When I moved to Russia, I realized I didn't have the gift of hospitality. This fact became abundantly clear the night of the big flood.

One evening, several Russian students came to our apartment to watch a wedding video of a Russian friend who had married an American. Per the local custom, I prepared gallons of tea, baked cookies, and other snacks for the gathering.

As the video began, I heard the sound of water. I dashed into the kitchen and discovered water gushing from a broken pipe.

My family started sopping up the water and emptying buckets into the bathtub. The cause of the ruptured pipe became apparent as I noticed shiny fish scales floating in the water. Someone in an apartment above us had been cleaning fish.

To my astonishment, the students continued watching the wedding video. A couple helped mop, but the rest acted like this was an ordinary occurrence. “Normalna!” they exclaimed.

As I alternated between mopping up the polluted water and wading through it to prepare more tea, the grumbles began swirling in my head.

Why aren't they going home? If they were Americans, they'd know to excuse themselves and leave us to deal with this catastrophe!

The deluge finally abated once we ran to every apartment above us and asked people to stop running water in their kitchen.

Once I scrubbed all the fish scales off my floor and feet, I realized I had much to learn about hospitality.

Russians are famous for their hospitality. A Russian dinner lasts for hours. You sit around the table and eat, drink tea, talk, and repeat this process for the entire evening. We talked about life, our families, and God and lingered at the table until it was time to go. Fellowship happened around the table.

When we furloughed in America, I realized Americans generally equate hospitality with entertainment. We gather to watch movies, play games, and do something. Rarely do we sit and talk.

My favorite description of hospitality says, "Hospitality is about opening up your heart and your home, just as you are, and being willing to invite Jesus into the conversation, not to stop the conversation but to deepen it." (Rosaria Butterfield)

I'm grateful for my Russian friends who taught me that hospitality is not about the beauty of my home or table but the fellowship and connection we share, even during a flood of water and fish scales.