Dress Up Abby in 2021

Parties of 2021

 Welp, just getting around to processing the last year with all its highs and lows. Looking back, one of our high's was all of the events we hosted in our home. Some in house, some simple, some more elaborate. I suppose not so much the events in themselves but the fulfillment of us using our home to love on people. 

Abby turning 2

Landon and Austie's graduation from preschool

A Super Bowl party ~ Abby won two of the brackets! lol

A special tea for my girl's 7th birthday 

A 40th birthday for one of my oldest friends

A Covid conscious lunch for my Mil's birthday

A Jeoparty game for Landon's 6th

A ridiculous adult only Easter egg hunt lol

Miyabe family Thanksgiving

An intimate celebration for my nearest and dearest sister

Hosting has never really come naturally to me. I think on my mom, who is the ultimate hostess ~ how many bridal showers did she host where she didn't really know the person, bday's, holidays. Her heart did it because she loves to love on people. And I can't help but hope my heart is learning how to serve others through my hosting, through opening the doors to my home. 

And something I recently read that has added to my perspective of hospitality, maybe it'll leave an impression on you too.

Hospitality isn't about throwing a party. It's welcome "one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God." (Romans 15:7), and that can happen over a formal dinner table or simply by inviting others to do ordinary life alongside us. Hospitality is an act of service, not a performance. When we remember that truth, we can let the little things go. We can release the pressure valve of our own expectations. We can do our best to prepare, but we do not sacrifice our families and our sanity on the alter of ego. If our own kids and spouses do not feel welcomed as we're trying to show hospitality we've missed the point. 

Through the food we prepare, the homes we steward, the meals we drop off, the people we visit, and the strangers we invite for coffee, we get to display the kingdom and the character of God on earth as it is in heaven. What a grand and beautiful calling we get to live out.." - Sarah Hauser

Looking forward to who God brings into our home this year. And, saying it here now, I'm really going to make a conscious effort to do the underbelly right. To not let the pressure valve of preparation ruin it for my family. To focus on the people.