I Am Martha

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.  She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's fee listening to what he said.  But Martha was distracted by all the preparation that had to be made.  She came to him and asked, 'Lord , don't you care that my sister had left me to do the work by myself?  Tell her to help me!'

'Martha, Martha,' the Lord answered, 'you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed - or indeed only one.  Mary has choisen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.'  Luke 10:38-42

Oh Martha, I feel for you.  I am so much like you.  I get caught up in the tasks on my to-do list and lose sight of the other things that are so much more important.  I like to blame it on being an introvert or call my personality “task-oriented,” but the truth is that I simply have my priorities out of whack much of the time. 

My husband, on the other hand, has the uncanny ability to stop, slow down, forget about all the stuff on the to-do list, and prioritize what is most important in the moment.  He knows how to put people first.  He knows how to stop and just love those around him.  Frankly sometimes it gets on my nerves as I am running around in a frantic state trying to get everything done and being overcome by my perfectionist tendencies rather than overcome with the love of Christ for his creation.  In these moments I tend to share those not so polite words with him rather than reflecting on his ability to stop and be like Mary.  

Sorry, babe.

Being a mom has helped me with this some.  As I watch my boys grow up I realize how quickly time goes by and how important it is to savor every moment.  Suddenly Josiah is 5 months old and growing more and more mobile.  Suddenly Eli is truly becoming a little boy and understanding more and more of what I am saying and actually beginning to have conversations with me.  Where did the time go?  There are so many important lessons I want to teach them.  One of the big ones is to be like Mary – to let go of all that “needs” to be done and prioritize loving Christ and the world that he created.  In order to teach this lesson I am going to have to start with changing myself and the way that I prioritize.  I want my sons to see me reflect this love to them and all of the other people we come in contact with on a daily basis.

I am Martha, but this year I want to work on being more like Mary.