I haven’t posted in a while primarily due to two factors. Surprise! My husband invited his brother and family from Kansas to spend the night at our house while on their way to San Antonio, and we were going to be in College Station visiting our Aggie girl. Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. If you’re a clutterbug like me, you know what it means to have to clear the decks on short notice.

The second obstacle was a case of some unidentified respiratory crud that made breathing a challenge and coughing a way of life. It slowed me down and rendered me only about 29 percent effective for a few days. As I recovered (and our visitors’ arrival approached), I was able to boost output closer to 60 percent for crisis cleaning.

The weekend before our company, Shawn was finishing up a project installing home theater speakers in the great room and, for a while, making an even bigger mess. We had to dig out six-year-old paint to touch up cabinets and get a fresh quart of the wall color to paint the cover hiding speaker wires. Out of respect for my husband, I won’t mention how many years ago he bought me the home theater system (love you, hon).

Once he finished, crisis cleaning commenced. How long had it been since I had dusted the ceiling fan? Can you tell by measuring the layer of dust? I wiped down my kitchen cabinets and scrubbed so hard in some places that the pickled finish (all the rage in 1995) was decimated. I vacuumed the wooden blinds in the great room with some success, but the same white blinds in the breakfast nook were so sticky that I had to settle for wiping off the worst of the dark splatters and leaving most of the dust intact. Was that chocolate syrup, soy sauce or barbecue sauce? When I started dusting the plastic mini-blinds in the master bath, slats started breaking like the warm, thin tortilla chips from Oscar’s. A carefully placed cafe curtain hid the damage.

I did get Rebekah and Anna to help out. Rebekah vacuumed the house while Anna cleaned her bathroom and did laundry.

My closet still hasn’t gotten much attention because I focused on the clutter everyone could see. I tackled the books and magazines overflowing the nightstand and basket by my bed and the papers piled on my desk. Shawn cleared the dining room table of cameras, photos and mementos from my dad who passed away two months ago.

The truth is it was good to get the house cleaner than it’s been in a long time. While far from perfect, we made a lot of progress in a matter of days. And the good news is I am not dreading turning over my house to a bunch of eighth grade girls this weekend for a church retreat (well, maybe a little apprehensive).

Romans 12:13 urges Christians to “practice hospitality.” All too often, I use my cluttered, dirty house as a reason to avoid hospitality, but if I want to bless others, I need to embrace those opportunities. I am thankful we could have Shawn’s brother, sister-in law and five kids stay at our home because I want to bless them, just as I want to help young women draw closer to the Lord this weekend.

God is not looking for me to be perfect. He wants me to take steps of obedience.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:9