Guests

Romans 12:12-13, "Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful. When God's children are in need, be the one to help them out. And get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner or, if they need lodging, for the night."

This summer I had planned on getting several things accomplished. One of them was to potty train my youngest son. None of my plans were fulfilled. God had other plans! He had a family of six move into our house with us. It has been interesting hearing peoples reactions when I would tell them that we had six children in our house, all six years old and younger. Most people were amazed and would say that we were crazy, or that they could never do that. The family that we had here were very appreciative and thanked us often. But the funny thing is, the ones you help never get as much out of it as the helper does.

God has blessed us this summer, by changing our plans. This opportunity has been an opportunity that will never pass us by again. When I think of this, I shudder to think of all the things I miss out on, just because it is not in my plans. God knows what we need and he knows what we can handle. The summer is now over and our guests have moved out. It is time to settle back into our home as a family, but things are different. I thank God, things are different. I am a very hard woman. I was having a hard time with my two boys and expecting too much of them. What are two of your own, when you have been dealing with six, four that are not even yours, for the summer. Two now seems easy. God knew I needed to see the bigger picture and that I needed to soften.

My MS flared up at the beginning of the summer and I needed help in keeping my focus. If there had not been another family living with us, I may have gone into a pity party all summer. I cried for one day, because of the fatigue, then I had to get back to work. If I hadn't had a large house to run, I may have had to tendency to hide away and sulk. I have been very blessed, in dealing with MS, but I had become too relaxed in my job of taking care of my body. I needed to be woken up. I also needed to be reminded that I could still function and work even while dealing with a "spell."

Having others in your home opens your eyes to many things. It is good to see how other couples work together and how they handle their children. If you never look at anyone but yourself, how are you going to know if you are doing things correctly? You can pull off a false front for a time, but you become relaxed and your true self starts to emerge. If you do not want others to see that side of you, you better be willing to look at yourself through others eyes and change before you are forced to change. We get too possessive of our things. These things, our house, our car, my boys and their toys, our clothes, or even our children are not ours. They have all been given to us by God. He wants us to bless others the same as He has blessed us. We are not to be selfish. We are to share. It is never really for the other person, anyway. We will always grow. We will never go out of the situation feeling empty.

Get into the habit of inviting guests into your home. You will live a more rich, more blessed life because of allowing others to share their lives with you. I have learned more from other people and thinking that "I have something to offer them." Really I am the one that learns something and I am the one that needed the help. Thank you for sharing your lives with us. Thank you for allowing us to learn from you. Thank you for being part of our family, we are so blessed.