Unfinished apartments

I don't like when people see me in the middle of a process. It feels embarassing. I prefer displaying finished products. Maybe it is a fear of someone seeing the humanness in me. Maybe it's pride. I don't know. Moving to a new apartment in a new country, I have very few material things to fill my apartment with.

I have been looking forward to a house warming party of sorts but thought I needed to wait until I had the apartment fixed up exactly like my Pinterest board before inviting people over. I started to get anxious about having everyone over when it was still so incomplete. I assumed they would feel uncomfortable, or maybe even judge me for not having it all together yet. I mean, how awkward to invite people over and only have the floor to offer them to sit on...

Pondering my empty apartment, God reminded me that I do the same in life. I'm often tempted to wait until I have myself together before inviting anyone in to see. I feel it would be better to wait until my life is more aesthetic before opening myself up and inviting people in for relationships. I don't want them to see the unfinished parts of me.

But people want to be invited into the imperfect parts of our lives. Contrary to what we may assume, I believe that people appreciate our processes and unfinished projects. It gives them permission to also be human. It makes us not feel so alone in our journeys.

God says his power is made perfect in weakness. When we are honest with ourselves and others about our processes and unfinished parts, God is able to use the little and do a lot through it. He doesn't want our perfection. He wants our honesty. I think most people probably do, too.

We are all unfurnished apartments in process. Invite someone in to sit on the floor with you today, whatever that may look like. It just might make you both feel a bit more human. Who knows, you might even experience God's goodness in an unexpected way right there on the floor.