Mary or Martha?

Are you familiar with the story about Mary and Martha? Mary sits at the feet of Jesus and listens to Him talk while Martha does all the work preparing their meal. Martha thinks that Mary should help and basically Jesus tells them that Mary has her priorities straight.

This has always been a hard one for me to understand. And the more children I have the more I struggle with it. There is ALWAYS work to be done and if someone doesn't do it no one will eat, have clean clothes to wear, a place to sit down (due to all the filth everywhere), and so on. So how could Jesus say that Mary was the one who was right? Shouldn't we get the work done and THEN sit and talk.

That's another thing I feel God is trying to teach me right now. That He will provide. Will He provide the food and clothes we need if I don't prepare it and go shopping? I'm still trying to figure that one out.

But lately I've felt that God is trying to tell me that life isn't about getting things done. It's about love. If we don't show love, if we don't feel love, what does all the rest matter? And if I do love others, they are much more likely to want what I have--Jesus in my life--than if I'm always working hard. And how do I show love if I'm always busy getting things done?

I would argue that some of the things I do show love to my family. That's important.

But that's not the end. With God I never really get the last word. I might stop listening, but I don't win the arguments.

My daughter Joy and I seem to clash too frequently. She's five and there's a bluntness in her words. She told me one day that she thinks I'm boring. Ouch. It wasn't one of those moments where she was trying to be mean. She was just trying to explain things to me. Dad is fun. He plays with her. Mom is boring. She just works all the time. Dad works a lot too. What's the difference? He plays. I just keep working. But I'm rarely done so I feel I can't quit.

I think that's what Jesus is talking about. We will always have the work. But the kids grow up way too fast. If I don't stop and find time to build those relationships, it will be too late. If I don't stop and take time to listen to God it's often too late.

So I need to be like Mary and do what needs to be done. That seems so very backward to me. How can I know what to do each day? I figure if I would just take a few minutes each day and pray and ask God, "What do YOU want me to do today?" then He'll give me my top priority for the day. He's done it before and those always end up being such wise choices for my day. So I'm going to try to do it every day. Then take the time to listen.

I want to be like Mary. It really sounds much more enjoyable.