Confessions of an Introverted Hostess

1 Peter 4:9-10 "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms."

(Photo (of the shirt, not me—duh) courtesy of zazzle.com)

Newsflash: I like hosting parties.

I know, I know. Here you thought I was this shy, introverted, wouldn't-mind-being-locked-in-a-library-for-a-month-alone type of recluse. Be that as it may, I have come to discover that there is this dark, twisted, crazed inner part of me that thrives on the adrenaline rush of playing host. In sum, I like to throw a good party.

First it was just a casual get-together. A couple from church here, the in-laws for dinner there. Maybe even the occasional four-to-five friend gathering at my house, only because it was "convenient" (or so I told myself. Incidentally, I'm really good at lying to myself. Seriously, if there were an Olympic event for self-deception... gold medal, right here.)

But soon all these small gatherings were not enough. I began to crave more, bigger, better hosting opportunities. Before I knew it, I had my husband's entire family over for dinner one night. Several months later, my grandparents and in-laws. Then came the Super Bowl party. Just last weekend, I hosted a shindig of epic proportions. Somewhere between painstakingly crafting those cheesy pigs-in-a-blanket and welcoming 10 people (including 4 kids!) into my home, I realized I had gone too far for someone who proclaimed to be a people-avoiding introvert. These people were not in my living room as annoying out-of-town guests I couldn't get rid of. They were there because I had invited them, because some irrepressible part of me actually wanted them to come invade my sacred, quiet sanctuary (aka, my cozy basement lair).

Whoa. When did I start enjoying hosting parties?

Today we hosted a baby shower for one of my coworkers. It was cute in about twelve distinct ways, from the hanging clothesline of onesies to the candy-filled baby bottle guessing game to the sparkling "Mom To Be" tiara we made our guest of honor wear. My contributions included climbing onto a chair on top of a table (in order to string said clothesline from the seven-foot ceiling), filling the helium balloons just prior to the party, and baking approximately 48 chocolate and funfetti cupcakes, then decorating them with white frosting, blue spray coloring, and "It's a Boy!" baby blue Hershey's kisses. Was I proud of these accomplishments? Perhaps it would be better to ask whether I was even able to enjoy the party despite the effervescent glowing pride inside my heart. *sigh*

So, apparently this introvert is slowly shucking her long-held generic "people are evil" mentality in favor of something approaching normal social interaction or even—gasp!—hospitality.

This may not sound like much of a revelation to you, but boy, it sure was to me. Perhaps I'm unobservant when it comes to detecting changing trends in my personality. Ok, fine, I'm uber-unobservant in that area. But the fact that I have come to terms with this new facet of myself, without employing my killer self-deception skillz... well, I guess it's a good thing.

Does all this mean I now have the so-called spiritual gift of hospitality? That remains to be seen. But at least I'm about 1000% better at hosting than my painfully shy former self would have ever imagined.