Mary VS Martha - a battle within

It's a bouncing, baby BLOG! Thanks for reading my first ever blog.

Do you ever look around your house, then think to yourself, "Boy, I sure hope no one comes over this afternoon."? Isn't that the most awful thought? Have you ever noticed that when your house is spotless, no one drops by to see it, but miss a day or two of housework and you become the most popular person on the block? What if you could find a balance so that every day you could think, "I wonder who might stop by today," with a positive outlook? Inside of us we have a battle going on. It started with Mary and Martha. In the Bible, the two sisters were hosting a dinner for Jesus and Martha became completely occupied with the preparations to the point that she didn't leave any time to visit with her guest. Mary, on the other hand, sat at his feet and got to know him. He told her she made the best choice because he would only be with her for a little while. Most days I feel the sisters within me, both tugging me this way and that way, each wanting me to devote more time to one of them than the other. The best days are the days that Mary wins. Occasionally, my Martha has to have her way, too or else the family might all catch the plague from my lack of housework. My middle son Wyatt, asked this morning, "Are the dishes in the dishwasher clean?"(Shh,don't tell Martha he even had to ask!) When it comes to spending time with God, he's aways waiting for me to quit toiling away in the kitchen and sit and visit with him. I believe he smiles when we, as a family, spend time doing his work at the expense of household perfection because it's a sacrifice of my heart. When I lower my "Mrs. Clean" standards a bit,not completely but enough to an acceptable level, I relax and invite my friends over. In the end I feel so much richer. My friends bless me with laughter and hope that we will gather again. I hope to make them feel welcome in my home, no matter which sister has won the battle that week. It's also important to the boys that I choose Mary's way more often. Dakota, our youngest boy, doesn't care WHAT condition the house is in when he asks, "Mom, can we do a puzzle?". Our older boys, Josh and Dustin, thank their dad and me for sleepovers that we answered, "yes" to - little do they know inside I'm remembering a time when I'd say, "No, maybe tomorrow when everything's clean (&perfect!)", a time before we encouraged new friendships. Once in a while, when Mary has been "ruling the roost" for too many days in a row, my dear husband, Chris comes to the rescue and gets things back in order, so a shout-out is in order: Thanks, Honey! So, examine your calendar and see if you have been welcoming people lately or avoiding them. Has anyone dropped by with a plate of cookies to thank you for something you did for them? Were you excited to see a familiar car pull up in the driveway, delivering a surprise visitor? You will see those visits, activities with the kids, times of serving outside the home and time inside getting to know your Savior will build on each other and soon you will notice your life is blooming with friendships, new memories, a stronger spiritual walk.