11.08.2009

I think cleaning is my love language...



I am crying a little as I type this post... Guys, we possibly have the Best. Friends. Ever. You know, the kind of friends that do things for you just because life has been a little stressful lately. The kind of friends that know what will bless you even when you don't.

Let me elaborate... We've been spending our weekends in the Springs with Adam's dad. It's a good choice for us- we want to be there as much as possible. Plus, Burke is the great smile-maker, which is fantastic when you're as sick as Mark is.

However, it means that our 'normal' life has been shelved for a bit. And particularly, chores like mopping, scrubbing bathrooms, raking our leaves, house projects, etc. are currently kind of tough to get to. Life isn't super rough (certainly, CERTAINLY, not as rough as Mark's life currently), just a little chaotic and on pause.

Enter our fabulous friends. This weekend, while we were in the Springs, they let themselves into our house and cleaned EVERYTHING... they scrubbed our cooktop and window wells and floors and tile and the top of our fridge (yep, you read right) and cleaned our laundry room and shined every possible surface and even handwashed our wine and martini glasses (I should interject that anyone you trust to clean your house and see how gross it really gets are good friends indeed) until there was a faint fragrance of lemon and shiny, sparkly goodness as far as the eye can see. The guys also raked 12 bags of leaves and yanked out a tree that Adam has been wanting to chop down (it provides too much shade in the garden). Then, as if that weren't enough, they distributed beautiful bouquets of flowers throughout the house, left us a whole pile of treats (and dinner in our freezer) and went on their merry way... It was like the forrest friends on Cinderella whisked through, cleaning everything in their path, leaving us Coke Zero and wine and brownies and Starbucks gift cards and then scurried home.


I vaccilate between wanting to spend every moment here to soak in the pristine clean and wanting to get the heck out of here to preserve the goodness for as long as humanly possible.

We are a bit overwhelmed and SO thankful. It is such a picture of God's graciousness to us; His extravagant, you-don't-need-it-but-I'll-give-it-because-it'll-delight-you provision. I think this is how things are supposed to be in a community and we are so privileged to be a part of such a thing.

6 comments:

kjds said...

I love how the body of Christ steps in when we need an extra hand or two! and i love that you posted this - what a blessing to hear that your sweet friends did such a sweet thing! and its a great idea for me to pass onto some friends myself!

praying for mark -- and you guys!

Evette said...

Y'all do have wonderful friends and we are grateful for them, too. We are blessed to have you so close that you can come down on the weekends to spend time with us (even if you do have to clean out my yucky refrigerator and freezer!! So to have your house spic and span when you get home is extra special. What a blessing!

Tricia said...

How sweet of them kirst! good friends are such an awesome blessing in our lives. So glad they are there to take care of you guys

Mandy said...

wow that IS awesome. i'm tearing up a bit too...

Leslie said...

Friends are so amazing and such a blessing. It seems as if all the Gentrys have needed cleaning help- a friend of mine came over and cleaned my house last week when I could barely get out of bed! We sure couldn't make it without friends- let's thank the Lord together for thier kindness.

pjmj said...

i love it when God blesses us w/ surprises like that.