Distractions

One of the issues with Martha, as we recall, is the fact that she was distracted.  Yeah...distraction is an important characteristic of the Martha-lifestyle.

I am a multitasker.  I like to do more than one thing at a time, possible 3 or 4.  Last night, I decided to iron all 85 dress shirts that were hanging in the laundry room for the last month and a half...or maybe it was 25 shirts...I don't know.  I strongly dislike ironing, so 1 is 1 too many for me.  In order to be able to remain sane while ironing, I played a kid-friendly movie on the TV so Dylan could watch while attacked the task.  Then, I made sure I filled my mind with thoughts of how to organize lesson plans and activities for a Spanish Summer Camp I was asked to teach in June...whose great idea was to accept that request?  I'm still looking for the culprit...

The thing is that I am NOT creative, so as I trudged along with the ironing, my head was busy thinking of ways to use play dough, glue sticks, construction paper, crayons, and other stuff...except for glitter.  No matter what anybody says, I will not use glitter!... to teach some Spanish... Every time I hit a breakthrough idea, like a pretend market center activity, Dylan would call out to me to watch something funny in the movie, or to ask me a question, or to tell me a story of something that happened at school and he just remembered or even to tell me to come and sit with him to watch.  I mean, in the attention-seeking-scale, Dylan scores REALLY high.  He would see nothing wrong with chaining me to his wrist so I could be there for him every second of the day.

I was so frustrated!  He kept interrupting me!  I couldn't concentrate on my ideas.  He kept distracting me!

...cue crickets...

...sigh...

At that moment, Martha's story made me realize that perhaps, I got this whole thing wrong.  Dylan wasn't distracting me.  I was distracted by the myriad of unimportant things bouncing in my head.

Like I heard Dr. Tony Evans say about Martha: "it's not that she didn't need to worry about feeding Jesus and the other guests.  It's that she didn't realize that a casserole would do just fine!"

My job as a Spanish teacher is not the most important role in my life.  Being a wife and a mother are my real jobs.  I know that I need to be the best I can at work...but, not at the expense of my real priorities.  I need to learn to make a good casserole for work, so I can prepare the five-course meal for those God has placed in my life to care for.  If I don't, I will forever regret it.

I know I have just precious little time left with my soon-to-be twelve year-old boy wanting me to hang out with him, to tell me his stories and thirsting for my attention.  Soon, he won't care anymore...and it will be too late for me to change things around.

...sigh...

I pray Jesus helps me re-prioritize my duties to achieve the right balance in my life.  Thanks to Martha's example, I think I might be on the right track.