Making Room... First Guests

Emma's parents - Brenda and Tim - and her brother-Aaron, are our first guests since Helen and Ian left for Spain. Oh, and Gracie the dog. Predictably, Poppy and Angel were waaaaaay more excited about Gracie's arrival than any of their relatives.

Aaron just stayed for the night. But Tim is staying until Wednesday, and Brenda is with us for a couple of weeks. It's great to have them with us. :)

We've re-arranged the rooms a little bit (and we've done a bit of decorating too - see below) so that we can host and welcome a range of guests and pilgrims, family and friends over the coming months. (We counted up last night - we have a possible 11 beds in the house! Not including cushions on the floor.) Some may come for just a night, some for a week or more, we don't really know yet. The welcome will be as warm, however long or short the stay.

In a few weeks, Jenine will be coming across from South Africa to stay for a couple of weeks... partly for a holiday, partly to hang out with me (Phil) and join in with 24-7 prayer stuff a little bit. The day after she arrives, Keilah (also from South Africa) arrives too - she's staying for a week. And that *same* day, our good friend Wendy arrives as well. Wendy is part of the Kansas City Boiler Room family, whom we love dearly, and she's probably one her way to, or on her way back from China. We can't wait for the table-conversations... ;)

A few of our local friends have talked about coming to stay for a weekend, or a few days Mikki and Nick and their children, and Anna - even though they only live a few minutes away. It seems to me that our conversations often shift to another (deeper?) level when we're away together with friends, or if we 'stay over'. Perhaps it's that we're less 'rushed', we don't have a babysitter to relieve, we don't have to drive or walk back somewhere? We hope that these friends will enjoy their 'local' change of scenery, and we look forward to some slower conversations... and waffles and coffee in the mornings. :)

Others have talked about coming to stay for a kind of 'retreat', a time to get away and pray, read, think, walk and talk, drink coffee. ;) Alana suggested she could come and bake with Emma for a few days - Emma was very keen on that idea! And we've talked about hosting workshops and other learning groups around prayer, hospitality, etc. We'll think and talk some more about these over the coming weeks.

The priority for Emma and I though, is to shape-up our rhythms of prayer (daily, weekly and monthly) and our shared-meals and learning times, etc. in the house. Our hope is that those who come and stay will join in with these rhythms of life with us... so that we can pray and eat and learn and talk together, so that we can disciple one another.

Thanks Hayley and Mark, by the way, for the wonderful 'HOME is where our story begins' sign that opens this post. They are about to set off on a year of travelling around the world, 'making home' wherever they go, 'finding home' (I suspect) in lots of unexpected places too. Go well, my friends.

Oh, and here's the pics of our new 'guest rooms'. Come and visit sometime. :)

One final think. 'Making Room' is also an amazing book on hospitality by Christine Pohl. I *really* recommend it! :)

Comments

[Catie Eliza]

Oh wow this is all so exciting!! I'm so excited for you all anyway!!! Amazing... watch this space!! :] xxxxx

[Jeff Ragan]

Hi, Phil. My wife and I (and our 8 children) have been trying to move our home toward a family monestary, and are interested in your efforts. Where exactly is your home? Are you in downtown London, or in the country? And how does your home relate/connect with a local Boiler Room or Prayer Room?

[toggie]

jeff, thanks so much for your comment - my apologies for taking so long to respond (and i hope you get this message?).

we live in romford, which is 30mins east of the city of london - we're inside the M25 ring-road and are considered to be inside 'greater london' - so 'suburbs', not 'downtown' and not 'country'. on the edges of the urban sprawl.

our community house is just one expression of a wider community of 30-or-so jesus-follower friends who live or work in and around romford. we eat and meet and pray and learn together. we try to serve jesus and his church in the locality, and we try to live authentic lives of prayer, mission and justice in all sorts of ways... from developing prayer spaces in schools, to forming prayer/activist groups around anti-people trafficking, to opening our homes/lives to local homeless people. just small things really. nothing to shout about. it's simple, and messy, and pretty fragile... like life i guess?! ;)

our community hosts a regular prayer room - we haven't quite reached a full-on 24-7 yet, but we're building up to it. 24-48 hrs is as much as we've sustained so far. :) and these times/seasons involve people from a variety of churches across the area - all are welcome. there is only one church.

and we're linked in with friends around the wider 24-7 prayer community. we haven't 'become' a boiler room community (yet?), but we've been in some extended dialogue around that possibility. and we're 20mins from a wonderful boiler room community a little further east of us - stanford-le-hope.

i love the sound of your family life and community/monastery aspirations jeff. feel free to email me at phil.togwell@24-7prayer.com if you like. and if you're ever in town, *all* of you would be very welcome to come and stay. i reckon we could squeeze you in. ;)

with love, phil.x