Thursday, December 2, 2010

the christmas season...

so i'm in a new season of life these days...
waking up in the middle of the night, changing lots of diapers, but also gazing into a new set of eyes that have (lord willing) so much life ahead of them...

there are lots of moments in the past few days of my life that i've looked at my to do list and anxiously sighed...
--- oh the bed that needs to get made, the laundry that needs to be folded, the pictures that need to be framed, the thank you notes that need to go out... the list could go on and on... and that's when i look at my two boys and i have the choice to make at that exact moment... do i look at them as a hinderance to my to do list or as two of the biggest blessings (beside luke and my salvation) in my life?! i'm human so the choice has not always been rightly made but i'm on the track to getting there... in my head for sure and in my heart and actions hopefully sooner rather than later.

so the other day i was reading in luke and stumbled upon the mary/martha story... if you haven't heard it the basic gist is that jesus comes to these sisters' house and mary sits at his feet and listens to him while martha is distracted serving him. and i honestly felt as though i was looking in the mirror of myself when i heard luke describe martha... she was distracted... her heart had a hint of right desire in wanting to serve jesus but she was so caught up in the serving (a.k.a. a good thing} but didn't do what mattered most at that time.

then i thought about how in the holiday season our focus should be so on baby jesus... we shouldn't be distracted by the gifts or the to do lists or the cookies we're making for our neighbors... instead we should be willing to daily listen to jesus and hear what he has for us. convicted, i stand guilty but i am so glad that i read this story when i did so that i can be mindful of the reason of the season. i'm still going to buy and wrap presents for those i love, carter and i are doing advent together, and we have a host of family traditions but to remember why we're celebrating in the first place..i want to be like mary rather than martha. Let's not get caught up in even doing great things like serving but get so distracted we can't see the reason behind it all. people, i'm singing to the choir here... remember who was in the martha mirror?!

so as a challenge to you... read the christmas story a few times before christmas instead of just that day, think about the people and perspectives of the people part of that epic day. and most of all spend time just listening for what jesus has to say to you. i'm not perfect at any of these... far from it in fact but progressing.. amen?!

let's let this christmas be different in a 'mary' way,
kg:)