Hospitality Journey: Day 7 Recap

What an incredible week. I really hope that if anyone else is doing this along with me that it has meant as much to them.  I don't think I've breathed this well or thought this clearly in a really long time.

So bottom line, short and sweet, I've realized this about having a time to be still each day and focus on the Lord in terms of hospitality:

If Jesus were a guest in my home, what would he need?

And the answer is this:  All he would need is me.

Love,
Kathryn

Hospitality Journey: Week 2: "Take Care of Yourself First"

This is the "Take Care of Yourself First" week.

I've been pretty excited about it-my hair, face and toenails have been excited about it too because I need a haircut, eyebrow wax, moisturizer and a pedicure.  All of these things I've put off, thinking I would have some great "spa day" after the baby was born.

Well, my sweet baby is 2 months old today.  And my hair is "religiously" long, meaning it looks like I've taken an oath to never, ever, ever cut it.  I thought I would at least get a pedicure today, but instead I opted to come home after working at the hospital and do laundry, dishes and cook dinner.  I know that getting my nails done is not one of Maslov's basic needs, and surely I can be self actualized with unpainted toenails, but I really didn't have an excuse not to go.  I even had a gift certificate that someone had secretly given to me (it showed up in an envelope in the container where I put bills but so far everyone has denied it.  So if you're out there reading this: Thank you!). I started to feel like perhaps I had a problem feeling guilty about taking care of my own needs, but bottom line is this:  Really, I think I would make a fantastic Amish woman.  No makeup, same dress style every day, no worries about haircuts?  Sign. Me. Up.

While I was home and had dishes/laundry/dinner going, I was able to have some quiet time and tried to think about what my needs were.  On Facebook today, I asked this same question and encouraged everyone to think of it like writing a "care manual" for yourself. So before today, I thought this would be the week where I focused on "getting a little pretty back" post-baby.  And then when I got to today, I really couldn't come up with what my real needs actually were!  So I started googling "taking care of yourself" and "basic needs" because, of course, the internet knows me better than I know myself.  I came across everything from the Self Love camp trying to make us all demi-gods demanding self worship to the Extreme Martyrdom camp where piousness also leads to self worship.

Why was this so hard?  Why couldn't I provide an answer for what I needed for MY body?

And then it hit me:  Because it's not my body.  

First and foremost, it's a temple where the Holy Spirit dwells.  Then it's my husband's body.  Then it's my body.  In the same way, Reid's body is first a temple for the Holy Spirit and then mine and then his.  

So as I go through the rest of this week, which was going to be all about "me," I realize I would likely take a lot better care of myself if I viewed my body as it should be-a temple for the Holy Spirit.  If I feed my children well, if I make sure Josephine goes to bed on time even when she doesn't want to, if I scrub her face and brush her hair-how much more would I take care of the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit?

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. -1 Corinthians 6:19-20

How do I meet my needs from this perspective?  Looking forward to a lot of time in the car tomorrow to think about just this.

Love,
Kathryn