Hospitality Freewrite

 When I had my breakdown in the Fall of 1983, I needed to leave my Christian ministry and the rooming situation immediately. My leader/boss in the organization was also my roommate/landlord. It was just not healthy for me.

My dear friend, Diane, and I had been communicating through this whole ordeal. She was working in Montana, and I was in Bellevue, WA, but her parents lived 20 minutes away from me at Seward Park in Seattle. So, she told her parents, and they said, "Send Little Carol to us!" (Oh my word, I am weeping as I write this.) So I crammed everything I owned into my little Honda Civic and left (fled) that house (and the future I thought I had in full-time parachurch college ministry). I could not leave Seattle for another six weeks because of my part-time work situation (back then, my organization required you to work in a secular job for at least 20 hours a week while being on staff). So I stayed with them for six weeks.

They opened up their home to me like I was their daughter. Mrs. Milnor cooked every meal for me and even brought it to me in bed sometimes. (I think she even did my wash sometimes.) I was SO burned out. I had not slept through the night for 4 1/2 years and was getting to the point where I could not even swallow my food because my anxiety was so high. They gave me the WHOLE BOTTOM FLOOR of their palatial mansion of a house overlooking Lake Washington. They showered me with love and space and acceptance, and I had time to heal. I walked along Lake Washington and meditated on Romans 8 deeply - "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." I put a 3x5 card next to the bed that read, "God loves me no matter what I DO for him today."

Thus began the crossing of the DOING to BEING boundary in my journey with Jesus.

Diane's parents were not outward people of faith, but I felt so much more love from them than anyone I had been hanging with at that time in Christian ministry. They were just the best example of hospitality in my whole life.

Diane's father passed away just two months ago (24 hours after Diane had come to see us in Corvallis), and last week, Diane took her mom to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. Here she is at 90+ years young:


She is pointing to the teton she climbed at age 21 back in the 50s!

(By the way, my relationship with that Christian organization is really good. They have asked me to come back and speak at conferences about my experience (because I was not the first person to burn out with them). My roommate/landlord and I were dear friends until the day she died. So it all turned out very good.)