12 June 2013

the spaces between the walls

So today the members of the Influence Network are hanging out for the day in our hometowns together. We're looking back at where we're from and then we're supposed to share about where we are now.

First up, I should warn ya, I'm from Canada. I know. Exotic! Right?

I was born in a small town called Mission, but we moved to Abbotsford by the time I was about one, so Abby (as most call it) has always been my home town. I lived in the same house until I was 17. A few weeks before I graduated high school, my parents moved to a house not far from where we'd already lived in town. It was fun to move for me. I don't actually think I played much of a role in deciding houses, but my Dad and I would drive around town looking at places for sale, so as a teenager, I'm pretty sure I thought I had made the decision.

The spaces in Abby that really resonate in my mind when I think back to living there (I've now lived in Vancouver for 3 1/4 years) are the movie theatre where my friend Becky and I would go to movie after movie after movie, the school I grew up at, and the restaurant that I worked in.

Yet more so than those spaces is the home that my parents built for us. Not physically the buildings we lived in, but the spaces that filled the building. I have so many fond memories of our house being full of people because that's just something they did. They welcomed people in all the time. Whether it was friends, clients of my Dad who were hard to love but needed extra care, family, or who knows who else, from an early age, I watched them model gracious hospitality.

Now I live in my own apartment. I've been in this space for 2 1/2 years and I love it. It's this big heritage style apartment with hardwood floors, tall ceilings, pretty door handles, large windows, and just a lot of heart. It's a space of my own to show that hospitality. I don't think I've mastered the art of hospitality as well as they modeled it, but I'm working on it. I want to fill the spaces between the walls with joy, peace, and hope. I think that sounds like a good space to me.



P.S. In this bottom collage, I'm the one laughing my face off at my birthday party. For some reason, my friends and I decided to crouch down in front of the guys and photo bomb their conversation. I was the only one who crouched, and it really wasn't that funny. But I laughed, because that's what I do.