The most effective discipleship, I learned, flows from genuine and deep connection, and such connection often begins in an atmosphere of fun, friendship, and both noticing and meeting needs.

As a single woman, I had many opportunities to talk to students about God’s love in the context of food, fun, and identifying with their student lifestyles. As a result, I saw many embrace a lifelong commitment to Christ. For lonely college students, having a space to laugh, meet people, and feel accepted was a profound answer to the deep longings of their hearts. Like Jesus, we were attending to their emotional, physical, and social needs as well as their spiritual needs and presenting the gospel as a personal appeal, not an agenda.

I carried this lesson with me when I started a family of my own. It was always my goal that our home be the place our children and their friends loved to be. Even now, in their adult years, their heartstrings are tied to home because it is a place where they know they will be cared for and known. A web of connection and love knits us together from the many fun times we have had as well as from our shared and growing faith.

Read more about this in The Lifegiving Table.