Hospitality

Yesterday, several photographers were invited to spend some time with Mike Colon at his home. Martin Gisborne from Apple was walking us through all the features of Apeture 1.5. A little while into Martin's presentation, Mike quietly got up and made popcorn for us all and brought out chips and snacks. He made a cup of Hot Chocolate for Becker when Becker jokingly asked for one. [b] kindly gave it to Jessica to enjoy. It was a warm and lovely time in his his new home. Julie (mike's wife) patiently waited with their children upstairs keeping them quiet and entertained. Their actions spoke volumes about hospitality.

In our home, my wife Ingrid is the Queen of Hospitality. It's really a gift she possesses. We often have people over, and she makes them feel relaxed, as if they were on vacation or at a resort. I admire that trait in her so much. It's a selfless gift that carries with it warmth and love.

I found this story to illustrate the impact and value of hospitality. Enjoy!

One day a king and his minister went out for a walk incognito. The king said to the minister, "I want to give a reward to anyone who is hospitable to us during our walk."

The king and the minister went up to one man and said, "We are travelers. This is a fine town and we would like to spend the night here. Could we stay at your house as guests?"

The man insulted them, saying, "How do I know you're not criminals?"

Then the king and the minister went up and knocked on somebody else's door. When the man opened the door they asked, "Can we can spend the night here? We are travelers and it's getting dark."

The man said, "First tell me how many of you there are. Then I'll decide."

The king said, "You see that we are only two. We don't have much money, but if you allow us to stay with you, before we leave tomorrow morning we'll pay you what we can."

Then the king said, "It is still somewhat light out, and your country is very beautiful. We'll walk around and come back in an hour or so."

So the king and minister continued walking. They approached another house and knocked on the door. The king said, "We're travelers. It's getting dark. Could we spend the night at your house?"

The man said, "Certainly! just tell me how many of you there are."

The king said, "You can see we are only two." The king told that person also that they would come back in a while. Then they went back to the palace.

The minister had taken down the address of each person to whom they had spoken, and the following day the king summoned all three to the palace. To the one who had insulted him the king said, "I don't need you in my kingdom. When travelers come from a different kingdom, we must offer them shelter. You could see we were respectable. It was obvious we weren't thieves." And the king threw the man out of his kingdom.

To the second man the king gave a large sum of money.

To the third one, who immediately offered shelter and only afterwards asked how many were in their party, the king gave his crown.

He told the man, "In this kingdom we need the kind of people who offer everything without hesitation and only then seek to determine how much is necessary. When we approached you, you didn't ask how many were in our party. You just said, 'Come, come!' The other man first asked how many we had. If we had more people, he might not have agreed to shelter us. We need more people like you."

So the third man received the crown from the king and took it home as his most treasured possession.

Comments

[Damion Hamilton]

Wow..that is so encouraging. I have plans to join Mike for one of his intensives and its yours and many other comments I've seen regarding Mike & Julie's integrity that only make me more excited about it.

Great story, good wake up call. Shows me how much changing my heart needs in some areas! Thank you.

[Bob Davis]

Hey Joe,

Sounds awesome. I know the feeling of hospitality. Dawn and I have traveled to Eastern Europe many times. There hospitality is very important. We are guests in their country and they open their hearts and homes to us on every visit. I love to hear when people in the states do the same. Sometimes here in the states we are too busy to slow down and enjoy unannounced guests. We love company!

I too am a part of the Aperture Wedding Photo tour. I will be at the first stop in Henderson, NV, then Dallas, TX and Atlanta, GA. I love Aperture and Martin is great.

Way to go. Keep on keeping on.

Bobby D.

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