Have you ever wondered what an angel looks like? How do they act? This week I had the blessing of living with a family of angels, or at least as close as one can get. During the semester I had been talking to some friends about winter break, talking about how I did not want to be away from school and at home for that long, and a friend of mine (now mind you, he was a relatively new friend and we did not know each other that well) offered to let me stay at his house for as long as I wanted. I agreed, and from December 29th through January 5th I lived with him and his family.
I was astonished that he and his family would be willing to let, a stranger in the eyes of his folks, and a new friend for him, stay in their home for a week. But I arrived, and they opened their house and their home to me, and by the end of the week I felt like one of the family. And in my stay I learned what joy and what God looks like.
This family does well enough for themselves, but they are by no means wealthy, at least not in the material world, but in love, in family, they are among the richest I know. As I was there, I saw that they had a revolving door, in a figurative sense. Every day I met new friends and new family, their door is always open and folks seem to let themselves in. I learned I am not the first friend to stay for an extended period of time. It seems if someone needs a place to stay and be loved, to get away from a bad situation or even just to get a break for a little while, they will welcome them warmly.
I believe that they have found what wealth really is, it is not the size of your pay check, or the car you drive. It is the relationships of love and trust you can build with others. By giving so much, their house, their time, their love, they receive the ultimate gift: friendship, but more then just that, family. If not a family made of blood kin, one made up of love and the knowledge that one is always welcome in their home. For by the time I left, I felt like I had been welcomed into a new family.
And is this not what almost every saying of wisdom tells us at its heart. Love one another and your joy will be full. So I do believe that, while certainly not perfect, I lived with a family of earthly angels this week.
