Strangers in the Night

 

In the midst of the fun and blessings of our spring break soccer camp, I tweeted this:

"Two random guys doing laundry in our house."

That was only partially true. Two guys that I just officially met that day were in fact doing their laundry in our house. But I wouldn't call them random. After all, in God's perspective, is there anything random?

But even more than doing laundry, they also slept there.

What?! You mean I let two strangers sleep in the same home with my precious family? How did that happen?

Long story short, through the magic of the internet, I connected with a couple of guys who were planning to take a cross-country road trip. Their goal is to collect stories, film, and photos from a variety of different locales. Noticing that they would be traveling down I-95, I invited them to check out Allendale.

They accepted and after several travel delays, Jay and Redrik were on their way out of New York City. We kept in touch through their travels, and we offered them to stay the night with us.

Sure enough, when they arrived on the first day of our camp, we reminded them of the offer. They were happy to accept, after having spent some nights in motels, and some nights sleeping in their cars. After dinner (how can you come to Fairfax and not eat at Clara's Fried Chicken?), I led them to our house.

That's when it hit me. "Do you guys need to do any laundry?" "Actually," Jay replied, "That would be great."

So after a night of being treated to homemade strawberry cake, laundry, real beds, and Wi-Fi, (and collecting some stories and photos), they were back on the road.

Why did we do that? I guess a big thing was just to be hospitable and kind to two young guys doing something cool. And part of it was to be a model to our kids of what real hospitality is (from the Greek philoxenia, or "love of strangers"), as opposed to what we usually think of hospitality (being a good hostess when your friends come over).

You can read more about their journey on their website, as they travel around asking the question, "What is your philosophy of life?" They have some photos from Allendale, video footage, and a more personal diary account.

So, knowing what we did, let me know in the comments: What do you think would be a scarier experience -- letting strangers sleep in your house, or sleeping in a stranger's home?

Related Links:

• A Perspective of Allendale
• Hospitality Is Not What You Think It Is (CBC Talk -- Part 2)