"The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never even introduce yourself to, had life not done it for you." ~Kendall Hailey
It's the most wonderful time of the year! Really, it is. I love August because it brings with it the promise of so many things in the coming months and it brings with it the return of our sweet students. I feel like that quote from Hailey sums up our group rather nicely. We are often asked how we ended up hosting college students in our house, are we associated with any organization, and why would we go out of our way to feed that many mouths on a frequent basis. Well, here we go...
When my youngest sister, Caroline, was at Berry she started bringing her friends over for dinner. It started with just a few people and from there they decided that they'd love to do it on a regular basis. They enjoyed getting a chance to eat a home cooked meal and some much needed time outside of the 'Berry Bubble' as we like to call it. We enjoyed being able to open our home to them. Family Dinner was born and has slowly grown in to quite the gathering.
As for the question about who we are associated with we just say no one. To which we usually get a lot of questions about where we 'get all these kids'?!? To which we smile and share how tightly knit of a community Berry is. At Berry you know everyone even if you don't know them on a personal level. That's just how it is and it's one of the things I love about it. So, students come over and they bring friends who bring more friends. Or alumni who know Andy and I pass along our info to incoming students and tell them to come join us. It's really amazing to look at the way our stories have been woven together and the way it all works.
Why? Simply put: because we love college students. Big answer? There are many, many reasons why we do it. God has been gracious to provide us with a space in which to entertain large groups. When we bought this house 5.5 years ago I had no idea that I'd be serving up Thanksgiving for 25+ people and doing it comfortably with the way our living spaces are connected. God knew and I'm grateful that we can continue to grow and serve. Two, we are grateful for the people who took the time to invest in us when we were students because it helped shape and mold us in to the people we are today. Our hope is that we might be able to pass that on to every student that sets foot in our house. It's a joy and an honor to know them. To be part of their college experience. For them to know that they have a place to retreat to and call 'home' even when they are away at college. That they are valued and loved. Unconditionally. And that even once they graduate and move on that they still have a place to come back to. We love it when former students return 'home' for Mountain Day or just because. Three, we want our kids to grow up in a house where they see what it means to be a servant to others. Plus, it's amazing to see the bonds that our children have developed with their older 'siblings'. Four, it's a way for us to give back to Berry. Martha Berry's vision was that students would not only receive an education of the head but of the heart and hands while in school. Consider time spent over here as an education of the heart if you will. And sometimes an education of the mind depending on who is at the dinner table, Dave Thomas. And then there are times when it's an education of the hands and they join us to do stuff around the house or watch our kids. Again, we just love college students and love the chance to serve them.
Here's a look back over the last few years. For some reason blogger put them out of order and I'll be honest I don't have the time nor the patience to rearrange them/re-upload them.
To our former students...we CAN NOT WAIT to see what you do this year in the real world. We also hope that your path will somehow bring you back to Rome for a much needed visit. We'll leave the light on for you. And remember this...
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