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We Have Room In The Inn

RITI Christmas Eve 2013

I have a confession to make.  It may surprise some of you:
I took a quiz on the Internet and it said I am an introvert.  It was on the Internet, so I know it’s true.

But in all seriousness, at the end of a day of teaching algebra to 14-year-olds, all I really want to do is close my classroom door and stare at the wall for awhile.

But on Tuesdays, during the coldest and warmest months of the year, I don’t shut my door.  Instead I come to the Parish Hall at St. Stephen to welcome a group of strangers and friends to a dinner party.  I come to Room In The Inn to welcome up to 15 homeless men into our church for a meal, an evening of fellowship, and a quiet night’s sleep.

Quite honestly, it isn’t an obvious choice for me at the end of a day of intense togetherness with my students, to tack on an evening of togetherness at church, but each week I go against the grain – I step outside my comfort zone – because I know that each week I will learn again that Room In The Inn returns more than it takes out.  I know that at the end of an evening of conversations and games with my church friends and my friends from the street, that I will go home restored.  I know that on Wednesday morning, when I ask our guests how they slept, they will respond with smiles bigger than the ones they came in with.

Several of you have heard the story, because I love to tell it, of the evening that JD Hart told Corbie and me that he always made an effort to get on the list as a guest of Room In The Inn at St. Stephen because, I quote, “the love is so thick you could reach out and tear off a chunk.”  We work hard at making Room In The Inn happen each week because there is love in the room for each of us – guests and hosts alike.

Mike Tyson has created a booklet explaining the details of Room In The Inn that you can find in the narthex or outside the church office.  I hope you will take some time to look it over, or access our volunteer coordinating site via http://www.ststephen-pcusa.com/room-in-the-inn, and consider how you can make RITI part of your Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the coming months.  We are particularly in need of Innkeepers, but we have a number of other volunteer opportunities.  When you have found your spot, you can sign up online or contact Mike Tyson at mike_tyson@sbcglobal.net or Wendy Larmour at tx.red@att.net to express your interest.

Or you can simply show up for dinner on a Tuesday evening.  We have room for you too.

– Wendy Larmour (Moment for Mission 11-30-2014)