LPNI
Devotion – October 2021
Strangers,
Angels and Friends
I grew up in a very small
town with no motel or hotel within 20 miles.
Home was a large house built by the founder of our little town. We had extra bedrooms, so when there were
weddings, funerals, and other events when residents had visits from out-of-town
relatives and friends, we were often asked to house these “strangers”. Our little town also had no apartments but
homes with extra rooms that were available for single teachers who taught at
the public school or at the Lutheran grade school. After I left home, leaving my room empty, my
widowed mother had four different female parochial school teachers stay with
her over a 12-year period. These young
women were helpful, fun, and definitely “angels unawares”! My brother and I were so thankful for “Mom’s
teachers”.
Having had this pattern
as a positive past experience and small town way of life, my late husband and I
had no qualms entertaining and hosting “strangers”. For the past eight years, Frank and I, and now
just I, host Kansas State University students who are part of the Helping
International Students (HIS) program. The
responsibility is to meet them at the airport, and bring them home to stay
until they can get into the university dorms.
The students our church group hosts are from the Czech Republic and
Slovakia. I’ve hosted only male
students, mostly graduate computer majors, and these guys really have been
angels! After Frank died in November
2017, the two we were hosting asked if I would continue to host students. I said “Absolutely!” since I would even more need
good computer help and extra “reach power” from tall young men! They both said in concert, “Yes, you do”!
The two students I’m hosting
this fall have been exceptionally helpful with getting me settled into my new
home. They’re tall enough to help hang
pictures, and put things on top shelves that I don’t need to reach regularly. As well. they prepare interesting and tasty
Czech meals! I generally ask them if
they have a good relationship with their grandmothers, since I’m roughly that
age. Thankfully they’ve all said
yes. Some are closer to their maternal
or paternal grandmother, but they have good relationships with them. I breathe a sigh of relief since I often
become their American grandmother! I hear
from some regularly, and I hear from most at Christmas. Some are Christian and some not, but they
don’t hesitate to come to church with me.
Some of my friends ask me
why do I do this, and why am I not afraid of hosting and inviting “strangers”
into my home? These fellows are my
protectors, helpers, entertainment, teachers, and truly angels in many
ways. Last year we did not have any
international students through the HIS program because of the pandemic, and I really
missed them! Life was grey enough, but
without their color in my life, it was even greyer than it needed to be. Those of us who host were thrilled when we
knew we’d be getting new students this fall!
While many of you may not
have had this particular experience, you’ve probably had patients and/or their
family members, fellow staff members, neighbors, service providers, and others
who as strangers were angels in your life. Don’t forget to show hospitality to
strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hebrews 13:2 (WEB)
Jamie Spikes, Parish
Nurse
St. Luke’s Lutheran
Church
Manhattan, KS USA