Spiriutal practice of "Otherness"

The arrival of Ciry and her friend Conchita last week marked the beginning of 6 weeks of a full house. I knew when they would leave a week later that Grandaughter Chanel would be here for the next 5 weeks, we would have two weddings in our backyard,and all the San Diego grandkids would come for a week at the end. Whew! How was I going to embrace all that? For me it came as an invitation to consider the spiritual practice of "otherness". Conchita makes herself at home and before long is cooking and cleaning and participating in our family life like she has always lived here. She tells me stories of the ways God is at work in her life and how He is answering prayer. She lives by faith. She is "Nanny" to her great niece right now but when she turns two she will return to her family in Mexico, not sure of what is next but unafraid of the future. Ciry is a single woman, house mom to 8 girls in an orphanage in Vicente Guerro, Baja. She loves her girls and yet there is in her a deeper longing to work with the indigenous in Mexico. She too lives by simple faith trusting God for what is next. The best part of her vacation was being with friends and thrift store shopping for clothes for the coming year. Living simply and content are words that come to me as I now reflect on what their lives reflected during their stay. How am I embracing these who come as guests? The learning this first week is to let go of how I think I need to experience God so that I can embrace the lived experience of God in the lives of others, letting them speak truth into my own life. Missy