The tale of a collision

See the "0" in the center?

My husband and I enjoy hosting. A couple of times a week we normally have people over, and especially on Tuesdays. We know that Tuesday night is free for hosting, so that's the safe time to invite people over. We often issue an invitation for Tuesday, make a meal and enjoy the evening of fellowship.

There are also the times when people just show up, and they get what they get. This happens especially with single men who come visit. They're coming through the neighborhood and drop by, and if it's dinner time they benefit from the coincidence. And we love that they feel comfortable dropping by, for sure. We welcome them, feed them, tell stories and share life situations, pray, and generally all feel encouraged by the conversation.

But sometimes we end up with incompatible guests. Not so much in temperament, although I suppose that's possible, but in language. We speak a few languages apiece, and those visiting typically speak at least two or more languages also. And when we invite people, we try to keep in mind what the common language of the group will be - typically either an island language, English, or French. 

The other day we had more than a slight collision of incompatibility. We'd invited a person who spoke Swahili and English to come for dinner. He arrived and we were conversing in English mostly, but then others started to arrive:

Guest 1: Swahili, English.

Guest 2: French, Islandish.

Guests 3-6: French, Islandish, Swahili

Oh, and some of them speak Arabic too.

The dinner I'd made ran out, so we made popcorn and pulled out other snacks and drinks, making tea and dividing up the room for multiple conversations. It was a bit chaotic, between the languages, the full living room, and trying to make sure everyone got fed something... but at the end of it all we just sat down and laughed. What else can you do? Put a sign on the door to say that "today's Swahili day"? Obviously not! So we dive in and share our lives and stories, sharing the Word and offering prayer and advice as possible. 

And next time we try not to accidentally invite incompatible guests.