Home Is Where the Hospitality Is
Words: Dr. Philip Graham Ryken ’88
Photos: Neil Gates
It felt like we were back living in Fischer this summer, or maybe Smith-Traber.With anywhere between four and eight Wheaton students and/or young alumni staying with us between May and August, the house got noisier after 9 p.m., when everyone gravitated toward the kitchen for snacks, meals, and companionship. Later, we could hear laughter from some of the bedrooms, as well as snatches of phone calls with girlfriends and friendly but spirited disagreements about church, sports, and politics.
For the past 14 years, at least one of our children has been a Wheaton student. Since we live next to campus, our Wheaties often stop by for food, laundry, encouragement, or transportation. Usually, they bring a friend or two.
Each school year, we host bonfires, Bible studies, birthday parties, game nights, house parties, pumpkin carving contests, faculty dinners, Christmas parties, Easter dinners, student club events, and more. This September, we began hosting a Sunday night dinner for international students. Once a month, students from all over the world (literally!) find their way to 318 East Lincoln Avenue for food and fellowship.
Welcoming countless students into our home has proven to be one of the best blessings of our Wheaton experience. Practicing hospitality makes our lives more fun and more interesting. We also learn a lot about the ups and downs of student life, which helps us in our leadership.
These simple acts of hospitality also bless our students. We know this from their comments and thank-you notes, in which they tell us how much they appreciate spending time in our home, saving money through rent-free accommodation, learning practical lessons by observing everyday family life, and so on. Christian hospitality is a mutual blessing both for those who offer and for those who receive.
Lisa Maxwell Ryken ’88 and I experienced generous hospitality when we ourselves were Wheaton students. We remember well spending Sunday afternoons with alumni families from church, visiting faculty couples like the Howards and the Hawthornes, and having dinner with Trustee Bud Knoedler ’51 and his wife Betty ’50.
Now it is our turn. Our hope is that the hospitality our students receive—not only at our house but also in many other staff and faculty homes—will become their own lifelong habit.
