A Little Bit Martha and a Whole lot of Mary

The story of sisters, Mary and Martha, as told in Luke 10: 38-42 can be found in myriads of articles on balancing your life as a woman. A simple Google search returns 71,400,000 results in a mere 0.47 seconds.  So, why am I still trying to figure it out?

We all know that Martha was the "busybody" and Mary was more the "free-spirit."  We also know that in today's culture, you need a healthy balance of both in your personalities.  Yet, what if you are a whole lot of Mary and only a little bit Martha?  Where do you go from there?

First, and foremost, GET RID OF THE LABELS.  It's too easy to get caught up in who you are and who you aren't according to this world's standards, even the standards that are set before us by our closest loved ones.  It's soul-crushing when someone you love tells you  that you don't measure up to their expectations.  It's especially hard when you feel like you've made major strides in areas of life where you have felt weak.  Regardless of the "deficiencies" that have been pointed out to you, you don't have to live in the shadow created by hurtful words.

If you haven't guessed it by now, I am a whole lot of Mary.  I relish the idea of sitting at the feet of Jesus, talking, sharing, learning, growing.  Eventually, I'd notice that there were things to be done and people to attend to, but I'd probably be a wee bit late in making the mental switch from eager learner to eager hostess.  Don't get me wrong.  If you come to my home, I will do my best to prepare for you and serve you.  And, herein lies my problem.  I'm eager to serve, just not necessarily to serve the right people at the right time.

What's interesting to me, is that as I reflect upon the Mary and Martha spirits, I realize that I'm Martha in a lot of ways.  I AM a busy body.  Not only do I have my hand in a multitude of social connections, but I get bored easily, so I move from one thing to another without completing the first 10 things I started.  I'm uber-creative and I haven't found a way to channel that into "Creative Housecleaning 101" or "Cooking by Numbers 102 (maybe those numbers should be switched around. . .,now,  where was I?)  Instead of being a "Susie Homemaker" kind of Martha, I'm a whole other kind of busybody.  I thrive to help and encourage and inspire others.  If you know your color personality type, I'm a Yellow/Red (the ultimate extrovert).  I bet Mary was a Yellow/Red too.  But, when you look at the Blue/Green nature of  Martha,  how she prepared and analyzed and got offended, it makes me wonder if I really have a Mary spirit after all.

I do know who I am.  I am more than a conqueror!  I am the daughter of a King that is not moved by the things of this world and who goes before me in all things!  I am a warrior in God's mighty army!

But, I do need to find my softer, gentler side.  Not that I don't have one, but I need to learn to tap into it while I am at home.  Something happens when I enter my house.  I'm not sure what to call this phenomenon but I can tell you that I switch from being a Martha to a Mary in about a 1/2 second flat. 

Which are you?  Are you the Martha that loves to clean and cook and is great at taking care her family?  Are you the Martha that runs headlong into other people's problems and issues and lets them consume her life?  Or are you Mary?  Sitting at the feet of Jesus, not really counting the cost, soaking up her surroundings and allowing all else to fade into the background.

Now that I think about it, there is yet another Mary to consider.  Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Who was she most like?  It's not my place to suppose, but I imagine that she had a little bit of all of them in her.  We don't know much about her, except she was favored of God, humble, willing to serve and faithful to the will of the Father.

I think I'd like to be like Jesus' Mary.  It's a very high bar to set, but what an amazing example of a woman after God's own heart.. . after all, half that heart was hers.