Fulfilling the Vision? or Swamped by Projects?

My hubby and I are currently reading a wonderful book by our pastor, Gregg Matte:

Finding God's Will: Seek Him, Know Him, Take the Next Step

In fact, our small group Bible Study that meets in our home each week is going through it together.

A few days ago, a particular passage from Chapter 11 spoke to me, and I wanted to share it with you.

The chapter's content is about leading, Matte defines two words: vision and projects.

vision: the grand direction of God's leading

projects: the short-term, incremental tasks that are done to arrive at the goal

Matte gives an example of how projects tend to get in the way of our vision.

His example is that of people who have a vision of living in a comfortable,
hospitable home which is open to frequent visitors.  

However, the homeowners get stuck in project mode &

never get around to having friends over to fellowship.

The pressure of perfection leads them to more and more projects.

"The patio furniture is seldom occupied; the china remains in the cabinet; no one comes over to the house; while the homeowners continue to scurry to finish unending projects." 

That's obviously not what they initially intended, but rather something more like this, 

where their projects point to their vision...

"...Clean the house to mess it up with a party; use the china so much that you know you'll break some; have a tremendous conversation with a loved one on the patio as spring blossoms.  Play in the yard with your kids so much that there are worn spots."

He concludes the section by saying

"allow the vision to drive the projects instead of the projects squelching the vision."

Is your vision to have a home that's welcoming, a place of fellowship,

a home where the door is always open to visitors?

That's definitely the vision for our home.

I used to get so nervous that people would judge my decorating skills 

because these two chairs  still weren't recovered, or my table wasn't refinished,

or I hadn't hung pictures, or my yard had weeds, etc. etc. etc.
Before I realized that my projects had skewed my vision, there were definitely missed
opportunities of opening our home to others. 

If I had continued to allow those imperfections to get in the way of hosting friends and family, 

I cringe at the thought of how many missed opportunities to love and fellowship we'd have missed.

How many Bible studies? Christmas brunches? Easter lunches? baby showers? or birthday parties?

would I have chosen not to host just because I was focused on completing the projects

rather than fulfilling our vision. 

Do you have projects left unfinished? Don't let them stand in your way!

Fulfill your vision this weekend! Invite the neighbors over, plan a party, make a mess, 

break some china while you're at it. 

and l.o.v.e. on people in your home, just as you intended to do from the beginning!

source: 

Finding God's Will by Gregg Matte

Chapter 11, pages 182-183