You See, There's the Problem

You want to rile a group of Christian women in no time flat? Bring up Mary and Martha; you know the sisters in Luke. I'm willing to bet (figuratively, not in the gambling sense unless you're talking chocolate; then it's double or nothing) that within a matter of minutes, probably seconds, someone starts defending Martha.

"But, Martha was serving! Someone had to do it. Mary was just sitting there. Of course, Martha was irritated. I would be too doing all that work, for all those people, all by myself. You know those men weren't helping. Martha gets a bad rap. It's not fair."

The arguments may vary, but the sentiments are the same. As women, we're tired; we live out the saying every day (& night): A woman's work is never done. It's exhausting; and it's worse when we feel unappreciated or ignored by those we think could lighten the load. I intentionally said when we feel.

I entered December feeling much like Martha. For most women, December in America can easily be draining. The tyranny of the urgent was pressing and I was sinking. Mary wasn't sitting in my living room, but had she been, I surely would have stomped my foot and said, "Lord, tell her to help me! Am I going to have to coordinate her Christmas wishlist, take care of prepping her for the Christmas card photos (her hair hasn't been trimmed in ages), buy presents for everyone in her family, wash her clothes, buy her groceries and cook for her, too?" Because that would have put me over the edge I tell you.

My husband tried to encourage me to relax, but I jumped to my defense as quickly as we jump to Martha's. "Sure I should take a break, but how will all these things get done? Cause you know what? [I'm pretty sure my hands were on my hips by now] If it doesn't happen, no one will say, 'I can't believe that husband didn't get "x" taken care of.' Nope. All you have to do is work and buy me a present and you're good." I'm not proud of it, but I admit it. I was c.r.a.n.k.y. Make that "c" Capital.

You see, my problem was the same as Martha's. Luke 10:40-41 tell us that Martha was distracted, anxious, troubled, worried, bothered, and so pulled that she neglected the one thing that was necessary.