Before you go thinking I cooked this fancy looking burger, let me tell you… I did not. However, it was cooked in my kitchen so I get a little credit, right? Ha!

Probably not.

Every summer our church has it’s annual summer conference. We have over a dozen church plants scattered across the States and they all gather in the summer for a HUGE 3 day event at our “home” church, which happens to be the church we attend.

Three years ago we were asked to host some college students from Purdue University for the summer conference. I was hesitant and nervous about hosting girls I had never met.

Not to mention I had a 6 year old, 2 year old and 1 year old at the time.

But God stretched me during the summer of 2013 and His nudge of “say yes” was too strong to deny.

Let’s just say, hosting 10 college girls was one of the best experiences I’ve ever been a part of. We have looked forward to it every summer since!

The.girls.are.amazing.

And I don’t say that to just say it. They are truly some of the most genuine young women I have ever met.

I think back to when I was their age and I know for a fact that I was no where near as respectful and loving as them. They absolutely give me hope that my boys will one day find God loving women to marry.

Not that I’m trying to marry them off yet. Lord knows I’m not ready for any daughter-in-laws quite yet. LOL! I’m just saying… one day when that time comes? I pray they find wives half as wonderful as these ladies.

The first night the girls arrived we sat around the dining room table talking about life. I mentioned to them I recently took myself out of running for “mom of the year”. Maybe you read about that here.

I also told them I was not the best cook. We joked about how when they stayed with us the first year I tried to be Martha Stewart and have dinner ready for them every night. Even the second year, I tried really hard to impress them with being a chef.

But y’all…I admitted to them that I was quite terrible at the whole chef act. In fact, I happen to be really good at….

Ordering pizza.

They laughed. Although, I was serious…it was comical.

But sometimes you got to admit there are some things you are good at. And other things you are not good at. We all have our strengths, right?

So what if cooking wasn’t one of mine.

I’m good at decorating. Isn’t that enough? Ha.

Long story short, the girls surprised us with a home cooked meal, prepared and cooked BY THEM.

Not me.

How awesome is that?

They knew it was one area where I struggled and they stepped in to bless us with not having to worry about cooking for them. I almost cried. Literally.

I would adopt every single one of these girls.  And so would my boys.

They not only know how to cook… they know how to play Transformers. SJ was ready for them to move in for good.

I can not begin to tell you how much light these ladies brought when they were around. They were full of spunk, dancing around my kitchen to Pentatonix and crashing Optimus Prime into Bumblebee mid-air.

It’s funny to hear people’s responses when you tell them you are hosting 10 young ladies at your home because people usually say, “Ohhhhhh, that’s crazy.”

But nothing about hosting these girls is crazy. They are the most respectful house guests we’ve ever had. And they are welcome to crash our party of five any time they wish.

And clearly they are welcome to crash my kitchen anytime they wish. #thatsagiven

Here’s the recipe for the Brushetta Burgers they made for us…. OH-SO-YUMMY!