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The Blue Bed

In our home, we have a blue bed. It is not really a blue bed, we just call it that since it has a blue bedspread. It has not always had a blue bedspread, but the bed itself has always been there. Truly, my entire adult life I have had an extra bed, somewhere in my house. It does not just sit there empty, it has been used repeatedly when someone needs a bed for a bit. It could be for a nap, a night, or months. It does not matter, that is what the blue bed is for. Some might call it hospitality, we just call it the blue bed.

Our Blue Bed

The blue bed has been used for years. Years ago, I had a friend that needed to stay for a while. I don’t remember what the blue bed looked like back then. Maybe it was just a space on the couch or a place to lay a sleeping bag. It didn’t matter. My friend needed to stay, so she did.

Friends Traveling Through from here or there.

We have also used the blue bed for friends that were traveling through. From here or there. We have had friends from different countries, friends from all over the US come to stay. Sometimes, it is even just a friend I knew in college for a semester. Sometimes it is a dear friend or family member that you want to stay forever.

I remember the year that my brother asked if his friend, who was a little lost, didn’t have much family, and was…shall we say…a bit chatty, needed a place to come for Christmas. I said yes thinking…this will be a little different. It was! We bought him a few Christmas gifts for under the tree and placed an extra stocking on the mantel. It was kind of a different year. He persisted in changing his clothes in the living room, much to the shock of my children. He wore brand new black jeans, that turned our cream couch kind of a strange grayish blue in places and talked a lot!

My Sister, Daughter and Me.

I had to have a heart to heart with myself.

He said inappropriate things, flirted with people he was not supposed to flirt with and did I mention he talked a lot? In truthfulness, I had to take myself to the bathroom and have a good heart to heart with myself about how important hospitality is, and how I should have a better heart and asked God to give me patience. When I walked out of the bathroom, the snow began to fall outside. Our visitor, although well into middle age and pressed down by the stresses of life, ran outside into the snow. He twirled around and shouted with glee.

When he came back inside he was teary and said that he had always hoped for a white Christmas but had never experienced one. I think God sent the snow to remind me that although hospitality is not always easy, it is always worth it. A few years after that Christmas he passed away. When I heard the news, I was glad that we had opened our home for that White Christmas.

And then there was that time at Easter.

I also remember the time a friend of a cousin came to Easter. He stayed on the floor because the bed was already taken. Although he was in his teens but had never really had an Easter celebration. He was a little shocked to find that on the day before Easter he would be dying eggs with everyone. In our house even, the grownups dye eggs. We, of course, went to church on Sunday morning and he came along. When we arrived home, he was shocked that the eggs had been hidden, and even though he was a teenager, he could join in the hunt! When the hunt was finished he was so touched to receive an Easter basket which magically appeared with his name on it, filled with candy and gifts.

My Sister and I working on a movie project a few years ago.

Today, I am a bit teary. The blue bed has been in use for the last 6 months. My sister needed to come home for a while. She needed a place to heal. Did I reference that the blue bed is a great place to heal? It’s a great place to be when you need to have a cry, need some home cooked food, need somewhere to binge watch a few great shows, and when you need a place to find inspiration for your next dream.

For the last 6 months.

For the last 6 months, I have shared my bathroom with my sister, and she has stored a lot of her things in my bedroom, and in the family room, and well…. Everywhere! Sometimes when someone comes to stay on the blue bed, they bring a lot of stuff. Personally, I am a bit of a minimalist and like things tidy. But, having someone stay on the blue bed is rarely tidy. I should say at this point; my sister is a perfectly tidy person. I just mean to say, she brought things home with her.

For instance, in my bathroom, my sister filled 2 shelves in the shower with bottles. On top of the bathroom cabinet, there were loads more bottles and potions, and lotions. In the cabinet, she took about ½ the space with more bottles, and in the medicine cabinet, and on the shelf, more bottles. Am I getting the point across that my sister brings a lot of things into the bathroom? And my bathroom is very small, not enough for two people if one has a lot of bottles.

The little contact lense station.

When my Sister visits my house, whether, for a day, or six months, she leaves her bottle of contact solution and the little contact case on the edge of the sink. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but I like to wipe the sink down every day…sometimes twice a day if the house is busy…and the contact lens station makes that more difficult. Not really, horribly difficult. Just more difficult.

My Sister and Me.

In truth, for the first 5 months that she stayed I would grumble silently in my head and as I picked up each piece to clean under it. I prayed, asked God to make me a nicer person, and cleaned. My sister is truly one of my dearest friends on earth. Although we are 10 years apart, we are always heavily involved in each other’s lives, sharing the laughter and tears.

But change is in the air.

For the last month, my sister has been making plans to move. Not a little move, but to move across the country. From California to Connecticut. For the last month, every time I looked at the little contact lens station, I didn’t grumble. I didn’t complain to myself. In fact, I wished that the contact station would stay on my sink forever.

Because that would mean that my Sister was at my house. That when I finished picking it up to wipe under it, I could walk out of the bathroom, I would see her face. Or, I would get a mid-day text asking, “What is the dinner plan”. Or, that she would be getting ready to start us on a binge watch of The Great British Baking Show. Or, hear her famous first line of, “You know what I was thinking”. This line is always followed by an amazing adventure of some sort.

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Time for a new adventure.

But, the bottles are all gone from the bathroom, the contact lens station is gone, and my Sister is off to a new adventure. Luckily, it’s 2018. So, I can easily text, call, and facetime with my Sister every day. I will be able to fly to see her, and she will fly to see me! There will be holidays and vacations, and maybe we will meet in the middle every now and then. I will miss my Sister every day, but I am glad that she was here, even for just a while.

Our Blue Bed

I love the line in the old movie An Affair to Remember. Deborah Kerr says, “Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories”. I have a lot of warm memories. As the memories of my Sister come flooding into my mind today, I am glad that we have the blue bed. And, I am glad for the memories that it brings.

Hospitality is not always easy.

Hospitality is not always easy, it is not always tidy, but it is always worth it. So today, I am wishing my sister a good journey, and hoping that in her new home, she makes a place for a blue bed for those who need a place to stay for a while, and I can’t wait for that person to be me.

If you would like to read more about Hospitality, check out this post on Easy Hospitality Ideas. Or, maybe you are not ready to open your home to visitors, but want to do something. Check out this post on 30 Random Acts of Kindness.

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Do you enjoy having guests stay at your home? Share why you love it in the comments below!

Hospitality- Our Blue Bed