May 17, 2011

 
This weekend in between all our festivities, I realized it was my week to clean my Papa's house.

Ever since he moved closer, one week out of the month I clean and take over a meal or two.

At Papa's today, working all alone with the radio on I thanked God that I had this opportunity to serve.

When Papa lived a few cities away and my Uncle was living with him, I stayed away from his mobile home. 

First off, my Papa was rarely there.

Secondly, one never knew what my Uncle was up to since he was quite a drinker.

So, when my Uncle died in February, I was shocked to see the living conditions my Papa endured.

I pledged then and there to make sure that his quality of life improved by the simple act of caring for him through cleaning.

Thankfully, God blessed us with an opportunity to move him five minutes away and now--cleaning his house isn't a chore--it's a gift.  

Don't get me wrong, sometimes it's hard to squeeze it in. . .or sometimes having all three kids there when I try to clean is tiring, but blessing his home with a thorough once over truly is a gift: an opportunity to serve.

This same weekend, along with a friend we helped another neighbor- a man, often grumpy with our kids, who lives alone and suffered a mild stroke a couple weeks ago.

 

Our husbands and sons worked out in the yard while the girls worked on the inside.

The work went pretty quickly.

The end result looked better than when we started.

And I realized that cleaning, in and of itself is a type of ministry.

I know how good it feels to come home from work and realize my mom has emptied the dishwasher, 

or two days out of the month when I come home to a clean home.  

I feel uplifted.

I feel like I have some time on my hands to do things that are a little more enjoyable. . .

and I bet these guys: my papa and neighbor probably feel the same.

I was reminded on Courtney's blog Sunday that "the kind of hospitality that God is calling us to do is the kind when we reach out to someone with no repayment in return."This is what it means to truly serve--to expect nothing in return from that person--to serve from the heart.

Don't underestimate the blessings you give when you lend a helping hand--in any way that you can.

For me, this weekend it looked a lot like cleaning.

I'm happy to help.