My social anxiety causes me to resist inviting people into my life. Into my home. Into my space. I have long feared what others may think of me, how I may be perceived as failing (because anxiety always causes a person to jump to the negative).

But my neighbors are amazing at it.

They invite people over to sit on their porches, to bring their own meat, drinks, snacks to share and we just sit together for hours on end. Sometimes around a TV with the cord snaked through a window while we watch the World Cup or the Vikings. They included our family right after we moved in and I have never felt so openly welcomed in my life.

I desire to return the hospitality, but I judge myself so harshly. Our basement doesn’t have enough seating around the tv, our patio is too small, our drink selection too limited, our chaos too crazy. But I am feeling the stir to invite. To love. To connect with others and I almost don’t know what to do with it.

I believe this desire to include others is a recognition that I have been isolated too long. My anxiety is a form of self-protection, but it also builds walls around me. It serves no one, especially not myself.

I desire to offer the hospitality I value. Connection. Yummy food. Laughter. Relaxation. So ditch the perfect house, the perfect yard, the perfect anything. Paper plates and plastic utensils and mismatched cups are the way we go.

It is time to connect, to invite, and to receive the friendship. Here we go.

This post is in response to the prompt “Hospitality” over at Five Minute Friday. It is also a response to Leslie Verner’s new book: Invited: The Power of Hospitality in an Age of Loneliness. Perhaps you, like me, struggle with loneliness and disconnection. I am excited to get my hands on this book and to learn how to welcome people in without the burden of perfection. Plus, look at that beautiful cover!

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” – Peter 4:8-9

p.s. How did Peter know I grumble over hospitality?! Ha!

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