The Sound of Silence

At 5:30am today, our house became very empty and very quiet. It's the first day in a few months that we've had no guests staying with us. Over the past summer, we've had nine different folks bless us with their presence.

A 15-year-old brother-in-law from Oregon who loves for us to expose him to experiences that will change his life in exchange for some really great spaghetti.

A student working on her PhD in theology who is willing to talk at great lengths about the trends in culture and how they affect our experience of church.

A long-time family friend from Mobile who is now an engineer in North Carolina and is always up for a run to the Outback.

An aerospace engineer and medical internist who are former NCC leaders and now invest their free time doing medical missions in South America. And their two awesome kids.

A couple of abolitionists who are heading to South Asia to put an end to modern-day slavery.

We've loved it. Many of these guests have overlapped one another which has enabled me to do one of my favorite things-- facilitate and engineer new friendships. It's been such a great opportunity to learn and to live in community, and I'm thankful to get a front-row seat for watching God work in and through these amazing people.

I'm sure we will feel a bit of empty-nest syndrome in a few weeks. For today, it's a good time to recalibrate, enjoy some quiet, and gear up for the next wave of guests.