We've been back in Albania for two weeks now and are getting back into the groove of life here. I'm finding it really fun to begin "home" life and work - and also trying to sort out the importance of things.
I was thinking yesterday about hospitality and what it means, when our home was opened to a dozen or so people after church. I remember reading a blog about how the heart of hospitality has nothing to do with the condition of the home and everything to do with the heart and friendship of the host. I wasn't too worried about the young men from the village whose lunch we provided right after church - they come over frequently. A little while later we also had a visit from two sets of parents, one from the village and the other from Korce. Their daughters work closely with us, and they have invited us into their homes on other occasions. These families were visiting us to wish us well after our wedding. It was a sweet visit, with many "te trashegohesh" (a traditional Albanian wish for "an inheritance") blessings spoken and plenty of laughter and visiting.
It was actually while I was vacuuming after they left that I realized how little my housekeeping has to do with someone enjoying time in my home. Most people probably vacuum before their guests come, but I had been preoccupied with cooking for everyone and feeling a bit tired from a busy week - that and we gave them all lokume (Turkish delight) covered in powdered sugar, so it really was necessary to vacuum afterward. As I looked looked around, I realized that there was much more dust than powdered sugar in the living room... and I also realized that no one had seemed to notice or mind.
Certainly, it is good to keep a clean house... but it was good for me to remember that the heart of the home is not kept in order with a vacuum cleaner.
-Lydia
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