The ULTIMATE sign of Hospitality

I was born in the deep south....I mean deep. I am talking about swamps, long drawls in speech and big white magnolias. We left Louisiana before I even started school, but I went back for 6 months during college.... for an "internship" but more than that a boy. For those six months I lived with his folks and they showed me the true definition of southern hospitality.

Their lake home was breathtaking. Miss. Brenda cooked my favorite meals, put sweet notes by my bedside, cut fresh flowers from her garden and put them in my room, took me on tours of her favorite spots, hugged me every time I walked in the door, left mints on my pillow and strategically placed pictures of me all over her home. I felt more than welcome.

I left that summer with a broken heart, fun memories and a good lesson on how to open your heart and your home to your guests. It was a summer I will always remember and think of often.

Over the past 7 years since that summer I have stayed in many homes and traveled to many places....and none welcomed me like Miss. Brenda...that is until Canada.

My in-laws insist we stay in their room. They give up their BED. Seriously it is the warmest, most loved and endlessly welcomed feeling I have ever had. Then my darling Canadian sister and brother in-law did the same thing....gave up their master suite for us. It is not about money, comfort or style....it is about giving the people you love the best you've got.PERIOD.

I love them...and not because they give me things and won't let me pay (EVER). But because they continuously go out of their way to love Wade, Hunter and I. They purposefully and intentionally make sure we know they love us.

It has been a new lesson for me. A lesson of selflessness. I am humbled and loved. I could not imagine it gets any better than this...