Hold your head high. Today. Not after you’ve cleaned it all up.
Throw open the doors of your dusty and cluttered soul and let the neighborhood in. Don’t stuff things in the catch-all drawers and put on a plastic face. Sweep if you must, but if you do anything, stop being embarrassed of who you are.
Let the tears and the laughter and the worry and the heartache be worn as openly as the most comfortable-est jeans you own.
You are more important than worrying about putting on the best show for the people who won’t accept you anyway {because for them, the only thing worth anything is perfection that none of us will ever attain.}
Instead, be you. Hold your head high and be proud, in the most humble of ways, of who you’ve been made to be.
Ask those people who really don’t care about the clutter, about the mess of humanity, over for dinner. You make the spaghetti, let them bring the wine and flop down on the sofa after a meal together. Leave the kitchen like it is.
You have been created to journey. You have been created to fumble and stumble along at times. And you have been created to work through problems in their due time.
It’s okay. It really is.
Just keep living life, walking toward Jesus and remembering who you’ve been made to be.
Don’t be afraid of the struggle and above all, don’t be embarrassed of you.
I totally agree! My hubby and I have people over for dinner and just leave the dishes by the sink. JUST ENJOY each other is more important. Even our dog participates. Love it! Great blog, Sarah! We will never get over what people do or think! It’s amazing!
Love this pos. Great reminder.
Boy Sarah – how did you know what I was struggling with this very thing today? I was rushing around like a mad woman this morning, trying to get to work on time, with a sick dog at home – and here I was making sure everything in my kitchen was spotless – and totally stressing about it!!!! Who will care? It just stressed me out even more!!!
Tonight, I will be a bit more carefree – and a little less worried about my dirty kitchen and my dining room table piled with husband’s fishing stuff
this is a perfect read first thing in the morning. thank you.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this post!! Thank you for these words.
i so needed to hear these words of grace this morning. thank you, sarah.
Sarah, I wanted to come here and write, “easy for you to say”, but I don’t actually know if it was easy for you to say or not.
I’m thoroughly whacked out right now about the fact that my mother-in-law is coming by on the 23rd on the last leg of her road trip. Mom was always the one who made the house look perfect and “company clean”. Now it is me and two men who don’t “get it”. Just letting it be is going to be hard.
And I’ve been embarrassed of myself for weeks now, but not about my home. It is hard to just be when there aren’t others like me to hold onto. But I’m going to keep this post in my inbox and try to keep thinking about what you are saying. I’ll try.
Every time I come by your blog I am touched. It’s so great to see how God is using you and your gifts to touch others hearts.
Thanks for this…it’s something that God is speaking to me right now. That He doesn’t want us to be alone…to feel lonely, or to be so concerned about YOU and what people think of YOU that you miss the community He wants us to have. This applies in so many areas…a messy house, a messy heart…the feeling that others are too busy to hear you, or that your ‘stuff’ is too much to share.
Thanks Sarah.
Lovely post, Sarah. Thank you for that!
I also forgot to say that I am reading “Dirty Girls” and it is helping me with my “affair addiction” and getting back into my faith. It’s a wonderful book for any kind of addiction.
Thank you. I needed this today.
We tell people “If we have to clean the house before you come, or if you have to clean the house before we come, then we aren’t real friends.” We all have closets or bedrooms with junk in them….if we can’t be real with that and laugh about it, then the heart if more stuck on how things look, than the importance of the people with whom time is spent. The funny thing is, people comment on the hospitality and how my hubby and I are real. And really, if people are honest, they don’t have everything all together. No one does.
What a beautiful mess! 
I needed exactly these words today. Thank you.
Love. This.
Bless you, Sarah.
I love this post. And I love that you are exactly, who you are.
Thank you for this.
And you are right.
I know if we hide all the “dirt” we’ve walked throguh on our journey we will bemissing out on a chance to help someone walking through the same stuff.
But it’s hard.
Because it is scary to be vulnerable.
But you are right.
Thank you.
Love from,
Greta
Beautiful and much needed today. Thank you.
Thank you, Sarah…..it’s “me” that embarrases me….many around me are struggling, but we are in a good place. Instead of hiding, I need to open my heart and invite others in. It is sometimes scary to open up (lol, whole other story!) but I keep hearing the voice that encorages me to do so….
This….”Leave the kitchen like it is.”
So rich.
Love love LOVE this post!
amen, sister.
Thank you. It’s time we realize we aren’t anything to be embarrassed of. We were born to be unique in every way, no matter what those ways are, and to hold proud to those things that make us special. Not to worry about the little things, what others think of us. I have come to one thought in the years I have aged- if I can rest easy at night, with my head comfortably on my pillow, knowing I am at ease with my decisions, my life is good.
I hope each day more people come to this reality. Thank you for sharing today
Love this! Especially being created to work through problems in their due time… so timely right now! Unfortunately, I want God’s help and healing instantly– not when He wants.
Yes, Sarah! This is the journey I’m on. Getting there…
oh how i LOVE this. and what a great reminder on this dreary, dreary day (in PA).
love.
I really needed this today! Thanks Sarah!
Dang, who is she!?!
This post is full of heart, word talent, and Jesus. Go Girl.
Love this! Needed this! Thank you for sharing. Your post was so timely. Now just praying for those types of relationships that truly honor authenticity and journeying through our brokenness together.
I am so embarrassed of me. I’m so messy it’s hard to get my mind around it. I needed this reminder to be free in the journey. It is about the journey…
Thank you.
Wow Sarah! Awesome blog! Thanks for being true. I felt God leading me to read your post after reading about it on a friend’s blog, and now I know why, lol. This is just what I’ve been dealing with, and realizing “Hey, people love me.” If I wait until everything is perfect to invite people over or spend time with friends, I will have a miserable life. Also, I was about to write a blog where I was considering letting it all out, and yours was a confirmation that I should. Thanks so much! Love your heart! God bless!
love this, sarah.
xo
thank you for this encouragement Sara. I feel so empowered and alive!