A Mary Heart in a Martha World

Before I get going on my original post...2 exciting things! One, this page's new format! Let me know if you like it or not. I also added a snazzy signature. Believe it or not, that snazzy thing took me like an hour to come up with. Dorky, I know. Number two...I found my Google + page! Awhile ago I created one, but I could never get back to it (since their whole point is to be top secret...right?). And by accident I came across it! I x-ed out, so I don't know how to get back...but that's probably a good thing. I only have 4 friends anyways.

I was sitting in class last night, and I was bored so I wrote this post...

I bought the book "Having a Mary Heart in A Martha World" a few months ago, but hadn't had the chance to read it until now. And wow, is it speaking to my soul.

In case you didn't know the story of Mary and Martha, here it is:

At the Home of Martha and Mary

³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴²but few things are needed—or indeed only one.^[f] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

-Luke 10:38-42

Such a short parable and so much to get out of it. So this book I'm reading is kind of like a devotional on how to be like Mary instead of Martha. The willing listener. The one who drops anything for Jesus. To be honest, I don't do this. I'm totally Martha in just about every area in my life. I have so much going on, ranging from school to work to social life. And I know that this is no exception - I am not the busiest person in the world by far. Jesus needs to be coming first, yet somehow He keeps getting lost in my chaos. Or rather, I keep getting lost in my chaos. And the funny thing is, I know that once I keep Him first, I will have a peace that surrounds me.

But for some reason, I keep putting it off. Re-connecting, I mean. Maybe it's because I'm ashamed and feel guilty that I haven't been spending time with Him. It is a constant struggle for me and I feel that kind of awful when you've been avoiding someone, not because you don't like them, but because you don't know what to say. The awful thing is, when I think about this, I start to tear up. Here I am, sitting in class, with tears in my eyes over this. Side note - God doesn't make mistakes in the personalities he gave people, but he gave me a too-sensitive one!

To leave you with a quote...

"When we put work before worship, we put the cart before the horse. The cart is important; so is the horse. But the horse must come first, or we end up pulling the cart ourselves. Frustrated and weary, we can nearly break under the pressure or service, for there is always something that needs to be done. When we first spend time in his presence - when we take time to hear His voice - God provides the horsepower we need to pull the heaviest load. He saddles up Grace and invites us to take a ride."

I hope my shortcomings and vulnerability can be helpful for your journey...