Unexpected Guests

Have you ever gotten a text from someone that said “Hey, we’re in the neighborhood and thought we’d stop by since we haven’t seen you in forever! We’ll be there in twenty minutes!!”

And then you have a heart attack because your house is a total wreck, and you debate whether to pretend you’re not actually home, and then realize your cars won’t fit in your garage and that your kids are way too loud to pull that off, so you begin the ‘ten-second-tidy’? 

In case you don’t know what that is, it’s where you throw things into places they don’t belong, but no one else will ever look there, so it LOOKS like your house is clean without it actually having to BE clean. 

And to host visitors for a short period of time (at least you HOPE they won’t stay too long because, well, you were relaxing before you got that text), no one will ever find out that you’ve done a quick-throw-everything-visible-somewhere-and-it-will-be-good-enough kind of tidy up.



So you take all the dirty dishes from the counter and stovetop, and throw them in the oven. 

And you move the full litter box to the garage. And spray Febreeze through the air as you walk back into the house. 

And then you run to light a candle that smells like baking cookies while you pile some store bought ones on a plate, and you brew a pot of coffee. Just because it seems like a hostess-y thing to do, and it’s the easiest thing you have to feed these intruders, I mean, friends. (And the smell of coffee will cover a multitude of stink, amiright?)

And you have a marvelous visit. You’re SO glad these friends stopped by, and you tell them to do it again whenever they are in the area. 

And you actually mean it.

And then you go plop yourself back on the couch once they leave, because looking around, the house looks GOOD, and you figure you’ll REALLY clean tomorrow. Or the next day at the latest. 

Although you may have secretly been crossing your fingers behind your back at yourself when you made that promise. 

But then you forget all your quick-fix ‘secret cleaning tricks’, and the next night you preheat the oven with all your dirty dishes in it. And stuff melts, and glass breaks, and there is stink and smoke, and now you have a much bigger mess than you did to start with. Plus you have to buy new stuff to replace the things that got ruined from the heat of the oven. 

I totally get it. Sometimes these things happen. We get tired. We have a lot of things going on. We just want to ‘sit down for one minute for crying out loud’ without anyone needing anything from us- instead of wiping up one more mess, or cleaning up one more thing, or folding one more load of laundry. 

I have kind of been in that rut myself lately. 

But it’s not really helpful in the long run, these short moments of rest instead of just ‘doing the thing’ (dishes, laundry, cooking the food, wiping up a spill). 

Because after my ‘rest’ while all these things are still in the back of my mind, when I’m confronted again with these chores I am even more resentful that they’re still there and someone else didn’t do them for me while I was resting. 

Sometimes when we do the easy thing instead of the best thing, it leaves us with a bigger mess on our hands. 

And I do this with my spiritual life at times too.

“Oh, I’ll read my Bible when I get home from work.”

“I’ll deal with this when I’m in a better place.”

“I’ll do devotions with the kids when they’re a little older and can sit still longer.”

“I’ll make things right with that person next time I see them.”

It may be easier in the moment to sleep in a little later, put off dealing with an issue that is affecting me, not try to figure out how to teach my kids the Bible, delay making things right because I’m uncomfortable and don’t want to admit I was wrong- but in the long run, it’s just going to leave a bigger mess for me later. 

And then I’m going to be even more resentful. 

Doing the right thing is not always easy. A lot of the time it requires sacrifice: denying ourselves and our flesh, serving others, and resting when the work is finally done. And that is definitely NOT easy. But it is best.

And don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it. I need help all the time!! And capable people are always found to step in and help out. 

So read your Bible, wash that dish, deal with that issue, teach your kids, make things right…

Because eventually that ‘cookie baking’ scented candle will run out, or get blown out, that Febreeze bottle will be empty, and you’ll be left with the actual smell of your uncleaned house, litter box and all. 

Or burned up dishes in the oven that you forgot about. 

Trust me on this one, it isn’t pleasant. 

Galatians 6:9-10
(9) And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
(10) As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Colossians 3:17
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

1 Corinthians 13:4-5
(4) Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
(5) Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

James 1:22-25
(22) But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
(23) For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
(24) For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
(25) But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.