I know I've written about Jeanna many times. She has been my mentee this past year. We met last fall, as she was looking for a mentor. We didn't know each other at all! Jeanna is on the quieter side at first, so we slowly got to know one another and she got to know this crazy family.
I've written about the rewards of mentoring! Wow! This year has been so much fuller for having her in it! She trained with me for a half marathon. That was amazing.
She was my partner in the Run For Compassion craziness.
And now, she is a member of our household.
Jeanna moved in this past week for the year! So exciting!
If you know us, you know that we have had many people live here. Some we knew, and some we didn't. We have been a shepherding home for New Life, taking in pregnant women and sometimes their kids because they needed a place to stay. I learned about a million things through those experiences! Hard and really good things.
We have had other college girls that we adore, and needed to save some money, come and stay with us. It's only a bonus when they leave some of their clothes behind for me. I'm happy to take college girls leftover clothes, just so you girls know!
And now we have Jeanna! (Who is totally my size, by the way! I've already scanned her closet.)
She is rooming with Emma for now. Emma is way excited! Emma put a J on the wall next to her E, how precious is that? She is working hard to keep her room clean, after much lecturing from us on being a good roommate.
This is such a great teaching point for us and the kids, teaching about hospitality. Our home does not belong to us.
Not just literally, because it belongs to the bank I guess, but because all that we have been given is ours to share. That's what we teach our kids. We tell them nothing belongs to them. It's "yours to share." We don't have Jax's toys, and Justus' toys, and Treston's toys, we have "toys to share."
Well we feel convincted that our home is no different.
I'm not going to lie, sometimes sharing our home has been amazingly fun and enjoyable, and sometimes it's been hard.
These girls get to see the good, bad, and the ugly around here. That is humbling sometimes.
But who are we to hoard the gifts He's given us? Why should our house be an exception? Why do I sometimes find myself with my fingers curled around something tightly as if it were mine, and I earned it? Yuck.
1 Peter 4:9 says "Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay."
The Bible talks many times of sharing our homes, hospitality, and the apostles always stayed in homes. Do you think it's possible that we have become so closed with our homes in the U.S. culture, that it is a place to hide? A place to protect our images, keeping people on the outside periphery of our lives?
All I know is, there's room for more around here. No, we don't have unoccupied bedrooms, but we can always put more kids a room. They're little. We have the space to house others, and we want to!
We are SUPER EXCITED about having Jeanna here all year! She is already such a blessing to our home!
Jeanna will be blessing us by babysitting our kids weekly for our date nights. We have told her, we think this is better than rent! We have a babysitter on retainer. How cool is that?
We're so glad you're here Jeanna! Thanks for sharing our lives with us!
