  • invention
  • animal
  • fish
  • bird
  • reptile
  • plant
  • mineral
  • anything in our physical world
  • an item (tractor, book, food, tool)
  • a process (canning, printing, crochet, embalming, sharing one’s faith, flying a plane)

Sometimes the student will select their own subject, and sometimes we will select, or will allow them to select within a predetermined category.

  • Read books pertaining to subject (from our own bookshelves, search library catalog online and request book, or find a Kindle book)
  • Read Wikipedia article (if applicable); follow relevant links
  • Select 5-20 vocabulary words (depending on grade level and subject matter)
  • Define the words
  • Spell the words
  • Plan and do a project (build something, investigate something, take something apart, bake or cook something, create something).
  • Watch video or listen to audio (Amazon Prime video, YouTube)
  • Blog about what they’ve learned.

Incorporate as many of the following subjects as they can:

  • Language Arts
  • History/Geography
  • Math
  • Science
  • Foreign Language
  • Art
  • Music

We bought tablet computers for each kid. We have set up a semi-public blog on our family’s website. Each kid will be able to share their learning in their own section of the blog. Using speech to text, this should be doable (not too tedious and time-consuming) even for the younger ones.

We will invite friends and family to comment/critique blog posts. Correcting spelling, grammar, factual errors, etc.

Once a month we will host a giveaway drawing for those who comment with helpful feedback. “Helpful” is kind of vague, but we’re looking for something deeper than “Nice post.” Ask a question about something that wasn’t entirely clear, or point out something that you think they should have included. Gently correct grammatical and spelling errors, or suggest better wording. If you learned something, say so! Get the idea?

Our kids are welcomed and encouraged to post constructive comments on siblings’ work, which will make them also eligible for a prize.

By making this semi-public we hope to motivate them to see the point of good writing and research. We hope that they will enjoy the interaction with family and friends. We hope that by allowing them to study things that are interesting to them and guiding them through the process that their interests will broaden.

We hope that by inviting others to help critique, it will help them to not just brush it off (“mom is ALWAYS after me about something”), and will also help them to learn to take criticism. Learning to discern whether the criticism is legitimate, and to accept — and be changed by — the criticism that is valid.

So, if you are interested in following along with our kids’ blogs as they learn this year, and if you would be willing to provide feedback to them, please either comment on this post or send me email privately and I’ll get you the info you need. We would be SO grateful for the help.

Coming up soon for one kid is a science experiment to observe the difference between the bacterial growth rate of raw milk left at room temperature, vs. milk that is refrigerated.

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August 26, 2014 · 4:30 am

Best. Dad. Ever.

Best. Dad. Ever.It’s interesting to me, the comments people make. It’s curious what sparks conversation. For Father’s Day this year, I gave my husband a T-shirt that says “Best. Dad. Ever.” It was a fun, inexpensive gift intended to make him smile. It worked. (I also bought one for my dad, and we all got a good laugh at the silliness of them BOTH being the best dad.)

Sometime during the following week, Don and I were out running errands together. Costco. Trader Joe’s, Home Depot. Don was wearing his new shirt. He got comments in each store. Sometimes more than one person commented. But it was the interaction in Home Depot that was most interesting to me.

We were in the checkout lane. The employee read Don’s shirt aloud: “Best. Dad. Ever.” Then he paused and said “That’s cuz I’m not a dad yet. I’m going to be the best dad ever. I’m going to give my kids candy every day. Ice cream every day. I’ll take them to the movies once a week. To Disneyland. Anything they want”.

I could not help myself.

I responded: “Then you will NOT be the best dad ever,” and I explained:

Because, while it seems like a nice idea to give kids everything they want, it isn’t. Kids often want things that aren’t good for them, and often don’t want the things that are. Candy all the time??? Really??? How is that doing the best for the kid? Allowing their nutrition to suffer and their teeth to rot? Indulging a child’s every whim produces an ungrateful and unhappy child. In order to thrive, children need boundaries. And the “Best Dad” knows when to say no. He knows when to withhold. He knows when to give. When he does give, he gives good gifts. Things that benefit, without negative consequences.

And so it is with God. He only gives good gifts (James 1:17). Sometimes they may feel crummy. But that’s only because we can’t see the total picture (Romans 8:28). Just like a small child cannot comprehend that eating only ice cream will leave him deprived nutritionally, and will actually harm him in the long run. And this is where faith begins. Faith in an omnipotent, omniscient God who loves me so much that he sent his only son to die on a cross, taking on himself the punishment for my sins. Who could love me more? How can I not trust him?

In the same way, a child must trust his father. He may not understand the “why” of some decisions until grown, if then. A father has a responsibility to be circumspect in raising children. There is no room for selfishness. The “Best Dad” wants what is best for his child and is willing to sacrifice his own personal interests, time, money and ambitions to achieve that.

I’m thankful that Don IS willing to sacrificially love his kids. To give them truly good gifts. To make the hard decisions to withhold when it is appropriate. This does make him, and other dads like him, the BEST. DAD. EVER.

Because they are following the example of the original Father. The one who never makes mistakes. The one who loves unconditionally, no matter the expense, even to death.

 

P.S.: The young man asked how many children we had. We told him eleven. After the initial shocked look, he seemed to really listen to and consider what I had to say. I hope so. For his sake and the sake of his future children.

Indulged becomes entitled
-vs-
Nurtured becomes grateful

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August 21, 2014 · 4:30 am

Adventures in Cheesemaking:
Queso Blanco

Queso Blanco

Six or seven years ago, We got Nubian dairy goats from a friend who had a doe and a wether, 6-month-old siblings, that she was offering for free. This was a huge blessing.

We had been wanting to get goats for milk since our son, James, was diagnosed with allergies to cow milk, and many other foods, a few years prior. I was so clueless about goat care when I replied to her offer, that I didn’t even know what I didn’t know.

We didn’t (and still don’t) have a livestock trailer, so we took seats out of our 15-passenger van and hauled the goats home in that. They were bellowing all the way home. We felt very “country”, which was pretty unusual for this city raised girl. We put them in a dog run that our dog was no longer using, cobbled together a feeder, and bought a water bowl.

Things have improved since then.

I asked questions at the feed store. Got myself a good basic goat book and climbed right up that steep learning curve. And talked to other “goat people”. We didn’t breed that first year, mostly because I didn’t know anyone who had a buck.

Daisy

Daisy

The next year we were ready. I’d met a friend who also had dairy goats, and who offered free “stud service” for our doe, Azalea. Five months later we welcomed a single kid, a doe we named “Daisy”, to our herd. A few weeks after Daisy was born, the friend who had given us Azalea, offered us her doe, in milk, with two doelings and a buck. For free. This was another amazing blessing.

The single goat could not provide enough milk for the needs of our huge family. Each goat gives about one gallon of milk per day at peak production, but the average over the year is probably more like three-quarters of a gallon per day. Now we had two goats giving milk.

Goats have come and gone since then, but we still have Azalea, Daisy and Trinity, one of the doelings that arrived that day. All three are in milk and at nearly full production. That’s about three gallons of milk per day. That’s a LOT of milk, even for a family our size.Lots of milk And now, I find myself in the situation where some of our older children have moved out, and we are struggling to use up all the milk.

I’ve gotten adventurous. And I’ve started making cheese. I bought supplies and a book about making goat cheese. I followed the directions closely.

My first attempt was a dismal failure. This discouraged me from trying again for about a year.

But I didn’t let it keep me down forever. Since I know that I’m usually good with recipes and making things from scratch, I eventually realized the problem was probably with my book. I read more online, and I read reviews for various cheesemaking books; ultimately I decided to purchase this one. I could not be happier with it. It is thoroughly detailed without being boring. It is fascinating. All the chemistry involved is explained. Which is something I wanted to understand. The book is not specific to goat cheese — any milk will work — but I was glad to note that the author has experience with goats. Goat milk has one very distinct difference from cow milk: the milk is naturally homogenized; the cream does not separate to the top.

So, I started with the simplest cheese ever: Queso Blanco. This cheese goes by other names throughout the world:

  • Brousse in France
  • Mizithra in Greece
  • Paneer or Panir in India and Middle Eastern countries

To make this cheese, you need:

  • a large stainless steel pot with a heavy bottom
  • a thermometer (It’s easiest if the thermometer can clip onto the side of the pan like this one.)
  • a colander or strainer of some sort
  • muslin cheesecloth or flour-sack type towel (Don’t bother with the cheap cheesecloth from the grocery store. In a pinch, use a clean, white cotton t-shirt.)
  • bowl
  • spoon

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 gallon milk
  • ½–¾ cup lemon juice or vinegar (acid)
  • ½ tsp salt

Hot milkPour 1 gallon of milk into the large pot. Heat milk until the temperature is between 195 and 200°F, stirring frequently to prevent scorching as milk gets close to target temperature .

Remove from heat and allow the milk to cool to 190°F.

curds formingWhen the milk reaches 190°F, begin adding vinegar/lemon juice 1 T at at time, stirring well after each addition, until the curd separates. You will be able to tell when this occurs. It is plainly obvious. You will see little white blobs (the cheese) and a yellowish liquid (the whey). At this point, stop adding your acid.

Leave the pot alone for 20 minutes. While you are waiting, place a colander/strainer over (or in) a bowl and line it with the cheesecloth.

Ladling the curdsAfter the 20 minute wait, begin ladling the curd into the cheesecloth-lined strainer. I have trouble getting all the curds out from the whey, so after I’ve scooped out as much as comes readily, I begin to scoop out the whey and ladle it into a large jar. When not much whey remains, I pour the remaining curds and whey through my strainer.

There are two options to finish the cheese: pressed and unpressed. I nearly always go with unpressed because it is easier. Simply leave the curds in the colander to drain for 60 minutes. Then add the salt and refrigerate.

If you want to do the pressed version, you only drain for 20 minutes, add salt and then gather the corners of the cheese cloth and force the curds into a compressed mass. Place the ball of curds on a flat surface and flatten into a disc shape about 1½” thick. Open the cloth and carefully refold the cloth over the disc as smoothly as possible. Place the disc on an inverted plate that is in a large bowl/container. Place another upside-down plate on top of the packet and put weight on top of the upper plate. Go for about 3 pounds of weight. (A cast iron skillet or canned food works well.) After 10 minutes, add 3 more pounds of weight. Press for a total of one hour. If, after an hour the cheese is not firm, or if whey escapes when you touch it, press longer.

Enjoy your cheese.

All that whey that you generated can be used in smoothies or fed to animals. They love it.

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August 20, 2014 · 4:30 am

The Art of Hospitality

Welcome mat

I grew up in a social family. We like people. A lot. As kids, we knew our friends were always welcome at our house. We regularly had neighbors, friends, and family over for a visit or to share a meal with us. After we moved to a house with a built-in pool when I was 9 years old, the action increased. Now our house was, more than ever, “the place to be”.

Yes, there were times reserved for just our immediate family, but generally speaking our home was open to others. When I got married and settled into a home of my own, it felt only natural to invite people over.

Only it wasn’t natural. It was hard. It was a lot of work. It was awkward. And I sometimes got the impression that my friends were not very comfortable in my home.

I’d had the experience of being in someone’s home and feeling uncomfortable the entire time. But in other homes, I felt welcome and at ease. My mom had made it seem so effortless. She was always looking out for the needs of others, often at extra expense and inconvenience.

I’m a thinker — one of my favorite Bible verses is in Luke 3 where we are told, “Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” So, I followed Mary’s example. I pondered. What made the difference between a home that was welcoming, and one that was not? How did my mom manage? What was I doing, or NOT doing, that was counterproductive to hospitality?

I considered the homes I’d been in where I had felt welcome. What was the common denominator? I read, thought, discussed with friends, and thought some more.

And I keep inviting people over and trying to work out my difficulties. I’ve come up with some things that I believe stand in the way of true hospitality:

Clutter – If I have too much “stuff”, there is no room in my life for people. All my time is eaten up with maintaining the stuff. There are two possible fixes for this. The best fix, in my opinion, is to get rid of clutter and excess stuff. Give it away! I still am prone to having too much, so enter the second fix: Simply don’t let it stop you from inviting people in. Yes, they will see the real you. The messy. Oh well. This is actually a KEY to helping people relax in your home. Especially if children are involved.

Selfishness – Hospitality involves giving. Often sacrificially. If you really don’t want to give, or if you want to keep the best only for yourself, it won’t work out well. Folks will be able to tell.

Ineffective home management – If you don’t have some sort of basic system for keeping your home reasonably clean and neat (NOT PERFECT!!!), the idea of having people in will feel very stressful. If you know you will have to scrub toilets and floors and wash a mountain of dishes, you will not be likely to extend a last minute invitation to someone needing comfort or friendship.

Uptight about having everything perfect – If your home is decently clean and you just can’t bring yourself to have people over because you still have dirty windows or cobwebs here and there, you are probably too self-absorbed. Most people won’t even notice. They are coming to see you, not your house. (For the record, my house is NEVER perfect. There are always flaws. I’m getting better at rolling with that.) I’ve observed that, in a home that is too perfect, I feel extremely uncomfortable. It is unnatural and I begin to feel inferior. Until I realize I’m comparing my known everyday reality to their “Realtor-ready” perfection. Apples and oranges.

Uptight about “stuff” getting damaged – I’ve had my share of unruly kid visitors in my home. I’ve had stuff damaged. I know it is a real risk with hospitality. Stuff will get destroyed. It’s stressful. We don’t have room in the budget for randomly replacing stuff that people break. Not to mention that we have kids already living in our house that do an excellent job of breaking stuff. I remind myself that it is ONLY stuff. Stuff can be replaced. People are more important than stuff. They are eternal souls that I have the opportunity to impact with my words, actions and attitudes.

Insecurity – If I am not confident in who I am and where the Lord has me in my life, I have a hard time inviting others in, because it always carries the risk of judgment. I cannot control the impressions and opinions that others form of me and my family when they see my home and how we function and interact. It’s a vulnerable place. And it’s often humbling. Especially if you have kids.

Comparison – This kind of goes along with insecurity. But I had to find my own way with hospitality. Don’t try to copy another person. It will be fake and others will notice. Learn from others, yes! But there is a difference. I regularly notice and learn from the hospitality of others. If I compare myself to my mom, or try to mimic her, for example, I will be discontent and lose my joy. My mom and I are very different people. We do things in our own unique way. Neither way is inferior. They are just different. I need to be me.

Tips to developing hospitality

JUST DO IT! It will get easier. Don’t give up. When you bomb (and you will), learn from it and keep going. We all have failures, embarrassing moments, regrets and times we have put our foot in our mouth! Don’t let it stop you. Have people over often. It’s easier to maintain a home to be ready for company than to “stress clean” only occasionally for a big event. Invite people you are comfortable with, at first. Close family, best friends, etc. Invite feedback. But don’t stop there. Challenge yourself to invite those you don’t know well, people you are uncomfortable around, or even people you dislike. (Yes, I really said that — see Romans 12:20.)

As a Christian, I don’t consider hospitality to be optional. There are a variety of passages in the Bible that address the topic. From outright commands (see, for example, 1 Peter 4:9, Hebrews 13:2), to examples of hospitality shown (2 Kings 4:8-10, Proverbs 31:20, Luke 14:12-14, Acts 16:15, Acts 16:34, 1 Timothy 5:10).

Hospitality is NOT the same as “entertaining”. Hospitality serves others. “Entertaining” serves only oneself. Hospitality is important. It contributes to the needs of the saints (Romans 12:13). It enables us to be God’s hands and feet (Matthew 10:40-42, Matthew 25:34-40).

How can one practice hospitality if inviting people in to your home is impossible? I’ve never been in that situation, so I don’t have many ideas; but one that that comes to mind is to bring a meal to someone in need. Even if it is a grocery-store rotisserie chicken or a “Hot and Ready” pizza. Call someone who you think might be lonely or hurting. Pray and ask God to show you the needs of others around you. I think there are some things in that list I can improve on.

I’m really preaching to myself here. “Do not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9) I am still learning. I still blow it, but I’m pretty stubborn and hard-headed, and I’m determined to keep at it.

If you were a victim of one of my early attempts at hospitality, I apologize. And I thank you for helping me learn. Please come visit again.

I’d like to finish off with a story of amazing hospitality that was offered to our family. In 2008, my husband’s parents were celebrating 60 years of marriage. We wanted to bring the whole family (at that time we had ten kids) to visit. We started planning. We booked airfare and arranged for rental cars.

But we were stumped by accommodations while we were there. My in-laws had a small house. No way was there room for all of us there. Most (all?) hotels have a five-person limit per room. That meant three rooms each night for a week. Not only was that costly, but we would have to divide the family into three groups every night. Not fun, not to mention that there would be minor children alone in at least one of the rooms.

I looked into campgrounds and other creative accommodations (like VRBO), but since my in-laws lived in a non-touristy small town in North Carolina, there did not appear to be anything like that near by. So, I did what any self respecting “big family” mom would do, I started networking. I turned to an email group I’d been a part of for years. A group specifically for moms of big families. I asked if there was anyone in living in that area who had suggestions for where to stay.

Within a day or two, I received a response from a mom who lived in the same small town as my in-laws. She extended an invitation for our ENTIRE FAMILY TO STAY WITH THEM FOR THE WEEK! We did not know each other at all. We had never met or corresponded before. And yet, they invited a family of TWELVE to stay in their house for an entire week. We considered this offer, almost disbelieving that it was for real. I talked to the mom on the phone and she assured me that it was a genuine offer and her husband was all for it as well. We accepted.

We arrived at their house exhausted. We’d taken a red-eye flight and, naturally, no one slept. The first thing I noticed was welcoming smiles on the faces of the our hosts. They had written a “Welcome” message on the chalkboard in their kitchen. They immediately offered us something to drink. The parents had a large master bedroom suite that they vacated during that week so that we could all sleep together. There were blow up mattresses, sleeping bags, portable crib for the youngest one. The bathroom had a large stack of towels and designer soaps and washes. They gave us free access to their washer and dryer. They cooked for us. They welcomed us into their work and play. They engaged us in conversation. They expressed an interest in getting to know us. Their kids welcomed our kids and shared their things with them. And they served us lots and lots of coffee.

I’m sure it helped that we had similar lifestyles. They had six kids. They home schooled. But the welcoming presence and attitude extended way beyond those things that we had in common. They had truly worked hard on, and perfected, that ART of hospitality.

And I believe that what it really is. An art. A beautiful expression of the creator God in us.

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