Holiness, Hospitality and Hugs

by Marette Jorgenson

In a few weeks, it will be Mother’s Day. If you are a mom, you may enjoy cards and phone calls. If you aren’t a mom, there may be a slight twinge. If your child has left your heart either by choice or by death, the memories and reality causes pain. Mother’s Day in America weaves its way back to the early 19^th century when Ann Reeves Jarvis began “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs” in order to help young women learn to better care for their children.  In 1868 this same women helped unify the county by promoting reconciliation between former Union and confederate soldiers.  In 1870 Julia Ward Howe sought to promote world peace by writing the “Mother’s Day Proclamation.”  1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a decree to make Mother’s Day a holiday. According to some surveys, that day promotes more phone calls than any other holiday. 

What stands out for me are three characteristics from the lives of those I call friends who are mothers, those who have mothered me, and those I look up to as spiritual mom’s.

I chose to reflect on three words that represent Godly perspective, a way to serve and a simple way to be loving! Those words are Holiness, hospitality, and hugs. Those godly women have given me an example of holiness, and have lived a life as an example to me that being set apart is crucial to my faith walk. Because God’s nature is holy, I must focus on living a life that seeks to be separated from the pull and temptation of this world. Those women have helped me focus on little steps to be holy. 1 Peter 1:15 “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation:” They have challenged me to look for God in things that may surprise me, to see where my actions reflect God’s holy nature and how I can choose the path perhaps less traveled but where holiness leads me.

Hospitality is the second thing these women have shown me. My mother taught us that our home was open to anyone. Others have shown me how to simply be available and willing to sit and listen. That has included knowing how to throw a quick meal together, or make another bed and find an extra pillow.

1 Timothy 5:10 “having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work.”

Our house has always had an open-door policy. We have housed homeless, teenagers, families, friends, and strangers who have become friends. We have gone through a lot of chocolate chip cookies sitting at the counter listening! Somehow fresh chocolate chip cookies out of the oven is a love language.

Hugs. I love to hug. A hug, is designed to calm the nervous system. Your heartbeat can regulate the heartbeat of another when you give a hug: preferably calming them down! Hugs reduce cortisol levels in the body and helps us relax. We need hugs to bond. We unite our hearts when we hug, and a hug says much more than words. There is something special about a hug from a friend: and when they whisper, “love you” before they let us go. It meets the needs of the heart in a way nothing else can.

In the next few weeks leading up to Mother’s Day, find the time to thank women who have given you a great example of what being a mother brings to your life because they have been a part of it. Send them a card. Make a phone call. Go visit. Remind those who have encouraged you to be holy, inspired hospitality within you and given you a few hugs, that they matter, and you honor their being in your life.