Becoming a Martha

  Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:38-42).

Today is Friday (Oct. 8).  Praise the Lord! I have now been doing the Body Reboot program for one week and four days. I have done well so far with my eating and working out. Since starting the program, I have only been out to eat once and tried to stay away from bad foods (sweets, meals with preservatives, etc.) Go me!

With my "healthy living," I must admit that I have noticed a tremendous difference in my energy level.  I now sit down less when I am at home and have an urge to clean and tidy up the apartment.  I now look at my room, living room and/or kitchen and think "This is awful. I can't stand how dirty this is. I must clean it now!" (Am I becoming my mother too?!) My laziness to doing housework has somewhat subsided!  I wish I could say I watch less of my trashy TV shows since I'm not sitting around as much, but unfortunately I still watch them while I am up and cleaning.  Fist pump anybody!? But I digress...

As I was puttering away in the kitchen yesterday morning, cleaning the counters and hand washing dirty cooking pots, I started wondering if I was becoming a Martha versus the Mary I have always identified with and accepted I always would be. Usually in the mornings, if I could tear myself away from the TV, I would sit, read my Bible or devotional and have quiet time.  However with all of this energy, I now cook my breakfast (steel oats & scrambled egg whites), put up any dishes from the dishwasher and clean the pots and pans that I used for cooking breakfast.  I then hurry along in just enough time to dress, do my make up and hair and I'm out the door.  I'm doing, doing, doing and not taking a small amount of time to sit down and pray or read just a few scriptures. I now feel like Martha!

All of my life, I related to Mary.  I thought if Jesus ever came to talk to me at my house, I would definitely be the one to sit and listen.  Anything to get out of cleaning and cooking...just kidding! In some ways, I'm excited to become more like Martha and thankful for this new found energy and desire to do more and be more active. However, I do hope I keep some of a Mary spirit.  Becoming Martha  reminds me of how the older you get, the busier life becomes and the easier it is to be sucked into the world of endless to do lists, commitments, work outs and responsibilites.  It's important to remember your Mary spirit and take a quiet second to reflect on the blessings God has given us.

A month down the road, I could be eating my words about all of this energy. But for now, I'll continue on my healthy routine and embrace this drive to be active.

This is Martha signing off...