Mary vs. Martha?

I was reading in Luke 10 today, and the chapter finishes up with the story of Mary and Martha. Now, while I understand the message of the story, I have to say I have always kind of sympathized with Martha. It is very nice to get to sit at Jesus' feet and listen to Him...but somebody's got to make dinner, right? I mean, Jesus and his disciples had to eat, and there was a lot of work to be done - it seems a little unfair that Martha does all the work, doesn't get any help from her sister, and then gets chastised for saying something about it!

As a mom, especially of little kids, life feels a lot more "Martha" than "Mary" most of the time. There are so many mundane but urgent chores that just have to get done. Your kids have to eat - and it seems like they are always hungry (I just got asked for "second breakfast" even as I type this...). Laundry has to be done - lots of it! Babies have to be nursed and changed and sometimes carried everywhere you go. While I would love to have those hours to devote to Bible study and prayer, most days that just doesn't happen. Bible study is reading a few verses out loud to the kids, which takes an hour because I spend most of the time making them sit down and be quiet and stop fighting, and prayer is usually a quick "Lord, please help me to survive until bedtime!" It doesn't exactly feel like sitting at Jesus' feet.

What I started thinking about today is that Jesus didn't rebuke Martha for what she was doing - the cooking, the cleaning, the preparation. I mean, she was serving Him. It was the way she was doing it. He said "you are worried and concerned about many things." Now, this is not intended to be a theological statement, but what I took away from this is that Martha was kind of perfectionist. Everything had to be "exactly right" for Jesus - and I totally understand that. If He was coming over to my house for dinner, I would go crazy cooking and cleaning and drilling the kids exactly what to say - and what not to say! I would want to make a good impression! And she was so worried about this that she lost sight of the important part: that Jesus was there!

In a way, it's very freeing. Everything doesn't have to be perfect. I can sit down to do Bible with the kids before the dishes are all done (which I did today...;-) I can spend time playing with my children even if my living room is messy or there are still 5 loads of laundry waiting to be done. Meals can be simple and unfussy as long as they are nutritious. Because I realized that all of these chores, all of this work, these everyday things that have to be done, don't stay done. They are not eternal. In fact, they usually don't last the day! But the time I took yesterday to sit down and make Valentines with Joseph, or to cuddle my exhausted little girl back to sleep, or to struggle and fight with the kids in order to make sure we got their Bible stories read today - those are the kind of things which are going to last. Jesus said whatever we do unto the "least of these," we're doing for Him.