Blessed to be a host

Mark and I have a great home and I love it more all the time. There's more than enough room for the two of us, and though I hope to fill it with little Mark's someday, it seems like a waste at times. We live in about half of it and the other half is left to just keep clean. We talk about this and wonder if we made the right decision in buying it - and the answer is always yes!

Sometimes things work out too perfectly for it to be anything other than God. Mark and I looked at houses for months before finding one to buy. We're close to family, close to church, close to work (at least I am) and are surrounded by a farm and great neighbors. It's a beautiful place to live, for sure.

And our spacious garage stores all the wood we need to heat our house during the winter months.

But the house itself isn't the greatest blessing, what we're able to do with it is. As Mark and I talked about our house and the seemingly "too much room for two people", I never truly felt the space is a waste because I believe God gave us the opportunity to live here so we can use it for Him. One way we've been able to do that is by hosting missionaries that visit our church (New Life Bible Church - check it out!). This past weekend we hosted Phil and Linda Gottschalk and I am thankful for every minute of it.

It's so awesome to meet people that spend most of their lives in other countries and feel instantly drawn to them. Though their calling takes them far away, we are partners in living for Jesus. Conversation is easy, prayers are sincere and the fellowship is sweet.

The Gottschalks live in The Netherlands, serving at Tyndale Theological Seminary. Mark and I could spend three months there just on our passports, and if we could get the time off of work we would do it. We would talk apologetics, spend hours in the library and go to bed happy!