Hosting Hungry Angels

(circa 1974-1977)

When you have a house full of hungry young men, that requires a LOT of FOOD, which means a LOT of COOKING! And that’s what I did. Thankfully, the brothers, along with their regular household chores, were also required to do the dishes every night. I think I’d rather cook than do the dishes anyway.

But along with meal planning, my weekly grocery shopping day was a major event. I would begin my excursion by starting up my big Ford LTD station wagon and heading to the bread store, the produce store, the dairy and, finally, the grocery store. After unloading and storing everything, I would collapse on the couch with a well-earned glass of iced tea – and start thinking about cooking dinner.

Not only did I cook for 8 to 10 guys every night, we usually had guests over for dinner after church on Sundays. Also, every Saturday night we had potluck dinners for which I cooked a main dish, side dish and dessert enough to feed 15-20 people. That’s a lot of food!

Preparing for a LOT of Guests

…and then there were “trainings”, which were held twice every year, summer and winter, for ten days each time. Our church organization had satellite churches all over the world and its center was located in Anaheim, about a 30-minute drive from Huntington Beach. The leadership would choose one book of the Bible to study during each training and we would attend three meetings every day.

Those that came from other areas would stay in our homes, rather than stay in hotels and because so many people came, we would squeeze as many people into our houses as we could. A couple of trainings we had 33 people in our house. Thankfully, we hosted 3 couples so at least I had a few other women that I could be with. We women slept on bunk beds in the downstairs bedroom, pretty isolated from the rest of the house and very close to the kitchen and bathroom.

We would rearrange our entire house, moving everything in the living room out to the garage and setting up four homemade triple-deck bunk beds in the living room. We felt a little sorry for the guys on the top bunks, especially if they were afraid of heights or wanted to get up in the middle of the night – it was a l-o-n-g way down. The garage was then used as a makeshift living room for relaxing. Added bunk beds and mattresses were set up in the other bedrooms.

We set up the family room with our huge dining room table to be used as a buffet, along with a water cooler, upon which was a 5-gallon bottle perpetually filled with iced tea.

Bill, always creating something, discovered an empty space in the attic behind the upstairs bathroom. He built a floor, added carpet and we used it as an additional “bedroom”. We felt especially sorry for the brothers in there, as they would have to wait until the bathroom was unoccupied before they could go in or out (not very easy with that many people in the house). Plus, they were serenaded by every sound … and smell? … that emanated from the bathroom. We only used that “room” for two trainings.

I made endless lists which designated bedroom and bathroom assignments, cleaning and cooking assignments, shower schedules and car assignments. …and then there was FOOD – lots and lots of FOOD!!! Three meals per day for ten days, for 33 people, twice every year. (Admittedly, we only hosted 33 people two times. Some of the time there were as few as 24 people.)

Shopping and Cooking for a Crowd

Preparing food for these trainings was an ongoing project throughout the year. However, after each training I would give myself one month off before preparing for the next one. So besides my regular weekly cooking and shopping, I was always preparing something for the next training. We had a large upright freezer into which I would add something every week. I remember mixing meat loaf with hamburger up to my elbows. Every cubic inch of that freezer was packed solid with frozen meals and homemade baked goods by the time the next training began.

The day before the training I would do my “last minute” shopping. After I had gone to the produce store, bread store and dairy, I headed to the regular grocery store to buy miscellaneous things (cereal, Rice a Roni, Jell-O, etc.)

One time I went shopping with my friend who had a similar house with just about as many guests. I drove our big yellow Ford pick-up truck to Lucky’s grocery store down the street and we started shopping. We each filled seven shopping carts of un-bagged groceries, and headed for the check-out. One clerk’s shift was nearly over but she wanted to stay late just so she could check us out. She told us she had never checked out that large of an order before.

We made quite a spectacle in the parking lot. Filled grocery carts were lined up behind my truck as the grocery bag boys loaded it up. Two guys were in the truck bed and several other guys handed bags to them until the truck was filled. After thanking them for all their hard work, we drove home to unload and store all those groceries.

…And So It Began

The guests began arriving. They came from all over the United States and the world. It was an exciting time, greeting them and making them feel at home, yet it was kind of scary too, hoping that their experience with us would be a good one. On one hand I was exhausted after all the preparation, yet energized with excitement; excited for it to begin, yet wishing it was over – a curious mix of emotions.

And then it was time for the training to begin and we settled in to our new routine for the next ten days. Before breakfast we all gathered to pray and read the Bible together. After breakfast we drove to Anaheim and attended two meetings, then came home to eat lunch, do chores, rest and study, then ate a light dinner and drove back to Anaheim for another meeting in the evening. Then we came home to try and get some sleep – for ten days straight. Yes, it was intense.

Everyone willingly pitched in to help with their assigned chores and my part was to direct all the moving parts. Everything was so prepared it worked quite well. My part was to tell people what to do. However, there were certainly challenges.

One morning I put a huge turkey in the oven to roast while we were in Anaheim, perfectly timed to be finished when we got home. However, unbeknownst to me, just before we all piled into our assigned cars, some helpful soul noticed that the oven was on and turned it off! Instead of a golden brown, juicy turkey greeting us when we got home, there was a sickly pale, raw turkey languishing in the oven. Suddenly I was faced with 33 hungry people with nothing ready to feed them. So, tuna sandwiches saved the day. I guess you just gotta roll with the punches.

After the trainings were over and the last guest had departed, we re-arranged the house back to its normal state, sat back and breathed a simple prayer of thanksgiving. It had been crazily wonderful. Our guests had been delightful, the Bible study had been wonderfully life-giving and now we could collapse. But wait – it was time to cook dinner.

Hosting Angels

Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

Over the years, we’ve hosted people from all over the United States, Taiwan, Japan, Germany, England, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria … and even … Texas! Yes, I’m firmly convinced that we’ve hosted angels. They appear in many different shapes, sizes and personalities and speak with different accents. Some even snore at night. But each one has been a special gift from God directly to us. However, too often I was so wrapped up in the activity of the moment I was unaware that, yes, I was hosting angels.

Luke 6:38-39 says, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

I suppose we have done our share of “giving” but what we’ve given pales in comparison to what we’ve received. Our “angels” have poured so much into us. They have shared their unique stories and experiences of Jesus with us. They have prayed with us and loved us and helped us in many practical ways – and they’ve made us laugh. Our lives are richer because of them.

Looking back, I don’t know how we did it. I certainly couldn’t do it now. But I pray that my heart will always desire to host the angels that God sends … just maybe not so many at a time … ?