How can I describe Tori in a few words? It is a challenge because there are so many fabulous ways to describe this incredible woman! After thinking about which words to choose I kept coming back to these: hope giver and overcomer. As a wife, mother, and Christ-follower, Tori intentionally and passionately follows the incredible call on her life.  Her welcoming spirit, loving wide-open arms, tenderness and joy-filled way create a space for others to be genuinely loved. The challenges she has faced have become stepping stones toward the mountain she now stands on to share boldly her love for Jesus and serve others. Tori chooses to create beauty from ashes and along the way is reaching out her hand to others that find themselves in dark and lonely places. She is a beacon of light sharing what Jesus has done for her. It is an honour to welcome Tori to the Seasons of Motherhood Blog Series today. The inspirational words and insight will leave you striving for creative grace-filled ways to invite others into your home. Thank you Tori for your encouragement!

 

♥

 

Tori is a former foster youth letting her Abba be known. After an adverse childhood, Tori has overcome the odds. Now she is a leading advocate for vulnerable youth and families, a sought out speaker, and influential social entrepreneur. In 2020, she founded the Beloved Initiative to grant children who are often unseen and unheard, opportunities to see that the worst parts of their lives can be used for Good — to glorify God. Though never have competed in pageant before, Tori wanted to continue to be an inspiration to youth, and ended up being crowned Mrs. Universe 2021-2022.

Tori has been featured by Child Welfare Gateway, Proverbs 31 Woman, Global Leadership Network, the National Council for Adoption and many other platforms educating the child welfare community and beyond. Tori has presented policy recommendations to White House Policy Staffers and congressmen and women on how to improve the foster care system. In August of 2022, Tori’s book “Fostered” will be published through B&H.

A  leading voice in child welfare, Tori is a reminder to have empathy and understanding for those who are different than us as she leads a life of genuine compassion! Her story is one of hope and points to the work of God in her life, while showing others what God can do in their lives! 

 

 

The Gift of Hospitality

By Tori Hope Petersen

 

www.torihopepetersen.com

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When you think of hospitality, what do you imagine?

 

Entertaining with award-winning recipes. Table place sets that are Instagrammable. And gifts for each guest. Hosting this way can be a joy to many. I did it for our family’s third annual Friendsgiving. Bringing parts of my community together to reflect in gratitude and share food and space was unforgettable. Afterwards, I felt like God had breathed new life into me.

 

But when we reflect and imagine what true and Biblical hospitality is, I believe it requires more vulnerability than curated meals and a perfect aesthetic. Hospitality is letting people into your home even when it isn’t perfect to show that you too are human. By opening our homes in this way, we make hospitality a service to others.

 

Once Friendsgiving had passed and we stepped back into reality, we see that we don’t just have much to be grateful for, but we also have much to give. When a homeless young woman reached out to our family having no one to spend Thanksgiving with we welcomed her into our home to stay. 

 

I say this not to boast, but to show what a life of hospitality looks like and what God can do when we say “yes” to opening our homes and hearts. 

 

A young woman who has only lived in homeless shelters and institutions for the past decade can’t know how or learn how to live day to day in institutions. But she can learn when she looks upon the lives of those living in Christ, in a stable home. How is this possible if the art of hospitality dies within the church?

 

After growing up in a dysfunctional home and in and out of foster care, I lived with my youth leader, Tonya. She served young women and girls in her home, while also being an attentive and loving mother towards her children. I witnessed her devotion time with God, and her service towards her husband, children, and our community. In the midst of it, she cared deeply for me, giving me a vision of the kind of home I wanted to have, and the kind of woman I wanted to be. It is because of Tonya’s bold hospitality, I have grown to be hospitable. Biblical hospitality is a gift from God, that we have the power to pass on.

 

As you can see, Biblical hospitality is different from entertaining. As Melissa d’Arabian says in Tasting Grace, Biblical hospitality is simply and “literally the ‘love of strangers…’ are all called to practice it.” Sharing what society and culture think should be “private,” such as marriage arguments and resolutions, parenting discipline, and our spiritual rhythms is how the lost, desolate, and lovely learn.

 

Biblical hospitality can be scary, but losing precious lives to the enemy and poverty should be scarier to us as disciples of Christ. Proverbs 21:13 says, “If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.” (NIV84) So I want to give you three ways you can open your ears to the cry and answer the call to hospitality.

 

1. See what God has blessed you with, not as a gift to build your kingdom on earth, but to build the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

God is the matchless giver. We cannot out-give God, but we can be faithful stewards of all that He has given us. Our money should be seen as a tool to care for our family and community, and love those who don’t have all that we do.

 

2. Instead of striving towards perfection in hospitality, strive towards patience.

 

As the scriptures say, love is patient. And when serving others with a heart of hospitality, we need to embody the characteristics of love, not perfection. It is through vulnerable apologies, mistakes repented for, and questions asked, instead of answers imposed, that we show those who need serving we are learning to live and love alongside them.

 

3. Pray for eyes and ears of openness that compel you to open your arms, heart, and home.

 

When we see the heartbroken and desolate, it should be difficult for us to not do anything about it. God has given us a spirit of softness towards those the world has grown hard towards because He has a heart for “the least of these.”

 

Matthew 25:40 (NIV) says, “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” 

 

Hospitality will not just change the lives of those you host, but it will shift your heart and life towards one of worship. You will grow in gratitude for what you have. You will witness the miraculous redemption and restoration of God. You will have more faith in what God can do through His church, more than you have fear of His creation. Because hospitality isn’t a gift from God, but it is a gift God gives to us. So what are you going to do with the gift of hospitality?

 

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