It happens every time I drive past Eisele’s plant nursery on 160th Avenue – memories of friendship suddenly wash over me. I miss Barbora. I miss her because a genuine bond of love grew between us.
Here’s how it happened. On an oppressively dreary April day, my yearning for sights and scents of flowers lured me to visit the nursery. As soon as I walked in, I saw an employee on her knees digging into a huge mound of luscious dirt. I said “Hi,” telling her I was just wandering through for some “hope of spring” therapy. Barbora’s gracious smile nodded with understanding. I noticed her European accent, so I asked her where she was from. Slovakia. She had been a student at the university studying botany, along with her young Russian husband, Alex.
I didn’t want to monopolize her time; she kept working the dirt as we talked. Before wandering the rows of sprouting Mother’s Day flowers, I said something that honestly shocked me. These were my exact words: “My husband and I enjoy meeting people from other countries. We’d love to have you and your husband over for dinner sometime.”
Yep. That’s what I said to a complete stranger.
Kindness fosters relationships.
Three months later, on a gloriously hot July evening, we welcomed Barbora and Alex at our front door. I detected Alex’s awkward curiosity as he offered the gift of a bottle of wine. Over the aroma of grilled chicken on our patio, we talked for close to three hours. Alex and Roger bantered about car mechanics. I could feel Alex’s caution melting. Barbora appeared happily relieved. We had a marvelous evening together.
Yes, Roger spoke a prayer over the meal. Though there was no “God-talk,” the Lord was definitely the true host of this meal. We began a relationship. Strangers became friends. Over a two-and-a-half-year span of time, we celebrated the birth of their first child. They reached out to us for help in a family crisis. We enjoyed the hospitality of their table. And we hugged when they packed to return to their homeland, Slovakia.
Hospitality fosters love.
It’s really true. Hospitality fosters love. But I have a question for you: Do you typically think of hospitality as primarily “a good deed” to extend to another? Or a duty? I believe the Lord has a much richer perspective and design. Love generates love. One of my sweetest discoveries is this: When I humbly welcome another into our home, God sneaks more love upon me.
I’m not saying hospitality earns God’s love. Rather, hospitality disperses God’s love.
It goes all directions — to guests and hosts. He brings people together — because community life is the essence of our loving Triune God. God has a way of transforming our reluctance, fears, or laziness into genuine joy. I am forever grateful that Barbora and Alex are part of our story.
Pray for a heart of hospitality:
