Hospitality Day

This is us! From left to right, we are Tad, Potts, Brian, Me (Katie), Mara, and Stephanie.


Every Monday my housemates and I have the day off from our work placements and spend time with Krista, studying Chicago, traveling, or doing devotional reflections. For our first Monday together, Krista declared Labor Day to be Hospitality Day. We had to be hospitable to people throughout Chicago, however we saw fit. As a group, we were somewhat stumped. Everyone can recognize hospitality when it's offered to them, but figuring out a way to share with others is a tad more difficult. After discussing the matter, we decided to bake cookies and brownies, make lemonade, and set out a stand near Faith House, offering treats and games of checkers to whoever walked by. The plan sounded good, but it turns out that there's very little foot traffic near Faith House on a holiday. We split up into pairs, bagged up some cookies, and went into different parts of the city to hand out treats.
My roommate Tad and I headed toward University of Illinois-Chicago, assuming that college students would always want free cookies. Although there weren't as many people around as we assumed, people on the trains and at bus stops accepted the brownies and cookies from us. Tad and I are a pair of introverts, so it was strange for us to approach strangers and offer them food. By the time we started out of cookies, we were becoming more comfortable chatting to people on the street. It was a good end to our orientation to Chicago, especially since we've been depending on directions from strangers for most of the week.
Tomorrow I start work at Sarah's Inn, and the day after I begin work at Fourth Presbyterian Church. I'm hoping things go well.
Here's a picture of Faith House, where we live. There will be more pictures to come, but uploading them takes some time.