The days until the end of the school year are quickly rolling by. Father, please give me the patience to be the person I need to be on my bus and the love to be the person I need to be with my fellow drivers and other school employees. Amen.

Acts 16:11-15(<<click here to read the passage)

Thinking back to my high school years, I cannot help but think of my best friend, Rob Klein. He was in the class behind me but through band, we developed a great relationship. I recall many joyful hours spent in his home – loving parents and two sisters (one of which was in my class) who were friends as well.

A note* regarding this passage speaks of the hospitality graciously extended by Lydia to Paul and his compatriots. When I think of the Klein family that word is so applicable. Rather than seeing me as a burden and my presence as a disruption to their family…they laid out the welcome mat.

The notion of hospitality is related to the word “hospital.” In other words, we practice hospitality when we generously and cordially throw open the doors of our homes to care for others. In hospitality, we nurture, strengthen, and serve. The result is that others find physical, spiritual, and emotional help. When they leave us, they are healthier and more whole than when they came.

I had a very good home life – solid loving parents and a wonderful sister myself. But the Klein family added to the richness of my life. I’m pretty sure they added several things to my life. I came to love the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien (author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings). They expanded my love of classical music. I learned how to play the board game RISK. I partook of wassail and crepes for the first time! And did you know that Doritos warmed over a candle are even more yummy!? They included me in whatever life was about at the time. As an extension of my family, they nurtured, strengthened, and served me in a multitude of ways, and I am most assuredly the better for it.

Interestingly enough, on this past Mother’s Day, I shared a sermon on Lydia with my congregations. She became the first recorded European to accept Christ. Many historians believe that Lydia’s home became the first Christian Church in Europe. Church tradition tells us that Lydia continued in her business career and that she was instrumental in not only helping the Church to grow in Philippi but was also in helping the Church begin a new work in her hometown of Thyatira. She used her contacts and gifts to help the Gospel of Jesus spread in Philippi, Thyatira, and everywhere else that Paul and his team would go.

Lydia’s gracious hospitality impacted innumerable lives. In a world of people who are all about themselves and what’s in it for them…be a Lydia and the Klein family, too!

*Life Application Study Bible

May 24th, 2022, Tues, 7:56 pm