Scott & Cindy Silveus
“Come Stay With Us”
In the business world, Scott Silveus is known as the owner, president, and CEO of Silveus Insurance Group. But to the dozens of people who have stayed in his home over the years, he’s known as a board game extraordinaire, prankster, and amateur videographer. His wife, Cindy, is known for her delicious food, generous spirit, and close friendship. Oh—and an obsession with sharing her favorite movie, Gone With the Wind, with anyone who happened to stay in her home.
Hospitality isn’t an occasional event for Scott and Cindy: it is truly a way of life. Over the years, the Silveus family has gone beyond the sporadic dinner or last-minute overnight stay (although there were plenty of those, too). For years, they have welcomed scores of individuals and families–missionaries, families who lost their home in a fire, Grace College athletes, friends of the family, future family members–the list goes on and on. From their basement suite to their lake house, and even their camper, the Silveus family gives generously from everything they have.
Those who had the privilege to spend time in the Silveus home recall funny stories, popcorn and movies in the Silveus home theater, and board games in the kitchen.
No Matter How Small Or Serious The Need, Everyone Was Welcome.
Sure, it got crowded some days. But for their three children, their childhood memories are rich with recollections of their parents’ extended generosity–and they don’t regret it one bit.
“The first thing I’d think of about what my mom did for anyone who stayed there and for our family in general is that she was always willing to make food for anyone who came in,” recalls Chris Silveus, the second of their three children. “No matter who it was, she never said no.”
Their father was equally generous, incorporating the guests into the rhythm of their family.
“We’ve always had board game nights,” notes Joshua, their oldest. “My dad loves playing games, creating new rules for games, coming up with new ways to play games,” he says. Every time someone would come over, Scott would include them in all of the family games.
“He would just try to make them feel welcome,” says Madeline, their youngest.
“The Silveus house was a lot of fun a lot of laughs. Scott is just a goofy guy, to put it into simplest terms.Cindy is very loving and comforting – she just takes care of everybody.”
Max Miller
Max Miller grew up in a small town in Ohio–“the kind with one stoplight,” he laughs. Active in sports, his high school coach had ties to Grace College and suggested that he try out for the basketball team. He met Scott and Cindy in 2013 as a freshman on the Grace College basketball team after becoming close friends with their son Josh. After he graduated, Max and Josh both got a job at a CrossFit gym, and the couple offered to let Max stay with them for the summer–rent-free. Max was astonished at the generous offer, but accepted.
Miller recalls a family life in the Silveus household that was rich and inviting, full of traditions and hilarity alike.
“The Silveus house was a lot of fun, a lot of laughs,” he says. “Scott is just a goofy guy, to put it into simplest terms. Cindy is very loving and comforting–she just takes care of everybody.”
He has fond memories of the outings spent with the family during those summers, like inner tubing trips, cookouts, and Fourth of July fireworks. But perhaps the biggest impact that the family had on him was a rooted view of what a thriving, godly family could look like, in all of its creativity and uniqueness. Recently Max got married to his wife, Celia, and the Silveus family invested deeply into their relationship as well, giving him a template for what a godly marriage could look like.
“Before I met the Silveuses, my view of family was not what it is now,” he explains. “I didn’t really have that example. Living with Scott and Cindy, getting to see a marriage that was focused on bringing honor to God, was eye-opening. And I am very thankful for the Silveus family being that example to me.”
Their Generosity Didn’t Stop There.
Cameron Silveus, Scott’s younger brother, met his wife Misty in Lubbock, Texas seventeen years ago.
“Cameron and I had become really good friends,” Misty recalls. “He was about to move home to Indiana, and his brother Tyler had come to help him move. I got a phone call in the middle of the night, and Cameron professed his love to me. So, at 2 o’clock in the morning, we decided to get married.”
“And then we decided to date,” Cameron laughs.
They talked all night, and three days later, Cameron moved home to Indiana, but this time with a very different game plan: one with Misty in his future–and his state.
“I left [Misty] in Texas by her lonesome,” Cameron reminisces. After flying back and forth for over a month to see one another, it quickly became apparent that a different plan was needed. Immediately, the offer came from Scott and Cindy for Misty to live with them until the wedding.
“They let a total stranger, the girl that Cameron drug back from Texas, move into their house,” Misty laughs. Of course, it didn’t stay that way for long. As Misty adjusted to Midwestern life, studied for her real estate license, and planned the upcoming wedding, she quickly grew close with the Silveus family.
“They let a total stranger – the girl that Cameron drug back from Texas, move into their house. Cindy took me under her wing and supported me and just showed me love.”
Misty Silveus
Misty moved to Indiana in October of 2002 and got married the following April. She asked Cindy to be one of her bridesmaids. But she also took a lot of what she had experienced into her new marriage.
“There’s a lot of fellowship in their home,” notes Misty.
“I picked up a lot of things just being able to see their family life–board games, eating meals together, a lot of laughter. It was a really healthy, wholesome atmosphere.
“When we built our home, we kept in mind the idea of being able to do what they do and serve others and be under one roof and open up our home to others and how that changes lives.”
Cameron agrees. “If your home is built for just you and yours, it ends up being a big waste. We want our home to be about other people, and that was modeled to us by Scott and Cindy and what they did with their home over the years.
And Still Their Generosity Continued.
Brad Westrate first experienced Silveus hospitality about 15 years ago, in 2003 when he started dating Scott’s sister, Erin.
“I have known [The Silveus family] for almost as long as I’ve known Erin,” he notes. Like Misty, he lived with the family for over a year while preparing to get married and settle in Warsaw.
“Like so many people, I ended up in their basement,” Brad jokes. “Erin and I were not yet married but on the path to getting married. We had decided that we were going to make Warsaw, Indiana our home base. I started asking myself, do I rent? Look at some homes?”
Right away, the Silveus family offered to let Brad live in their furnished basement while he prepared for marriage and established himself in Indiana. He stayed there almost a year. During his time in the household, Brad especially recalls how Scott interacted with his wife and the intentionality with which Scott interacted with his family.
“While you’re there, Scott and Cindy consider you a part of the family. You’re not just ‘secluded to the dungeon.’ Every meal they make, you are welcome. It was a great place for me to have a home base.”
Brad Westrate
“While you’re there, Scott and Cindy consider you a part of the family,” he concludes. “You’re not just secluded to the dungeon. Every meal they make, you are welcome. It was a great place for me to have a home base.”
So what inspired such remarkable generosity from two people who already had plenty of demands from life–from running a company to raising a family?
The generosity and open-heart, open-house policy that Scott and Cindy held impacted dozens of people over the years. But perhaps–and no surprise–their own children were the ones impacted the most.
Christopher recalls a conversation with his father that has stuck with him over the years:
“We sat down and were talking about how we’re to give,” he recalls. “He was talking specifically about money, but also about time. He talked about how God has given us a lot and he thinks the reason God did that is so we could give it away, and how that actually ends up being the most fulfilling.
“Obviously they taught us to be generous, but it spoke much more loudly through how they treated other people, and I think, even now, that’s helped me understand how I need to be giving and hospitable to other people. It’s really important.”
He admits that sharing his parents with so many others was difficult at times.“But in the long run, it was worth it. My parents invested in many peoples’ lives, but they invested into ours, too. Living with different people gave us different perspectives on life. I think we’d all say that we are glad they did.”