Welcome to my mess

What keeps you from having your friends and family over more often?

For me, it's the paralyzing and unrealistic expectations I have on myself to be the perfect hostess in an immaculately clean house with a Michelin-Star menu. Yep, I don't have people over much. What this has done is create barriers between me and making space for community in my home. I've allowed myself to get in the way of my relationships.

Can you imagine if Zacchaeus had responded to Jesus inviting Himself over with, "Sorry, Jesus, I haven't had time to clean up. I haven't had a chance to go grocery shopping, and I just don't have any food in the house." No, Zacchaeus without hesitation, "welcomed Jesus gladly." (Luke 19:5-6)

What if this was our attitude towards hospitality?

When we open our homes up to guests just as we are (in sweatpants and hair undone) and just as our house is (dishes in the sink, and our floors not mopped), our guests know that it's okay to come over just as they are. A level of intimacy develops when we stop hiding behind our masks of perfect host and gracious guest, and instead live into the reality that we share the same messes, the same bad days, the same imperfections. Building authentic relationships requires the vulnerability to let people in, even when we and our homes are a mess. ​