It drives me crazy! I just can't seem to settle down and focus on my morning Bible study with dirty cereal dishes in the sink, laundry that needs to be sorted, a spattering of orange juice leaking out of the baby's sippy cup, and dates that need to be added to the calendar after the soccer coach changed all the practices! I long to be Mary, happily pushing all other things aside to concentrate on the one thing of importance - immersing myself in the Word of God each morning. But reality slams its way into my brain, screaming that I have to get certain household chores started before I sit at the kitchen table with that steaming cup of coffee and open my Bible.

My sister came for a visit last October, and if I have ever seen a "Martha" it is her! When she left my house, she had criticized many of my housekeeping skills. She made note of the dust bunnies in the corner behind the door. She even made a comment about that spilled ketchup blob in the refrigerator door that had yet to be wiped up. My sister also wondered how I could just sit and talk when the rug so obviously needed a vacuuming. Don't get me wrong - overall, my house is in order! Clothes are clean and put away, the kitchen is always cleaned after each meal, and I try really hard to corral all those dust bunnies each day with a Swiffer. But I am nothing like my sister.

A week after my sister's visit, she sent me a card thanking me for my hospitality. And then she wrote, "You are such a Mary in a Martha world. I wish I could be more like you." I rode high on the comment for quite a few months. Wow! Someone dear to me had noticed my love for God's word.

I recently started an excellent study on the women of the Bible, and this week's lesson was on none other than Mary and Martha. I proudly thought to myself, "Oh, I've got this figured out! My sister said I was a Mary." But as I gathered my Bible, my pens, and my study, I stopped to put a few dishes in the dishwasher, I remembered the soccer shoes outside that needed a good shaking, I ran upstairs to pull out a sweatshirt for my daughter who was chilly, I decided to quickly sweep up some spilled granola, I ran down to the basement to switch over the clothes into the dryer, I switched on the computer to get it ready for school, and then I thought that I should change the baby's diaper before getting started. Phew! By the time I finished all that, my time for study was cut about 20 minutes short.

In that study, the authors challenged me to stop what I was doing, get into prayer, and just listen to God speaking to me. You know what I did? I thought, "I don't have time for this," closed my book, and ran off to officially start my day.

Ugh! I am no Mary. I did not remember the one thing that was of utmost importance. I let the business of running a household and homeschooling my children get the best of my day. I remember hearing my pastor at church once say he thought Mary was once "a Martha." What comfort these words brought to my weary soul. Mary may have made poor choices in her past, choosing to run around the house making dinner and serving her guests. But on this day, with her Lord and Savior sitting in her living room, Mary made the right choice. It truly is a daily choice: who am I going to be today? Am I going to choose to spend some time listening to my Jesus, or am I going to try to impress my four children with a clean house and a well-cooked meal? What has lasting importance? What will influence my children more?

 

I am reminded of the Psalm that often gets peacefully quoted by women: "Be still and know that I am God." I often hear God screaming this in my head - shouting, "Enough! Stop! Be still! Get to know me!" It is in those times that I fall to my knees and humble myself before God, asking Him to forgive all the times I have put everything else in my life ahead of Him. How grateful I am to know that He is a God of mercy and that what He wants from me each morning is to simply come to Him and make the right choice.

 

"Oh, dear Lord, help me today to be a Mary. Help me to put everything aside and spend some quiet time in your presence, soaking in your truth and your love. Help me to quiet my mind and my heart so that I can hear you today. I want to be more like Mary this day. Amen."