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I’m sympathetic to unmet goals. I found an old journal recently. In it, I had mapped out my goals of taking up both golf and jogging, learning stock trading and purchasing a franchise. Nope, didn’t succeed at any of them. It’s okay. Sometimes we set goals to try things out, like trying on clothes. Some activities and jobs just don’t fit with our personality. Here’s a goal that I did meet though. When we got married, my husband and I both wanted God to use our home to bless people. We wanted lots of people to come visit us and we especially wanted people to know that they could always find a safe place inside our doors. That was such a basic thought that we never wrote it down. But it was a real goal and it did happen.

My goal is for my space to be an embassy. My family all view themselves as ambassadors on behalf of heaven. Our home is our embassy and people can visit. Let me be clear, my goal is not to be the best hostess around. I do not set a beautiful table: I do not have an elegant home. And I have even kicked people out. For most of my marriage, I could not even say that I had a spacious home. No, what I have had through the years, is an available space. Dirty or clean, our home opens up and welcomes people into it.

We have hosted people we don’t know.

We have hosted a pot smoking teen that got kicked out of their house.

We have hosted overseas family members for up to 6 months at a time.

We have hosted groups of travelers, just stopping in for a meal.

We have hosted swim lessons in our back yard for an entire summer.

We have hosted international students for holiday meals.

We’ve hosted groups of women for regular exercise classes in the back yard.

We’ve hosted a family of 10 for a month.

And of course, we’ve hosted hundreds of dinners and lunches and playdates.

This is a space to gain inspiration, share lessons learned and find encouragement for your hosting goals. Wherever you are, you can host people in your space.