I love - love - love - having people in our home! For a meal! For coffee! To chat! To laugh. To cry. To share stories.

I come by it honestly. I learned from my Momma - who learned from her Momma (Grandmother).

GATHER - so many opportunities for this word to come to fruition come to my mind - “to collect things - from different places” - “to put your arms around someone and hold and carry them in a careful and loving way” - “to become faster, stronger” - “to make a greater effort to be stronger and braver and more courageous” - “to make myself ready to do something special or difficult or challenging”.

Some similar words that come to my mind - assemble, congregate, combine, connect, merge, arrange, concentrate, join, rally, forage, understand, surmise - to name a few.

The older I get - the more I realize that gathering around my table is more about seeking connection with each other - having our hearts drawn together over shared food and laughter and stories - letting go of expectations and enjoying those moments - being vulnerable in the intimacy of the table conversation.

In 2016, my son, Ben, was preparing to graduate with his Master of Arts (Religion) at Reformed Theological Seminary - as he continued pastoring Resurrection Church in Ottawa. He wrote his thesis on - What it means to be hospitable: Paul’s commands in light of his Mediterranean context! I pulled out his book last week and reread it. (It is good). He used three major works that sourced out what the Greeks, Romans and Jews thought about hospitality in the early centuries and why it is still important today……Entertaining Angels by Stephen Arterbury…….Making Room by Christine Pohl…….and And You Welcomed Me by Amy Oden.

Randy and I served at the Baptist Church in Listowel from December 1987 to February 1998. Our boys were young - barely out of toddlerhood - when we arrived - and in high school when we moved to Cambridge. Twice (that I can remember) during those years, I do believe we entertained angels.

During an extremely difficult time in ministry there, a middle-aged man showed up at the church on a Sunday night in the summer time. He said he was in the area working for a few weeks and sought out our church for fellowship and friendship. Randy and I invited him back to our home after church and he brought treats for all of us. After the boys went to bed, he asked about our church and we opened up to him about the difficulties we were facing. We talked long into the night and he spoke words of encouragement to us and prayed for us. He spent about 6 weeks in our area - and spent most Wednesday and Sunday nights at our home for supper and then again, after the meetings. He often brought food, flowers and gifts for the boys but I’ll never forget the words of love and peace he spoke into our lives. I’ve long forgotten his name but I do know that when he left at the end of that summer, Randy tried to locate him in the city where he said he was from and the company that he said he worked for - notta - nothing - zippo - zilch! No such person. No such company. We gratefully thanked God for this man. He came to us - sent from God - at the time we needed him.

The second memory is that of a couple - a husband and wife - who showed up at our church. As I recall, this couple was somewhat downtrodden, dressed shabbily, hair uncombed, (even bad breath). We chatted with them after church and they hung around, long after the last of the regulars had gone home. Randy and I looked at each other - nodded - and we invited them home for lunch. Whatever I set out for lunch that day, they ate. And they stayed and stayed and stayed. We moved to the backyard for a bit and enjoyed iced tea while watching the boys play, chatting about this and that. And they stayed and stayed and stayed. I fed them supper and then we went to evening church. They sat near the back and at the end of the service I turned around to say good - bye to them - they were gone. We never saw them again. Who were they? Where did they come from? I believe we were Entertaining angels but that particular time - it was a test for me. I like my angels to encourage me. I like them to fit into my space. That particular time the angels were not what I was expecting.

I love the reality of Making Room. My Momma was so good at this. With our huge family of 11, you’d think my mom would have said “no” more often when we brought someone home with us…..especially when we were all home. But no - my mom would always make room for one or two or three more. I would be remiss if I didn’t add the fact that we weren’t rich…..our family lived on my dad’s salary from the Paper Mill. Mom would often tell stories about how the local grocery story would call her and tell her that the peaches (or whatever fruit) was ripe and to come and pick them up and “pay me when Stan gets paid”. It didn’t matter which fruit it was in season - mom needed to can them when they were ripe and often didn’t have the cash at hand. Grocery stores were different back in the day.

Besides the many family and friends who had meals at our table - two people come to mind who were given room at our table - who became family - friends of my brothers. These boys spent more of their time at our home than they did at their own homes. They ate most meals with us. They just showed up - and were never turned away. When Mom came to live with Harv and I in November of 2020 and stayed until her passing at the end of January, 2021 - both of these men phoned her regularly. These men - now grown - were like Mom’s children. They grieved her passing and called me later to tell of mom’s goodness and generosity to them when they were just boys. That’s truly making room.

We all love to be welcomed - don’t we? Whether it’s into “the family” - “the classroom” - “the community choir” - “the new church” - “the team” - we all want it. We want to feel part of the group. We don’t enjoy being left out.

When Randy and I moved to Everett in 2010, we had just completed a year of our sabbatical. I was a little bit gun-shy after the rough dismissal from our former church. I really didn’t want to “go back” into the pastoral ministry. I wanted to stay in Westport (where we spent a year of sabbatical) and just live there - me working at the gym and school and Randy, doing construction work with Bob, the handy man. (Randy told me he was called to pastoral ministry and would do it until he died! He did.) Thus, we moved - into a new neighbourhood and a new church family there - and both - welcomed us!

I was lonely when we moved into our new home but quickly realized that the school buses picked up the kids at 8:15 and so Randy and I became intentional of walking Maggie, our golden retriever just at that time. Quickly we became the Grampa and Gramma of our neighbourhood. Those young families welcomed us with opened arms. We met each morning at the bus stop and share life with those parents and children. The kids and Randy made up all sorts of games while waiting for the bus. Once, Randy even got one little boy’s tongue unstuck from the stop sign pole in the middle of January! (Why do kids want to lick a frozen pole?) We had street hockey games each December - we had a pig roast and bbq where over 90 people attended - we had a Labour Day picnic in our back yard every September - I was invited to hold a brand new baby (that was born at home) as Dad had to go to work and the grandparents hadn't arrived yet. Oh yes - our years in Everett were some of the best years of our lives.

The church we pastored in Alliston for those years also welcomed us! After the devastating dismissal from our previous church, Faith Community blessed us with love and acceptance and grace. Randy - especially - was built up in his character and role as pastor. In return he loved the people he was called to shepherd. Those four years (2010-2014) - four very short years - were filled with joy and fun and growth. When Randy died so suddenly in July of 2014 - our church - Faith Community - gave me Randy’s full salary for the next 8 months. Who does that? Who lovingly cares for a widow like that? Only those who are filled with God’s love and welcoming spirit.

All these years later…..I still long to Entertain Angels………still long to Make Room……and still long to Welcome anyone into our home!