For reasons I do not know, visitors frequently stop by our Southern California home. The comparison goes back three decades. Even though we are in a place less traveled, the traffic here surpasses San Francisco, London, and New York combined.
One might think that the visits are a burden. Actually, they are anything but! After the last visit, I began to examine the reasons behind our experience. It is more than the fact that we have room. We have always had options for where people could sleep. It is not the fact that the kitchen lends itself to family cooking. Food alternatives had never been a limitation. Even the fact that there is more to do when people are here is not the answer.
The difference now, I believe, rests in a simple change within my heart. I have found that the visitors are touching my life like others did for Lydia. When, “walking out of the jail, Paul and Silas went straight to Lydia’s house, saw their friends again, encouraged them in the faith, and only then went on their way.” (Acts 16.40)
Looking back, I do not think anyone has come directly from jail. Yet, each visitor in her or his own way, give encouragement. They have left hope in their wake. They have embraced community in their actions. They have been a random shot from God to our hearts.
It is an interesting model worth consideration. It is not natural to put myself in the hands of others. Being independent is a natural choice. I do see God calling others to a different path – one that brings them into my life. I am thankful for their presence. I am encouraged by their conversation. I am stronger because of our time together.
Today is filled with an unending list of tasks and deliverables. There is a fork in the road. One involves measurable outcomes. An alternative will find its shape through people, conversations, and unknown encounters. Initially the latter seems random. Given how the random touches me, it may be anything but.
