Christmas morning had finally come.
One of the most bittersweet days of the race, filled with excitement, joy, celebration, sadness, and homesickness. We were “feelin all the feels” as racers put it.
Some teammates of mine invited me to go on a walk with them to see a lady named Irene.
Irene owned a coconut stand down the road where they had met her a few days prior and developed a fast friendship. She invited the girls to visit her house Christmas morning.
To be honest, I almost didn’t go. I was so caught up in my frustration over the fight for wifi to call family, my lack of sleep the previous night, and the “I am missing everything at home” mentality.
But, thankfully the Lord prompted and pushed, and fifteen minutes later, I was running out the door to catch up with my friends.
The four of us walked a short distance to a simple, cement house, adorned with green leaf curtains, bamboo furniture, and a kitchen in the back, making it one of the nicer homes in the local villages.
Irene was there with her husband and six children. Thats right, six…with the oldest being fourteen.
All of them beautiful, with smiles just like hers. You know, the kind that never leave their face, and are absolutely contagious? The kind that make others to feel loved and seen? That kind.
I had never met Irene before, but she welcomed me in, making seats for us, running to get food, and sending her husband to go buy us jars of Mountain Dew.
Side note, everything is better in glass jars, and Filipinos love their Mountain Dew.
Irene’s joy and excitement was uncontainable, giggling every few minutes. She thanked us repeatedly for stopping by and admitted she was nervous.
We sat there for a few minutes, talking, asking questions, taking photos with her family, and of course, singing a bit of Karaoke. The Filipino way of life.
Homegirl can sing.
We, on the other hand, put Americans to shame with our tag teaming of “Tearing up my heart” and “This I Promise You” by N’Sync. It was truly a painfully hilarious experience.
After hanging for a bit, we asked if we could pray over her and her family. She was all about it.
We each prayed out loud, one by one over her house, her family, her business, and her life, thanking God for her hospitality, friendship and joy.
After the prayer, we joined her family outside to watch a traditional village game with the kids.
Hospitality and friendship is a funny thing. We usually only give to people when we know they will give something back, whether this decision is conscious for us or not.
From a worldly perspective, there was no reason for us to stop by Irene’s house. The likelihood of us seeing her again after leaving is small and there was nothing she could tangibly gave us that we couldn’t have gotten easily ourselves.
But Kngdom perspectives are different. What we received from Irene and her family was so much more than free soda and Karaoke memories.
She showed us what a true spirit of hospitality feels like, and what it means to find joy in other people. She simply wanted to spend time with us and serve us because she knew we loved God.
We walked back to our place, talking about Irene’s zest for life, pure joy, and how contagious it was. We decided we want to live our lives welcoming strangers in our home just like Irene; not caring about the state of our house, the way our children are dressed, or focusing on what these people can give us, but to simply delight in the presence of others.
I want to truly delight in people like Christ.
Like Irene.
Because when we find joy in one others, we are delighting in the character of God, for we are finding happiness in his divine and hand crafted creation.
When we left, she asked us never to forget her.
I don’t think I ever could.
