Not everyone knows that I grew up with complete strangers staying the night or even living in my home. Sometimes they spoke English, sometimes they were from a different country, sometimes they were a friend of a friend. Sometimes we would know ahead a time that a certain number of people would be descending upon our home and sometimes we even knew their names and where they came from. All we ever had to go on is that they were some how associated with one of our sister churches somewhere in the world. That is it! And definitely not a lot to go on with young kids in the house. But my folks did it.
In 3rd grade on one of the nights we had strangers in our home we were all sitting around the dinning room table and my dad was explaining to them Salvation. None of them had ever accepted Jesus as their personal savior. None of them accepted it that night either. But when everyone went off to their bedrooms I went to my mom and dad to tell them I wanted to accept Jesus into my heart. Having strangers in my home is what brought me to my salvation.
I have met dozens of people who said "I stayed with your family once (and they were strangers when they stayed with us). I will never forget
*how your mother just welcomed me... And those pancakes she made? I still remember those
*I was in such a dark, dark place but your folks let me live in your basement
The stories go on. And I am sure my parents and my siblings have their own stories to share about welcoming in strangers.
I met a woman at Costco during the flood. A week or two later her kids were staying at our house. That experience had its challenges but it opened up my mind and heart in a new way. My kids learned what it meant to open our home. They also started to see the world in a different way.
Two weeks ago at MOPS I talked about my journey to making friends as a mom. I joined every mom group I could on meetup.com And then I just started inviting strangers into my home, while my husband was away, to hang out with me and my kids. All I had to go on was a profile picture and random facts, and I just hoped they were who they said they were when they arrives at my doorstep. So on scheduled playdates at my home women would show up:
" Who are you? Welcome! Come on in, can I get you some coffee?"
Some of these strangers have become my best friends. So when I told the women at MOPS "just invite strangers into your home, that is the best way to make friends," they laughed. I get it. This is way out of people's comfort zones. That is OK. But it isn't for me.
All of this is really weird and terrifying to a lot of people. Maybe it isn't so odd to me because this is how I grew up. But like I said in each of those circumstances someone benefited.
There are always exceptions and bad outcomes, I know. Those are usually the stories we hear about. But I wanted to share my experiences growing up in a household where strangers were welcome.
I want to hear other stories like this! There is plenty of fear out there, so please respect me and honor my request for positive stories of you inviting in strangers or you being the stranger.
