Preparing for Guests

So this is a struggle I think many of us have- at least I hope we do or I am really putting myself out there :-) We make plans with a friend, make arrangements for dinner guests or even just a play date- in the hours before we run around like a chicken with our head cut off trying to make everything "perfect" or "acceptable" for our guests. If somebody is coming over for dinner we try to make our "best" or "favorite" dish- we pull out all the stops.

This past summer a wise young girl said to me, "I really don't like going crazy cleaning our house before people come over- I feel like I am living a lie because this isn't how our house normally is." I thought about that for a bit and then thought, well she will understand when she is older. It is funny though, every time I was preparing for a guest I would hear her little voice in the back of my head.

Cleaning is not the love of my life- I would much rather be doing other things, not that we live in filth because we don't, I clean it just isn't my favorite thing! My scripture several months ago (thanks to an amazing women's retreat!) was Titus 2:4-5, "Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God." Being busy in the home really stuck with me and motivated me to be constantly "doing." Boy did I miss the ball- as usual :-) Sorry boys- can't play right now, doing laundry- sorry boys can't read a book- I'm cleaning. Really?! Is cleaning more important than this precious short time I have with my boys before they are grown? Isn't being busy caring for your children and training them? Of course...but I am a little slow. Don't get me wrong my children need clean clothes and we can't live in filth- so these things need to be done but not constantly- it is a balance- not one I have perfected or even come close so don't ask me how :-)

So my scripture this week is Col 3:23 "Whatever you do, work at it with your whole heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." which I promptly placed on my microwave- doing dishes is painful for all of us :-) This scripture got me thinking though- what if Jesus was our dinner guest? How would I prepare for Him? I should prepare dinner for my family, clean- everything as unto the Lord. So...how would I prepare for Him? My first thought- oh man I would need to get down on my hands and knees and scrub the base boards, wash windows, scrub the walls- oh no I have a lot of work to do before the family gets home- I am SLACKING!! Then I thought- if Jesus came as our dinner guest- would He walk in and say "Hey Michelle those base boards look fantastic, I am so pleased you cleaned them before I came!" Yeah- sounds silly even saying it right? He cares about what is in my heart not the dirt in the corners of my home. What do you think He would want me to do? Go crazy cleaning to impress Him or prepare my heart for him?

Am I preparing my house to impress our guests by exhausting myself and exasperating my family or am I pleasing the Lord by preparing my heart for the guest's arrival so I can please Him in my actions when the guests arrive? I am sad to say that I tend to want to impress my guests by exhausting myself, exasperating my family to have a nice looking exterior when I am really serving leftovers.

Thank you to that dear child whose voice has been in the back of my head...you made me come to realize instead of you understanding when you were older- I needed to understand.