Too Crowded ~ An Innkeeper’s Story

by Leane VanderPutten

Bethlehem was busy. The stars twinkled calmly in the sky but there was nothing calm about the bustling roads of the city that night. From far and wide people had come for the census and to find lodging. It was cold and crowded.

There were many innkeepers and this weekend would prove to be trying, but also lucrative. One particular innkeeper was exhausted. He was a practical man and was very concerned about money matters. He was making a profit through all of this and he was glad of that. But he was also weary of the hubbub…and of the people who were always demanding something.

Another innkeeper lived close to him. This man was different from the other innkeeper. He had a smaller inn; it was not so grand. He also was busy. He ran his inn with attentiveness. Although it was a simple inn, there was a homey-ness about it that could not go unnoticed. Yet he, too was exhausted and ready for it to be over.

As the evening progressed, the first innkeeper received a knock at the door. He could feel the impatience mount in him. He answered the door. He was surprised at who stood before him. A humble and beautiful young woman and a tired dignified man were asking for a room. He felt a little tug at his heart…but he quickly squelched it.

NO, he had no room! He was full…full to the brim!

In his heart, though, if he went deep enough, he knew he could have done something for them. Even if it meant preparing a little corner in their storage room or making space near the hearth. But no, he would have none of it! Hasn’t he had enough inconvenience tonight? He turned them away and shut the door!

Mary and Joseph approach the other inn with the second innkeeper. This inn had less to offer but when the innkeeper opened the door, he sensed the weariness and worry of the couple. He searched his heart, not just his home. He offered them the stable and they readily accepted.

The innkeeper and his wife quickly cleaned the stable, bringing it fresh straw, a lantern and some water. In spite of their weariness, their hearts were open and they both sensed that there was something special in this couple.

As the night deepened, it was as if heaven and earth had stopped. The angels appeared to the shepherds. There was a hush and a Child was born into this world…a Child that brought redemption to all of mankind. A Child that would change history and mankind forever.

The dawn was just breaking and the second innkeeper went to check on the couple in his stable to see if there was anything he could do for them.

The holy and sweet smile from the young woman greeted him. She invited him inside to see the Baby.

The innkeeper knelt in awe and felt such a peace and joy well up into his heart. He was so happy! How God had rewarded him for his generosity! His home and his heart was forever changed because of this act of charity!

The first innkeeper began to hear murmurings of some of the doings in the stable. There were whisperings of things extraordinary that happened last night. He started to wonder what was going on.

He learned that the couple who had asked for room at his inn had a Baby in a nearby stable. He recalled the look of the couple last night when they knocked on his door.

Suddenly he felt a sorrow and a regret. He realized that he could have made room for them in his own inn, instead of in a stable! His heart was struck with remorse. He felt ashamed. And yet, he does not feel condemned but awakened to…something.

The innkeeper quickly gathered up some fruit and bread in a basket and slipped out the door. He approached the stable quietly and peeked in. It was a simple picture he saw. Simple, but profound.

The couple was reverently gathered about the Baby, love shining in their eyes. A certain glow seemed to emanate from the scene.

He entered the stable and knelt, unable to speak. He simply admitted in his heart his hardness and his fears.

The Baby Jesus looked at him. The innkeeper saw a depth in the Baby’s beautiful eyes that seems to read right into his soul. There was no rebuke, no condemnation. Only peace and love.

The innkeeper felt forgiven. A great relief and profound gratitude swept over him. His fears, his insecurities, they all seemed to disappear with that one look from the little Child.

The first innkeeper leaves changed….excited and resolved to live life differently. 

🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶

This story is about me—and it is about you too.
I am the first innkeeper. I do not love inconvenience.

How often do I recognize the quiet knock and still turn it away?
How many small invitations pass me by each day—calls to listen, to pause, to give more than feels reasonable—especially in the hidden duties of wifehood and motherhood? Too often, I choose ease over generosity, order over love.

To live this vocation is to live “on call.” Not once, not occasionally, but continually. God’s will is rarely announced in grand moments; more often it comes disguised as interruption, fatigue, or the unplanned needs of another soul. It asks for a heart that stays open when it would rather close.

And yet—Baby Jesus comes again and again, asking only for room.

When we fail—and we will—He does not withdraw. He does not accuse. He waits. His gaze is not one of disappointment, but of invitation. He calls us not to perfection, but to return.

Each moment becomes a choice: to turn inward toward convenience, or outward toward love. When we choose Him—when we offer even the humblest stable of our hearts—He fills it with grace beyond imagining. His rewards are quiet, deep, and eternal.

From How to Be Happy, How to Be Holy, Fr. Paul O’Sullivan:

Many people are afraid of doing what is hard and difficult, but surely no one is so foolish and weak as to refuse to do what is easy and pleasant, when by doing so he can reap great and lasting benefits.

No one hesitates to give a penny if in exchange he gets a pound; no one will refuse to dig a little in his garden if he is sure of finding there a great treasure. Yet all of us have treasures within easy reach if only we know how and where to find them.

Few Christians know the extraordinary value of small things.

Our Lord told St. Bridget and many others of His saints that our holiness and happiness consist in small things, even as the vast ocean consists of many little drops of water.

God may never ask us to do what is hard and heroic, but He does ask us every day to do countless simple and easy things. If we do these well—and nothing is easier—we shall soon attain to great holiness and also great happiness.

Painting by William Kuerelek

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