Special families

Yesterday Alicia and I were talking, which we do a LOT, and remembering some of the great families that we have been connected to over the years. Somehow being connected to families around us has always just happened and we have started to refer to this as our ministry of availability. Neither of us are married. Neither of us have children. We actually have time. And repeatedly this has made it possible for us to enter into the lives of other families in ways that just wouldn't have happened otherwise. 

When we lived at CMU we had a fabulous Korean family that lived right below us that we became VERY attached to. We often shared meals together, I read with their daughter (so much fun), we talked, I learned a bit of Korean, they learned a bit of baking! It was so much fun to spend time with them. When they experienced a difficult pregnancy we were able to be with them in so many ways. I had the privilege of making early morning pony tails (thickest hair ever!), making lunches, walking and picking up their daughter from school and giving haircuts. Alicia got to use her doula training during visits to the hospital. I will never forget sitting with their daughter the night their son was born. I will also never forget that my good friend simply handed her baby off to her husband and came upstairs to pray over me the night my sister died. Sometimes when I think back to my days at CMU all I remember is the smell of kimchi and the love of a very special family.

Just shortly before we graduated from CMU and I began pastoring 1/2 time our Korean friends connected me with some families who needed tutoring. I spent the next two years tutoring some fabulous kids in grade 5, 9, and 10. We read, did homework, learned to crochet, bake, and make soup and laughed a lot. Sometimes I would come home from work at church and wonder how I was going to make it through two hours of tutoring in the evening, but as soon as the girls arrived all my energy returned and I usually ended the evening with much more joy than I began. They are all such beautiful people. 

Much to our surprise, as we arrived in Elkhart Indiana what did we find, but a young family with a little girl living downstairs from us who later told us that they were experiencing a difficult pregnancy and we were able to lend a hand. And again we were able to spend time with their daughter when an emergency trip to the hospital was necessary for the birth of their son. We also found a Korean family who had two daughters and two visiting students who needed help with English. Both of these connections helped us to feel at home in a new place. 

In Winnipeg we were also friends with a pastor and his family that I could share my hairstyling gifts with (haircuts for 5 kids is expensive!). We had several lovely meals and evenings of fun in the hair chair at their home. And when we went to Indiana, we also found a co-student and pastor with three children with rapidly growing hair as well. There's nothing like being paid for haircuts in fresh chicken noodle soup and pie!

All of these families have allowed us to enter into their lives and offer whatever we had to give and that has been a huge blessing. It has struck me over and over again that in many ways the relationships we have had with these families was made possible by the fact that we are both single and don't have children of our own. These have all been priceless relationships that we could never have imagined. Each family was a gift that appeared before us and invited us into their lives. I can't help but wonder who we will meet next.