it was a double blessing

this week we had a lodger come to stay with us who was in between housing. At first we thought it was us who were being a blessing to him...but looking back over the week i can see that it was us who was also blessed.
You see, my hubby and I are not on the same page when it comes to "charity" and acts like that. He is from a hard working, loving family, but they are not of the "church"...and neither are my family. I do attend a church, and we all hlep each other out, whether it is by cooking meals for needy families( after a baby or illness etc) or provide assistance in the form of hampers at Xmas, driving people places....etc etc.
So when i saw that a young bloke needed a room for a week i was thinking nothing of offering him one. My hubby struggled with it, but he wanted to honour my wishes, and so he agreed.
WE had a couple arguments in the first few days as it was weird having someone else in our home, and hubby didnt like that my attention was on three kids and the lodger. I did notice that we had even less time together as i was up with the lodger talking and advising, and generally trying to help him out emotionally during the time he was with us.
The good part came though, when it was Saturday night - late - kids finally in bed and hubby and i arguing as quietly as we could (normally we are yellers!). Being forced into a heated argument and having to keep our voices low provided a whole new way of arguing for us. Because it was quiet, we HAD to be more respectful, and therefore our discussion wasnt so heated. We nutted out our opinions, and we resolved the conflict in record time and without being mean and nasty - blessing #1.
During the week i spent many hours talking with the lodger and helping him to acknowledge some key adult-behaviours that he needed to adopt. It helped hubby and i crystallize our parenting plan for our own children, and also helped us to see how we would react to a child acting in the same manner as the lodger - blessing #2.
When he finally left yesterday hubby and i could take a big deep breath and realise how we had just sown into a young bloke's life with seeds of harmony, and example of how a family should be. We now know without doubt that unity means harmony, and together we looked after this bloke - blessing #3.
The best thing we got out of the week is that hubby is really proud of me for caring so much about other people that i would let someone into an already busy household, and i would love them like my own child. And i am proud of my hubby for accepting that this is the desire of my heart, and whilst it is ludicrous to him, he allowed me to shine with the gifts i am developing too - blessing #4.