Seth and Brooke Peterson share how hospitality has shaped their marriage and young family, from hosting their growth group around their two boys' bedtimes to keeping an open-door policy modeled after Seth's parents, who raised him at Faith Bible Church. They talk about redefining hospitality as something bigger than a perfect meal or a clean house — it's showing up for people in the body, even if that just means dessert, a walk in the park, or inviting someone over before you really know them. They also offer practical encouragement for those hosting on a budget or stepping outside their comfort zone for the first time. Check out Brooke's vegan cinnamon roll recipe!
Automated Transcription
Jennifer Brandt 0:04 Hello and welcome back to the Faith Hospitality Highlight. I am Jennifer Brant, and today I have Seth and Brooke Peterson. I just wanted to get to know you guys a little bit more. Let let the church know where you're from, how you got connected at Faith, and how long you've been going to Faith, and then what you guys are doing in life right now.
Seth Peterson 0:30 Sure. Yeah. Well, I've been at FBC my whole life, so I've kind of been forced to be part of this community my entire life. What was the question? Something about working here from. Well, yeah. Oh, I'm from I'm from Spokane, I think. Yeah, been here all my life from Spokane, and and
Jennifer Brandt 0:55 your parents are.
Seth Peterson 0:56 My parents are Jeff and Mitzi Peterson, so they go to church. My dad was usually in the back doing sound, and then my mom is quite all over the place. She's not out giving people meals. She's in the infant's room, holding babies.
Jennifer Brandt 1:12 Yeah, your mom blessed us at youth camp this last weekend, serving all the kids food. Yeah,
Seth Peterson 1:17 she makes good food.
Jennifer Brandt 1:18 Yeah, she's also brought Corey and I a meal when we were in need, so she's a very awesome lady, good example. Shout out Missy Peterson.
Seth Peterson 1:25 We're also in need of some food, probably maybe some cinnamon rolls or something. So could use that, mom, if you're listening.
Jennifer Brandt 1:33 And what about you, Brooke? Yeah,
Brooke Peterson 1:35 I am from the west side of the state. I came over here to go to Eastern and met Seth through the Daxum Ministry, and that was I think about eight years ago now. That yeah we started dating, got married, and got connected to FBC because of that. So we got married about five years ago, and yeah, now we have two little boys, two and a half year old and a little six month old, so life is fun and busy.
Jennifer Brandt 2:06 Yeah. So, with a two and a half year old and a six month old, how has hospitality changed or evolved for you guys from when you were newlyweds to now with two little ones.
Seth Peterson 2:22 I mean, it kind of you know of like with a six month old, you know you have feeding schedules and different things, and with a two and a half year old, like bedtime is a thing. But by and large, we've decided that our kids, they're they're part of our lives, they come with us. We don't we don't necessarily adhere to their schedule in a sense. So you know, obviously, like kids have needs, and we need to make sure that we're cognizant of that. But if we're going somewhere, having people over, they're just part of the of us. So we, as a family, go over and do things, and that's just how it is, and so yeah, sure. You know, we have to have a little bit earlier bedtimes. We have to leave different things or whatever a little bit earlier, or maybe we're a little bit more tired. But as far as you know, going out and doing things or serving people or or being in the body, doesn't really change. It's just we have two more members instead of you know just mom and dad, or Brooke and Seth.
Brooke Peterson 3:22 Yeah, we certainly make it a point to be in the body as much as we can to be an example to them and to bring them along and continue to build relationships. It's good for us and it's good for them, especially as they start connecting with friends their own age and trying to teach them hospitality in our own house, or how to be a good guest to others. So we really want to bring them along for all of life, and that included.
Jennifer Brandt 3:55 Speaking just from my experience having you guys as our good friends, and the amount of times that we spend time with you or get to see you, I would have been very encouraged by the way you're still present in everybody else's life, even when you guys had newborns in your house. I never felt like you were ever isolated from from your friends or the people at church. So, how would you guys define hospitality?
Brooke Peterson 4:25 There's like the hosting side of it, and that's kind of where my brain goes to. Just being generous with our time and our resources that can look different at different seasons and depending on other people's needs. But Seth's also really good at reminding me that that also can look like just being friendly and being hospitable at church, and doesn't have to be just within your own four walls. So, yeah, being a good friend and encourager.
Seth Peterson 4:55 I think I would say maybe add on top of that, hospitality is. It's just caring for the body, you know. It's not just defined as having people over, giving them food, or you know, like we. I would say, really, realistically, hospitality is performing the one another's throughout your daily life as as a Christian body, regardless of what that looks like.
Jennifer Brandt 5:20 In what ways are you guys actively practicing hospitality right now? I know you host a growth group, so yeah, we're in about that
Brooke Peterson 5:28 Yount's Growth Group and host that, which is really just a convenience for us because then we can put the kids down to bed at a normal time and have all of their the things that they need here close by, but it's also just really something we enjoy to be able to invite people over and and get to know new people sometimes, and also just do life in the home together with those people in our group.
Jennifer Brandt 5:58 What made you guys decide to start hosting your growth group.
Seth Peterson 6:02 Well, most of it was selfish because we yeah Ryder needed to go to bed early, and if he didn't go to bed early, he was just a mess the next morning.
Brooke Peterson 6:11 And we wanted to be more present as well when he was overtired at someone else's houses. That was hard for us to be engaged and present, so it was kind of selfish, but also just to have the opportunity to get to, yeah, open our home in that way, in a way that for us was not super challenging, and it was a need in our group too. So we're like, yeah, no problem. I'm
Jennifer Brandt 6:36 glad you guys are prioritizing your spiritual health and well-being, and being, you know, involved in a Bible study with believers because it could be really easy, like you said, in your routines with little kids to not to more isolate and not attend a growth group on a regular basis. So I feel like you're prioritizing wanting to be hospitable to people, but also wanting to be included. And I think that's a perfect example of how people in a busy seasonal life could follow that.
Brooke Peterson 7:07 Yeah, I'm very thankful that our group is kind enough that they don't mind the baby toys on the floor or the crayons everywhere, and I think we're working on not worrying about it either. Just welcoming people into even a little bit of a mess.
Jennifer Brandt 7:24 What are what are some other ways that you guys show hospitality?
Seth Peterson 7:29 So, you know, a lot of it is being with friends, having people over a lot. When we bought this house, our pretty much our primary goal was to okay. Does this fit what we want in terms of square footage and you know rooms and whatever blah blah blah. But the second the second most important thing was can we see friends and family being here? Can we see this being the central hub for people to come in, have essentially an open door policy and fellowship with no strings attached, and with kids that changes just a little bit. But for us, it really hasn't. You know, at any given day of the week, we'll have someone coming over. We'll be doing something with someone in the body, or if nothing else, we'll be inviting neighbors over and you know having them come over and share, you know, attempting to share the gospel with them, or, or something like that, and you know, we'll be going over to other people's houses and and discussing whatever, whatever might be, you know, is and our goal in that is to encourage the other people in Christ and what they're doing, and to to give them kind of a breath of fresh air when it comes to spiritual matters, or even just just daily needs. Like, oh, we haven't seen this these this couple or these people before for a long time. So let's go let's go meet with them and encourage them in a way, any way we can. You know, doesn't have to be some big or crazy. Can just be showing up and hanging out, and could be helping them fix the truck or you know whatever that may be.
Jennifer Brandt 9:06 I think I've been invited over to your house more times than any other friends. Actually, now that I'm thinking about truly, which is an amazing thing, and it's usually group things. It's not just like only us, but you do that as well. And yeah, now that you're saying, talking about that, it's making me realize you guys have done a really good job of including people into your lives, into your home. So yeah,
Brooke Peterson 9:31 when we even before we got married, talking about what we wanted our goals to be and like kind of our family mission statement, hospitality was like number one for besides you know being faithful and serving the church body. We're like let's let's just make sure that as long as our personal needs are met, you know, and whatnot, that we can just be open and available for people and. Making sure that we're, you know, depending on the season, initially we were married. It was making extra food and buying this person or that person over, or yeah. So it's it's definitely something that we just try and prioritize.
Jennifer Brandt 10:18 What are some benefits that you guys have experienced in being hospitable to other people.
Seth Peterson 10:25 I think it's just the encouragement. I mean, you know, in everything. So, if you were to look back at what a Christian and what Christ would define as love, which is looking for the best and for somebody else, I would I would say that this is exactly what hospitality is. So when you are having someone over, when you are giving, you know, letting somebody in, becoming vulnerable, or going somewhere and doing something, which you know, sacrificing for someone, that is another very definition loving them, and so you get to show them Christ, and you get to be encouraged in the spirit in that way, in the very virulence sense, that's a huge, a huge benefit in of itself. We're able to see friendships flourish. You know, we really, as you can probably tell, we we put a pretty pretty big premium on friendship, and that just brings everyone closer. It brings us closer to each other, to Christ, to God, and it gives you a support group that you can kind of lean on just naturally because you're always around each other and talking and fellowshipping and sharing life with each other.
Brooke Peterson 11:31 Yeah, allowing our home to be kind of like Seth said that open door has given such room for friendships to grow that maybe in seasons like otherwise wouldn't friends that maybe live have a roommate with a non-believer you know whatever then they're like I don't I don't have a place to go for this or I want to be encouraged in this way and just the benefit like spiritually speaking to be able to grow when our home is kind of the only place for that to happen, really. Especially as kids, it's like, well, I may not be able to go to your house at 9p.m. at night, but you can totally come over to mine and just be able to, yeah, grow those friendships that may not have the space for it otherwise.
Jennifer Brandt 12:12 That's really sweet. I think just in doing these podcasts, I was sharing with Brooke that I've realized the importance of hospitality and the way that it encourages us. I think more than we even realize we need it. So, who has inspired you in your life to be hospitable, and what have you learned from them?
Seth Peterson 12:35 So for me, it was it was my mom. A lot of what we do here was actually modeled after what my parents did growing up. They were in a lot of different ministries. Oh, we always had people over. We always had growth group at our house. My parents, when I was a lot younger, they were involved in the college ministry. They would always have people and college students over for like breakfasts or dinners or some different hangouts. They were kind of like my parents' house was kind of the central hub for different community gatherings throughout the church. Whether it be you know growth group or someone else, I mean, half the time people would randomly show up, but I wouldn't really know who they were, and my parents wouldn't either. They would just be there, you know, celebrating something, and so that was just a place to to go and and hang out and fellowship, and that was kind of where I I learned how to be in the body and how to minister via hospitality and kind of shape my definition and my view of it. And so that's that's where I started how it's kind of shaped me.
Brooke Peterson 13:40 Yeah, it was fun to get to watch that a little bit when Seth and I started dating, and you know, if there was a certain person that I wanted to get to know, Seth would be like, "Oh, just invite them over to Mom and Dad's. I'm like, "But they they don't know them. He's like, "That's okay. There's always room. That's what they've told us. And so, yeah, that was so encouraging for me, and has definitely been something that we've really strived to model. Just that people would always feel welcome and to invite whoever that needs a meal or a cookie, whatever we can offer in that season. Yep, or a cinnamon roll, because that's yeah, I I've definitely learned from them that it doesn't have to be fancy and perfect. You just have to be willing to open your door.
Jennifer Brandt 14:30 What do you hope your children learn by watching you welcome others into your home?
Seth Peterson 14:36 I want them to see. I want them to see a few things. I want them to see what it looks like to be in a church body and doing life together, not just at the church. I want them to be invested with other people throughout the throughout the week in their own in their own circle and their own community. I want them to have a very real sense of of loving people and actually going after and pursuing Christ with someone. I also want for my boys. I want them to see what leadership looks like in the in the house and what it looks like in the hospitality sense. Like, okay, we're gonna go outside of our comfort zone. We're gonna go seek out somebody to come over and and hang out. We're gonna go seek out a friend, or we're gonna go do this. We're gonna do that. I don't want them to be complacent men. I want them to be active men that are seeking out Christ and seeking out others.
Brooke Peterson 15:26 Yeah, I think the the goal is to show that it doesn't have to be perfect, but in general, it's it's just it's just inviting people over. Doesn't have to be fancy or a fancy meal. I was terrified for a while because I didn't think I could cook well enough to have people over, and pretty soon there was just people in our home, and it's like it's fine, like whatever, like they don't need to. They just want the people. Just want people, and that is that. That's the goal. It's just to fellowship and to be willing to be open and and talk and and be vulnerable, because when you're doing life one on one like that in the in the home and in the day to day, neighbors walking by seeing you live or whatnot, it's there's a lot of a lot of growth in that, and I think that I mostly just want our kids to Prioritize that iron sharpening iron relationships because that's that's vital. And when you you know hide and stay at home or or don't surround yourself with other believers that can sharpen you, there can be a lot of hurt that comes from that. Or you know, so it helps us to I think as the body to stay accountable when there's people constantly in your life,
Jennifer Brandt 16:43 how would you guys encourage somebody who might have a limited budget to do hospitality?
Seth Peterson 16:50 I would say this is where I really like the definition of one another's. Like there, I know a lot of people have a tendency to think like I need to make this like Brooke has said, like elaborate. Need to have my house perfectly clean, or I need to have. I've had people say like I need a house to you know have have some type of hospitality, or I need to have this meal cooked. It needs to be perfect. Like it doesn't. Like you're just be there for someone. That's how you practice hospitality. It doesn't need to be this fancy meal. It doesn't have to have a house. Like you can go meet at a park, you can go meet at Starbucks, you can go hang out. Like that's why a lot of guys you'll hear like, "Hey, let's hang, because there's nothing, there's nothing really implied. Half the time we don't really know what we're gonna do, anyways. When we show up, we just kind of make it happen. But you know, we say hang out because there's nothing, there's no string attached. If we wanted to go do something, we let's go, let's go drive fast cars. Let's go put a supercharger on the truck or something like that. We would, you know, make a plan for that. Whereas, you know, I just I think a lot of people put this big stress on hospitality being something grandiose and big, and it's just just love on the body. Just be there for them, you know. And if you're worried about like if you really do want to to invite people over, and you're worried about that, you know, like I don't really have that much money to do things. Like a practical thing, I would say is just don't have people come over during meal times. You know, then there's not like that kind of taboo expectation that you need to feed them or they have to bring their own food. You know, like people like you know, definitely had times where it's like really stressful to to try to make extra food or end meat. It's like, well, we still want people. Let's have them over after dinner. We'll play games. Games are free. We'll you know we'll do that or we'll have them over in the late morning and we'll go do something outside or you know go to the park or whatever. But
Brooke Peterson 18:39 yeah, we love hosting for dessert because that is fun and a benefit to us to enjoy dessert and also usually somewhat cheap and mostly satisfying for everyone, you know. So yeah, and also just I think don't be afraid to ask God. There's been plenty of times that we've wanted to have people over, or that someone's been over, and it's coming upon a meal time. And I've literally prayed over the food, like God. I don't think this is going to feed everyone. Like this was just meant for us. And he, I mean, he's a big God. So I've watched meals multiply in front of my face. So yes, practically, like you can, you know, be kind of strategic, but also you can ask God, and He-I think He blesses our our efforts and our heart.
Jennifer Brandt 19:27 Have you ever had to step outside of your comfort zone to welcome someone? And if so, what happened?
Seth Peterson 19:33 Yeah, yeah. A few years ago, I mean, we were just talking about this situation, but I was hanging out with Travis Vihauser. He was going to come over here after church, and he's like, "Hey, I'm going to invite another this random college student. His name's Emery. Okay, what? So he just shows, and this guy, this kid named Emery Levine, just shows up, and we kind of. Just we hang out and we talk a little bit, and and lo and behold, after you know now four four years, we're really good friends, and you know you never know who's gonna step through that door, and if you're not willing to take that first step and to to initiate, I mean you never know what's gonna come after that, you know. You never know how you can be blessed or how you can bless someone else.
Brooke Peterson 20:26 I'm really thankful that Seth's good at saying, "Oh, hey, we've been talking about getting to know them. Let's just have them over. And I'm more one to be like, "Well, we gotta have a conversation first. And Seth's like, "How about that conversation? Is hey, come out for dinner? And so we've done that a lot of times, too, with people that we don't know super well or at all, and oftentimes if they're in the body and not serial killers, it goes over really well. And yeah,
Seth Peterson 20:51 we had Aaron and Becky over the other day, and that was we just talked about planes the whole time. It was awesome. Yeah,
Brooke Peterson 20:57 yeah, people that you know you see in the church, like, man, I wonder what it'd be like to get to know them? Like, okay, let's have them over. That's for sure outside of my comfort zone. But it's always a really sweet time, especially because we're in the same church family and church body. So you have the commonality of Christ.
Jennifer Brandt 21:16 I'm encouraged that you guys are willing to take the initiative to invite people over and not be more on the complacent side of waiting to be invited over to someone. Like if you're interested, you're you're just on it, and I find that really encouraging that you're willing to get to know people by them just showing up at your house and hanging out with you, rather than getting to know them first and then inviting them over. That it doesn't have to be that way. It can, if it's yeah, somebody that like you said you know is in the church, you've seen around a while, and you want to get to know them. It doesn't. There doesn't have to be a relationship built before they come over, which is really cool.
Seth Peterson 21:59 I will say, like, just to add on top of that, this for like 99% of people doesn't happen naturally. Like even for Brooke and I, this was these are habits that I've been built upon years and years and years. You know, and now almost five years as a married couple. You know, just be encouraged if you're someone that's not used to doing this, or is convicted like, oh, I should do this more. Like, it's gonna take a little time to build these habits. Not everyone is, you know, as hypersocial, I guess, as as I can be, where I can just flip it on as a switch. And even me, like, I still have to like really be intentional with people and and have them over and go see them and go, you know, even send a text like, "Hey, how are you doing? Like that's these are just habits that have to be built, and they can be built. It just takes a little time.
Jennifer Brandt 22:49 When people leave your home, what do you hope they remember? Not about your house or your cooking, but about Christ.
Seth Peterson 22:57 We pray every every time we have a meal that our conversation would be edifying, glorifying, and uplifting, and encouraging to Christ. So, my goal when I have friends or family over, someone over, we go hang out with someone, is I want our conversation to lead them to pursue Christ more to be encouraged in Christ more to feel better spiritually off than they were when they came in that door when I came in that door
Brooke Peterson 23:31 yeah hit the nail on the head
Jennifer Brandt 23:39 before we go I wanted to talk to you about the cinnamon roll recipe that you're going to share with the church. Yes,
Jennifer Brandt 23:45 it's amazing. So why don't you tell us a little bit about how you make the recipe, and then what's special about it to you guys?
Brooke Peterson 23:54 Yeah. So Seth is unfortunately dealing with several allergies, and so when we first got married, I was for sure not confident in making anything for him, especially dessert-related butter and milk and eggs. They all go into a lot of recipes to make them taste better. So one of the things that he like one of one of I guess one of your favorite desserts is or breakfast is cinnamon rolls, and because we enjoy sweets at all time of the day, we often make cinnamon rolls yeah in the evening or afternoon as our Christmas morning tradition now too for breakfast. So anyway, I found a really good vegan cinnamon roll recipe with some of the best cream cheese, well, fake cream cheese frosting ever. So it's it's one of our favorites, and it's a favorite of a lot of our friends too. So that's that's that, and so it's pretty simple, and it comes to. In about an hour, which is great, has just 20 minutes of rise time once. So you could make it the night before and bake in the morning, or you can just make it and eat it within like an hour and a half. So yeah, it's pretty simple,
Jennifer Brandt 25:14 and it uses like coconut oil and then vegan cream cheese as substitutes.
Brooke Peterson 25:20 Yeah, coconut oil would be the kind of butter substitute in most in most of yeah in most of it, and then yeah, vegan cream cheese tastes so much like regular cream cheese, so it's delicious. Yeah, it is
Jennifer Brandt 25:36 delicious. Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate having you guys on the podcast, and I've learned a lot from you, just as your friend, in how you guys share do hospitality and in you, your example with your kids makes me look forward to hopefully, when Lord willing, our family grows, that I can kind of follow in your footsteps, and you guys made it look fun and easy. Thanks. Glory to God.
Seth Peterson 26:03 I'll say is start with five, work way up from there.
Jennifer Brandt 26:07 Will do. All right. All right. Thank you, guys.
Jennifer is the Hospitality Highlight editor for Living Faith magazine. She and her husband Cory have been married since 2018 and serve together in Youth Ministry.
