The Parkers

Us with Diane Parker
We have spent the last two nights in the home of a family that Michael had connections with, a family none of us have ever met, a family that, in really just a little over a day, have grown to love. In just a small amount of time, but with no small amount of love, Jack and Dianne Parker have shown us the meaning of hospitality. In their mid fifties the Parkers have been missionaries in Europe for the past 27 years as well as raised 4 children, the youngest of which is still in college. They have lived in England and Prague and Poland and now in Budapest all with the same purpose, a purpose much larger than themselves.
It is a rare and precious occasion that you find someone who truly wants to know your story, who skims over the ever present, “How are you’s” and dives right into the “Who are you’s,” listening ever so intently to every word you say and formulating an idea of what you’re really all about. The first night we were here we sat around the table with Jack and Diane in front of a well-prepared meal (which at this point is anything more than cheap pizza and a cold pastry) and each shared how we came to know this Jesus we claimed to be in Europe following. I found myself listening intently to the other three guys, realizing that I had no idea how they came to know Jesus, the core of who they really are. And this thought occurred to me that very few people back home know this great story of mine, the soul of who I am. Yet, sitting in a house on the outskirts of Budapest, Hungary is a couple who couldn’t tell you what I like to eat or what kind of car I drive, but they could tell you the most foundational part of who I am and how it came to be.
I believe that I could write forever about this family and all that they have done for us in the past 2 days. But the heart of what this past two days has been for me at least lies in what these two people have showed me about God. I pray to be like that. I pray that I would be a woman of God who truly demonstrates hospitality and love to people, all people. I pray that I would crawl down into the depths of other people’s lives to the core of who they are, that I would listen intently to their stories and that in the depth of my heart I would truly care about what they have to say. I pray that my life would be one of those rare and precious havens full of hospitality and love, constantly inviting others to come and sit with me and ultimately with Jesus.