I have lists.

Lists of things to do for the weekend, lists of projects to complete around the house this year, lists of tasks to complete at work, and lists of ideas to write about. For years my sister has called me the “to-do-list chick.” I am driven by my lists.

I take great pleasure in crossing items off the list. I take such pleasure that if I complete something not on the list that I write it down just to cross it off. Sometimes it can be stressful trying to complete all the things on the list.

I often hear my youngest daughter saying, “Come sit with me, Mama.”

Sit! What’s that? I almost always tell her I can’t sit. I’ve got to wash dishes, or put a load of clothes in the wash, sweep the floor, or ________you fill in the blank.

So, I miss what may have been a moment to cuddle, to teach, to learn, to share, because I am busy.

We are busy.

As mothers we have primary responsibility for our homes and our children.

Some of us also tend to the needs of our husbands, in addition to maintaining a full-time job. And what about school, volunteerism or being active within the church? But are we too busy?

Fish! a popular motivational and training video proposed that one of the key concepts to building effective relationships is to be there, to be present and in the moment. Available.

Jesus put it this way.

Luke 10: 38-42 reads,

“Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”

And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

As I read that passage of Scripture, three words that at times seem to characterize our lives as women jumped out at me: worried, troubled, distracted. Far too often I find myself worried about things that haven’t happened or things I cannot control. I render my prayer time ineffective as I think about what I’m going to cook for dinner, the lists of things to do at work, the imaginary conversation I’m going to have with so-and-so. Well if she says this, then I’m going to say that.

Worry is an interesting word in that it is both a noun and a verb.

Worry is to show fear and concern because you think something bad has happened or could happen, to make anxious or upset. Worry is to choke, strangle, torment or fret.

None of those words are of the Lord.

In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us,

Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

So, what do those two passages have to do with each other? The King James Version translates the phrase, do not worry, as take no thought. We are to take no thought about the things of this world, but to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. The New International Version says, “few things are needed —or indeed only one.”

Our God is a God of relationship. I believe He is calling us to a greater sense of intimacy with Him. Our ministry, both Spiritual and natural, is not in the work, it’s in the relationship.

Martha was distracted serving the Lord. She failed to value the relationship with Him. Martha’s busyness kept her from enjoying the good part. Martha’s busyness kept her from spending time with Jesus.

Having a clean house and laundered clothes are important, but are they more important than time with our husbands, our children or our relationships with those who are around us?

Our children aren’t going to remember how often the house was clean more than the time we spent with them, the lessons we taught them and the love we poured into them.

Let us be reminded today that although we are busy, let us not be too busy that we miss the good part.