Episode 74: Fighting for Joy with Hospitality

What comes to mind when you think about hospitality? Making sure your house is clean? Cooking a fancy meal? Throwing a memorable party? In our current culture, true hospitality often gets confused with entertaining. The focus can often be on the host and their "Instagram worthy" decor vs. the guests and the opportunity to serve them. On the episode today, Eric and I have a conversation about the calling we have as Christians to welcome people in, not in order to make much of ourselves, but to make others feel welcomed, seen, and cared for - to provide a safe place for people to land and belong. A definition that we recently heard for hospitality mentioned making "sacrificial accomodations with others in mind". This often happens in relationship - putting people at ease with food, with good conversation, sometimes with humor, and almost always with bold generosity of resources...your home, your money, your stuff, your time, and your energy.

Yes, entertaining can be fun (and there are certainly ways to make entertaining hospitable!) but genuine hospitality is a beautiful way to share the hope, peace, comfort, help, and joy that we as believers have received from the Lord with others and bless them as we welcome them in and seek to meet their needs. Listen in as Eric and I share some ways that we were loved on in grief and how that has helped us to grow in our own desire to be hospitable and to find practical ways to bless and care for hurting people. I hope this episode inspires and encourages you to incorporate more hospitality into the regular rhythm of your life as a way to fight for joy - and help others keep fighting for joy as well!

As always, you can connect with the Fighting for Joy Community on Instagram here: https://instagram.com/fightingforjoypodcast?igshid=NGVhN2U2NjQ0Yg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

and with Jodi personally on her Instagram page here: https://instagram.com/jodiblick?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

**This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, the world's largest online therapy provider, with over 30,000 licensed, trained, experienced, and accredited psychologists, therapists, and counselors. I have loved working under the sponsorship of Faithful Counseling over the last few years and am excited to now be welcomed into a special new partnership with its parent company, BetterHelp, ESPECIALLY because they also provide the opportunity for you to choose a Christian counselor, a licensed therapist who will provide faith-based counseling. When you visit my link, betterhelp.com/fightingforjoy, you will begin filling out a questionnaire and one of the questions will be: “Would you like to be matched with a therapist who provides Christian-based therapy?” I’m so grateful to still offer you this option with BetterHelp! Also, FYI, if you go to my old Faithful Counseling link, it will still work for a while, it will just redirect you to the BetterHelp platform. And yes, I’m still able to offer you a 10% discount with BetterHelp as my sponsor.

As I reflect on my grief journey I'm reminded of just how helpful solid, Christian counseling has been for me! If you think that counseling would help YOUR fight for joy, visit my new link at Betterhelp.com/fightingforjoy today! I’ve said it many times before and I will continue to say it - quality counseling is a worthy investment in your fight for joy!