As soon as we walked through the doors of their home, I felt it. We were greeted we bright smiles, a warm hello, huge hugs and a delicious Costa Rican meal on the table.
It was as if we were long lost cousins showing up for Christmas gathering. It was like we hadn’t seen each other in years and we’re just picking up where we left off. They were eager to hear about our journey, share stories, laugh and intentionally invest into our lives.
They heard our passions, gifts and hearts and what amazed me was the fact that this was the first time we had met them.
Bryan and Beth are their names. They’re our hosts for this month in Costa Rica.
However, if you’d ask me they’re more than just hosts, they’re family.
We came as a new team to a new country, eager for a new month of ministry and already they’ve made us feel and know we’re at home.
Home, I always thought was a tangible place where you grew up. A place where you stay until turning 18 then move out from. A place you can always go back to for moms chocolate chip cookies and dads scrambled eggs, pancakes, and bacon.
Home was a place where you feel safe. A place you can trust to be fully yourself knowing no judgement will come from that.
A place of joy and laughter, and a place of tears and sorrow. A place with memories of family game nights, friends sleepover parties, and the annual family thanksgiving dinner.
Home is an invitation; no matter what you’ve done or no matter what you’ve been through, you are welcomed.
I’ve seen this reality of “home” all throughout the race. But Bryan and Beth have taught me already that home is not necessarily a place, it’s a person…His name is Jesus.
You see, Bryan and Beth have shown us that this home is a knowing and feeling of being loved and that love is from Jesus.
This love is automatic.
It’s love that doesn’t take time to evaluate you or try to understand you or figure you out.
It’s love that doesn’t see you waiting at the door knocking and doesn’t let you in. It’s welcoming.
It’s love that regardless of who you are, what your life history is, what you look like, you are instantly loved.
Why and how?
It’s love that is from Jesus. You see,
Jesus’ love is never an evaluation process it’s an engagement promise.
Jesus doesn’t create margins that we have to “fit into” in order to earn or feel loved by him.
His love a covenant bond that is an everlasting promise.
Bryan and Beth have taught me that home is more than an inviting place, it’s an invitation to meeting Jesus. Will you come home?
