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    Room at My Table: Preparing Heart and Home for Christian Hospitality
    Room at My Table: Preparing Heart and Home for Christian Hospitality
    Room at My Table: Preparing Heart and Home for Christian Hospitality
    Ebook188 pages3 hours

    Room at My Table: Preparing Heart and Home for Christian Hospitality

    By Evelyn Bence

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    About this ebook

    In this delightful collection of 52 devotions, Evelyn Bence reflects on gatherings at her table that have brought together friends, family, and neighbors. The anecdotal meditations ease the door ajar, gently inviting you to welcome others to your table. You see her planning a gathering, choosing recipes, thinking about how to make guests feel at ease.

    For seasoned hosts, Bence provides encouragement and camaraderie. For novices, she offers gentle instruction laced with humor, realistic expectations, and recipes to try.

    Many readers will remember Evelyn Bence as a frequent contributor to Daily Guideposts. Known for her warm, personal writing, she offers devotional gems and recipes in Room at My Table that will appeal to a wide range of Christian women. The book makes a thoughtful hostess gift.

    Come along, Bence gracefully urges—you, too, can make room at your table for others to share a meal or even just a cup of coffee and dessert. Whether your table is humble or grand, you can reach out to others and enjoy offering hospitality.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUpper Room Books
    Release dateOct 1, 2014
    ISBN9780835813617
    Room at My Table: Preparing Heart and Home for Christian Hospitality
    Author

    Evelyn Bence

    Evelyn Bence, an editor and writer, lives in Arlington, Virginia. She is the author of several books and a frequent contributor to Daily Guideposts annual devotional. Bence has also served as religion editor at Doubleday, managing editor for Today's Christian Woman magazine, and senior editor for Prison Fellowship Ministries. She is a graduate of Houghton College.

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      Book preview

      Room at My Table - Evelyn Bence

      Room at My Table

      What I loved about Room at My Table was that you could smell the food, feel the welcome and wish that you could be part of the delightful conversations. Evelyn Bence writes about hospitality out of the real life events where she has opened her home to friends, to the neighbors, and to that inevitable child who somehow appears in all of our lives, just waiting to be invited in. This is definitely a keeper, taking a place along with all the other volumes on the shelf that expand my understanding of this well-loved topic—hospitality.

      —Karen Mains, director, Hungry Souls,

      author of Open Heart, Open Home

      Evelyn . . . invited me to think through the spiritual implications of a life of hospitality and what it could look like. I encourage you to take her up on the same invitation. As you read Room at My Table, I’m guessing God just might touch your heart too.

      —Anita Lustrea, radio talk show host, speaker,

      and author of Shades of Mercy and What Women Tell Me

      I have eaten at Evelyn’s table. What she has written is also what she has lived. Most of us make our major life decisions with others around food. Jesus did the same. This is a one of a kind devotional . . . compelling . . . captures Jesus’ life and invites us to discover this richness of life.

      —Jo Anne Lyon, general superintendent of The Wesleyan Church

      and author of The Ultimate Blessing

      For those who want to embrace people in hospitality but don’t think they can; for those who don’t want to but think they should—this is the book to read! Read it slowly (if you can!) or read it quickly (as did I) then go back and integrate these inspiring thoughts into your own life. Room at My Table will make it onto the short list of books that occupy my limited bookshelves. And it is already on my gift list for special people and occasions!

      —Miriam Huffman Rockness, author of Home: God’s Design

      and Passion for the Impossible

      Evelyn Bence weaves together the practical and the spiritual, the moments of friendship in her living room, and the mystery of God’s welcome to us. Bence’s insights and questions call us to reflect more deeply both on how we serve our friends and how we respond to Christ who has invited us to his table. A delectable collection of meditations.

      —Kristina LaCelle-Peterson, author of Liberating Tradition

      and associate professor of religion at Houghton College

      ROOM AT MY TABLE: PREPARING HEART AND HOME FOR CHRISTIAN HOSPITALITY

      Copyright © 2014 by Evelyn Bence

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews. For information, write Upper Room Books®, 1908 Grand Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212.

      Upper Room® Books website: books.upperroom.org

      Upper Room®, Upper Room Books®, and design logos are trademarks owned by The Upper Room®, a ministry of GBOD®, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.

      Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. 2011 Text Edition. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      Scripture quotation marked (JB) is from The Jerusalem Bible, copyright © 1966 by Darton, Longman, and Todd, Ltd., and Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

      Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

      Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

      Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      At the time of publication all website references in this book were valid. However, due to the fluid nature of the Internet, some addresses may have changed or the content may no longer be relevant.

      Cover and interior design: Bruce DeRoos / Left Coast Design

      Cover images: Steve Terrill, Terrill Photography

      The devotions titled Redding Up the House, Who Ought to Be Coming?, Fruit Soup?, Stirring the Pot, The Candle in the Corner, Treasure Old and New, The Letdown, Mercy, Mercy, and What’s This? appeared in the devotional book Daily Guideposts 2008, 2013, 2013, 2010, 2013, 2010, 2009, 2013, 2010, respectively, and are reprinted with permission from Guideposts. Copyright © 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013. All rights reserved. guideposts.org.

      LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

      Bence, Evelyn.

      Room at my table : preparing heart and home for Christian hospitality / Evelyn Bence.

      pages cm

      ISBN 978-0-8358-1359-4 (print)—ISBN 978-0-8358-1360-0 (mobi)—ISBN 978-0-8358-1361-7 (epub)

      1.  Hospitality—Religious aspects—Christianity. 2.  Dinners and dining—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title.

      BV4647.H67B37 2014

      241′.4—dc23

      2013049099

      Printed in the United States of America

      To my dad—with gregariousness and generosity, he invited friends and strangers to the table.

      To my mother—with resourcefulness and graciousness, she made do and made room.

      Together, they modeled hospitality and forged memories that have molded this book.

      Thank you—

      To guests who have graced my home now and again over decades: no guests, no stories about hosting.

      To Camilla, whose friendship and hospitality increased my culinary knowledge, my hosting wisdom, and my favor as a guest.

      To the Upper Room team: Jeannie Crawford-Lee, who responded enthusiastically to sample chapters; John Mogabgab, who shepherded me through the hoops; and Janice Neely, who connected me to new markets.

      To my readers: the hope of your picking up this book has kept me writing.

      Contents

      Introduction

      Prelude: Water with Ice, Please

      Part 1   Setting the Scene

      The Pressure of Perfect

      Redding Up the House

      Have I Got a Plan for You!

      Served at My Table: Breakfast Muffins

      Who Ought to Be Coming?

      The Gift Too Wonderful

      An Act of Hope

      A Burden and a Pleasure: They’ve Grown Accustomed to My Ham

      Served at My Table: Picnic Ham, Boiled and Baked

      A Step beyond Stone Soup

      Take It Outside

      Dressing for Dinner

      Part 2   Stirring the Pot

      Consider the Possibilities

      Served at My Table: More Than Potato Salad

      Divulging Secrets?

      Through the Mail Slot

      A Storied Recipe Compared to the Living Waters

      Served at My Table: Uncle Henry’s Ham and Mustard

      Let’s Make a Contribution

      Are You Protected?

      The Prayer in My Work

      Fruit Soup?

      Stirring the Pot

      Salt to Taste

      The Root of It All

      Part 3   Serving Up Soup

      Gracious Me? Gracious Me!

      Try It? I Think You’ll Like It

      Served at My Table: Walnut and Green Bean Pâté

      All about Me?

      Color Counts

      Bread, Baked and Broken

      Martha, Martha

      My Dad Never Taught Me

      Last Comforts

      Serving Strangers

      Reclamation Declaration

      Served at My Table: Chicken- or Turkey-Corn Soup

      Part 4   Sitting at Table

      The Candle in the Corner

      To Pray or Not to Pray?

      Turning the Table

      Table Talk

      On My Mind: Augustine’s Rhyme

      An Opportunity for Renewal

      My NIMBY Prayer

      Treasure Old and New

      Served at My Table: Wendy’s Rice with Olives and Chiles

      Show and Tell?

      The Honor of Your Presence

      Served at My Table: Fresh Cranberry Relish

      A Guest’s Gift

      Part 5   Savoring the Taste

      A Peaceable Kingdom

      The Letdown

      Served at My Table: Mom’s Pear Upside-Down Gingerbread

      Mercy, Mercy

      Risk Analysis

      Thank You, Thank You

      What’s This?

      For the Pleasure

      Served at My Table: Swedish Apple Pie

      A Medium Day?

      Feed My Lambs

      Epigraph Sources and Notes

      About the Author

      It is striking how much of Jesus’ life is told in settings defined by meals.

      —EUGENE PETERSON

      Hospitality. Though the word’s cordial welcome encompasses more than culinary service, this book focuses on the host’s role of feeding people, particularly those outside the immediate family circle, with its attendant obligations.

      Hospitality has been characterized as a gift, even a spiritual gift, though it is not listed as such in the New Testament. There’s no mistaking that some people have natural abilities in the kitchen, in the organizational sphere, in the conversational corner. That’s why it’s so tempting to avoid responsibility: hospitality, it’s not my gift.

      But the Bible calls for everyone to give it a try: Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality, writes Paul (Rom. 12:13). Other epistle writers add qualifying phrases: Show hospitality to one another without grumbling (1 Pet. 4:9). And "Do not neglect to show hospitality

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