Entertaining Angels Unaware

This has been a very unusual week in the Domestic household. Last Wednesday, on the way home from work, Adam got a call from two college friends, asking if they could spend the night at our apartment.

On the way there, I repeatedly thanked God that I'd done a little cleaning that day! However, I soon found out that there was really no need to worry about that.

On the way back home, I learned that their summer was a sad story of broken promises, sickness, and life's curveballs, which had left them basically wandering the streets and sleeping on sidewalks for the past month. They were glad to just have a place to sleep without fear of someone calling the police on them!

We were pretty much the last people they decided to call for help. They had tried everybody else in the city they could possibly think of, and... no one would take them in.

Why? There were several excuses, but the main reason that people turned them down was because one is a guy and the other is a girl.

Evidently, it's easier on a person's conscience to let a couple of friends wander the scorching streets and go for days without food than to look after their well-being in a potentially compromising situation.

Frankly, I was appalled, yet painfully aware of all the other times I have withheld help from others in much more minor, but still present, need. When Adam and I were talking about this the other day, he reminded me of this Bible passage that I often forget:

Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ (Matt. 25;34-40)

So now, a week later, these friends (who are platonic, by the way) are still here with us, because we told them that we want to keep them until they find another place to stay. They have one lead and are waiting to see if that will work out, but until then, it's the four of us and two cats in our little apartment!

Since Adam and I are poor college folks ourselves, I'm trying to figure out a way to feed two additional people without breaking the bank. Any ideas?