This is a short snippet from my and Brandon’s book project Not Home Yet. I hope you enjoy it!

I don’t know about you, but I have a tiny pang of panic when I know I’m about to be around people. Even if I know and love them and have spent tons of time with them, I get a crawly feeling and a moment of foggy disorientation just before a human engagement. Somehow I imagined that the high school or college freshman feeling should dissipate. Surely the more I attended events and had conversations, the easier it should get? Well, sometimes and kind of, but really I have not left the awkward freshman behind. She is right there, ready to make it weird.

If we’re going to live hospitably, we’re going to face The People. We’ll have to be where humans are, and even invite them into a space with us. I have a hard time believing that the welcome is enough, and I have thought that I have to make everyone comfortable and happy for the time to be “worth it”. I have avoided extending hospitality or partaking in it because I’m terrified that there will be awkwardness.

Guess what? There will be. And that’s okay.

Human beings in a room with other human beings are awkward for a while. You’d think we’d have figured out, as a species, how to speed past the painful bit and slide into acquaintance and friendship gracefully. But that’s not possible. Humans are awkward.

It’s not just you. And I find that helpful.

Ours is a Lonely Generation, desperate to be found and included. We’re all afraid that no one will come after us, no one is interested in us, no one wants to hear our stories. You feel that way. The People feel that way. One guest at a time, we need to be the hero who creates a pocket of welcome in the world and reaches out a hand to one person at a time.

There’s just no comfortable way to do this. They feel just like you do: conflicted. They want to be asked over, and the last thing they want is to be asked over. They want to go out, and they want to stay home. They want to be heard and ignored. It’s ok. The deeper need is connection and welcome, and in the end it is far more satisfying than hiding under a blanket re-binging that show. Hospitality is life-giving, and it’s worth the awkwardness; I promise.

Invitation to practice

Take a moment to pause and pray. Sit for a moment with the truth that God accepts you, all awkward moments included! Then ask God if there is someone in your life he wants you to reach out to. Embrace the awkwardness and… go for it! :)

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