Telling Martha Goodbye - Part 1

It's time for a little Goodbye, Martha history lesson...in two parts!

Almost a year ago I didn't do much of anything. I went to work. I came home. Repeat. I had a serious void in the area of good, Godly friendships. I started praying God would put people in my path that would help me grow in my faith.

Mercy sakes alive, did He ever listen!

Fast forward to May of 2008. God sent me into an amazing bunch of folks in a Thursday night Bible study. From there, it was to an even bigger group on Sunday nights called Pathways...geared towards singles in their 20s & 30s. Since May 2008 I have been blessed and honored to become really involved with Pathways and my Life Group (Bible Study) and their ministries. Come to find out, maybe a little too involved.

My Mom and brother both told me they were worried about me. I was constantly going. I'm talking Wednesday through Sunday nights I was driving 30 miles, one way, to be at some function, event, or party through my church. I had allowed my one-on-one time with God to fall almost completely by the wayside. I was burnt out. I was frazzled. My heart was in the right place, serving God and His kingdom, but I had waaaay too much Martha, and not nearly enough Mary.

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42, NIV)

Since I am always an obedient daughter, I immediately trimmed down my schedule. I promised Mom that I had plenty of time for God & me, and kept right on going. It wasn't until I started dreading the events I once looked forward to that I realized...Mom was right.

Yuck.

The more I prayed about what God would have me do, the more I realized He was calling me to make some tough decisions. I needed to pray and allow God to show me what He wanted me involved in, and focus on those things. Easier said than done. I loved everything I was a part of. I was on leadership for two different groups, I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my friends every night of the weekend, what on earth would I do away with?!

I kept handing it over to God and He kept telling me to wait on Him. Until recently...

(To be continued...)