Hospitality Archives - Colleen Angela Van Etten

December 12th is National Poinsettia Day in the United States. The date marks the death of Joel Roberts Poinsett, an American botanist, physician and the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico from 1825 to 1829. He shared his love for the Poinsettia when he sent cuttings from Southern Mexico to his home in Charleston, South Carolina.

In Mexico, where the plant is called La Flor de la Nochebuena (Flower of the Holy Night), Poinsettias have featured in the nativity procession—the Fiesta of Santa Pesebre—since the 17th century. Mexican legend has it that a little girl, too poor to buy a gift to present to the Christ child at the nativity scene on Christmas Eve, gave baby Jesus weeds she picked from the side of the road. Given in love, the weeds were transformed into the beautiful red stars of the Poinsettia.

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And so the Mexican association of Poinsettias with Christmas continued in America. On one level, the red leaves fit right in with all things Christmas—red nosed reindeer, Santa, bows, ornaments, and candles. On another level, red symbolizes love and the blood of Christ. Whether you are enchanted by Poinsettias for their legendary charm, Christian symbolism, or their decorative beauty, they are now one of the most popular plants in the world. Annual sales are 90 million units and the global retail impact is nearly one billion dollars. In the United States most of the $250 million in retail sales occur in the six weeks leading up to Christmas.

Over the years, I’ve been the beneficiary of Poinsettias in the prelude to Christmas for various reasons. Last December when recovering from eye surgery for a hole in the macular and a partially detached retina, my aunt blessed me with gorgeous Poinsettias in a twin basket.

This year when hosting a chapter meeting for Little People of America, I received a beautiful Poinsettia as a hospitality gift from one of the members.

I’m also enjoying the Christmas decorations at church that incorporate both red and white Poinsettias.

So in this season of Christmas giving, it’s time for me to bless family and friends with Poinsettia gifts. No need to worry if they have one already. The more Poinsettias they get the more magnificence they have to delight in.

So what part do Poinsettias play in your Christmas?

You may also like to read:

Poinsettia Plant Care Instructions, https://www.ftd.com/blog/share/poinsettia-care
National Poinsettia Day – Poinsettia Colors, Symbolism, Facts & more! https://alwaystheholidays.com/national-poinsettia-day/
Angela Muir Van Etten. A voice for people with dwarfism and disability guided by faith and justice. https://angelamuirvanetten.com/blog/

Welcome to Our Home

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. ∞ 1 Peter 4:9 New International Version)

Hospitality is an opportunity to deepen relationships and help one another. It doesn’t take a big, fancy house to share a meal or offer a bed for the night. We learned this as newly-weds in a one bedroom apartment and continue the practice 39 years later in our larger custom-built home.

Membership in Little People of America (LPA) and having family and friends separated by thousands of miles has given us many opportunities to welcome people into our home. In recent times, it also helps that we live in Florida—a great vacation destination and escape from northern winters.

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LPA’s mission—to improve the quality of life for people with dwarfism—is largely achieved through a network of people with short stature, family members, and professionals who support and encourage one another. Hospitality is a big part of how this is achieved. LPA members open their homes for local chapter meetings and welcome those visiting from out-of-town. Churches encourage home fellowships where people are accepted, encouraged, and loved. Families and friends enjoy a special bond maintained by spending quality time together. What better place than in your home?

As Little People with a limited number of steps in our day, my husband Robert and I developed our own brand of hospitality. After a grand tour of our home that includes showing the location of food and supplies, guests are encouraged to make themselves at home and help themselves. In our first year of marriage when we lived in Baltimore, our proximity to Johns Hopkins Hospital allowed us to shelter LPA families of hospital inpatients or outpatients returning for follow-up appointments. The special adaptations we’d made in our apartment also gave parents ideas on how to modify their homes for their child with dwarfism. We also hosted a boys’ weekend retreat when a couple asked us to help their son who was having difficulty adjusting to his size.

Robert organized the boys weekend to include swimming, pizza, a Star Trek movie, and the boys helping to cook breakfast. Billy—the inspiration for the retreat—had started the weekend making excuses whenever he was asked to do something, “because he was the smallest.” Well, in the company of five little people he’d definitely picked a losing argument. By Sunday, Billy’s perspective had improved and he stopped making references to his size. More than 25 years later, we learned that the boys retreat had made a big impression on “Billy.” The revelation occurred at the wedding of Mr. Bill Klein whose bride, Dr. Jennifer Arnold, had been the flower girl at our Florida wedding in November 1981. Who could have imagined that the two children whose lives we separately touched in Florida and Maryland would meet as adults, fall in love, and star on TLC’s reality show, The Little Couple.

Extending hospitality to others has enriched our lives. How have you benefited from giving or receiving hospitality? This post was adapted from Angela Muir Van Etten’s book—PASS ME YOUR SHOES: A Couple with Dwarfism Navigates Life’s Detours with Love and Faith—a new release in October 2020.