Last weekend our friend gave us a wedding gift all over again – he hooked up the electricity to our hot tub. In the process, he found some dangerous wiring that needed to be fixed first. He’d done most of the work and now needed a 9-volt battery before he could continue. There was one somewhere in the house. I knew it. I had just put it in…something…not long ago. My search for it took me to all corners of the house. Thinking through what was in Sandi’s office, I wondered if maybe it was in his guitar tuner. Before I barged in, though, I recognized his tone of voice as he talked with our landlord. And it made me stop.

Listening for just a moment before I continued my quest, I heard him share that our friend was willing to work for three days on this house and our hot tub and charge nothing because our friend was also our brother. Just as our landlord had not charged his brother for the work he’d done the week before, so our brother was working for us simply because we were brothers…in Christ.

Our landlord listened a little uncomfortably and attempted a few protests, but in the end, he had to admit that there really must be something different about this Christianity thing – something very different from the world and the “normal” ways of men. All because our friend’s actions…and silence. We thank God for drawing alongside us such unexpected partners in ministry and continue to pray for our landlord…and look for ways to move him out of his comfort zone and toward Jesus.