Does Your House Have To Be Clean?

Growing up, my Mom always wanted the house to be really clean when guests came over, like sparkling! I liked our house clean as much as the next person, but if things weren't perfect, the joy started to drain out of my family, the peace was gone. Because of that I have become somewhat of a neat freak, cleaning for fun and all that. Recently I've been praying about this and the motive behind it. The following is an article from Crosswalk that really hits home with me and really captures my heart now:


Does Your House Have to be Clean?
Sandy Coughlin
Crosswalk.com Contributor

When I think of hosting in our home, the first thing that comes to mind is all the cleaning I’ll have to do. Sometimes it’s hard to get beyond that issue, so that I just end up dropping the idea of having people over. How can I change my attitude about cleaning so that it doesn’t hinder hospitality in our house?

Last week we had friends over for a dinner, and I didn’t clean my house! It was an internal war inside - do I vacuum, dust and clean - or just let it go?

I’ll admit it. Sometimes I can be pretty lazy when it comes to deep-cleaning my house. A quick pick-up is definitely easier and quicker!

But what will my guests think?

Will they even notice?

Perfectionism
Recently a friend shared her struggles with me, admitting that her house having to be perfect was the main reason she hadn’t had anyone over in months. It’s a shame, too, because she has a cute apartment within walking distance of her church.

She’s afraid to have people over because most of her friends are neat-freaks, and she’s afraid her place won’t meet their standards.

Prioritize

When it comes to hospitality, we often lose our focus as life gets hurried and complicated. We dash around doing things that really don’t matter (like cleaning the house before the guests arrive!), and then our perspective shifts. We get so caught up in our present circumstances, trying to make things so perfect, that we can’t see beyond our difficulties.

Over the years I’ve learned to ask myself this: Would I rather continue on with what had already been a peaceful day - or kick it up a notch, running around crazily trying to make everything look just right? I won’t even mention what kind of mood that puts the whole family in.

I’ve learned to prioritize what the important aspects of entertaining are (obviously getting the food on the table in a timely manner), and I’ve decided that a happy family and a relaxed hostess are way more important to me than having things perfect.

Perspective

We had such a great time with our guests, but it’s so easy to get our perspective out of balance. At one point I found myself looking down at the un-vacuumed carpet. For a split second I was embarrassed. Then I looked up into the faces of those around our table and my perspective shifted back into place.

It’s not about the crumbs on the floor or the disorganized piles around the house. It’s not even that I am lazy when it comes to house cleaning. I definitely don’t fall into the mold of being a neat freak! I just tend to have a very busy, hectic schedule at times and I’m trying to prioritize what really matters.

I’d rather keep strong friendships going than give them up for a clean house.

Does your house have to be perfectly clean before you’ll invite others in?