I have to tell you about a dream I had last night. It was a Sunday morning, and not just any Sunday morning, it was tomorrow morning. Plans had been made for our guest speaker, Elisa Morgan to arrive. But before her arrival, there were some final things to be done.

I arrived at the church and the entire building was covered in paper flowers of all colors. And they were EVERYWHERE. On posts. Hanging from the ceiling. On the stage. Anywhere and everywhere a flower could be placed, it was there.

There were also about 50 little girls in pretty lacey dresses. They were multi-colored and quite large. I am not quite sure how the little girls were going to be used in this worship service, but they were there…it was a bit crazy.

Now this just wasn’t over the top enough apparently. I had brought dozens of dolls to be displayed. I don’t know where they came from (I have 2 special dolls in my possession…not dozens), but they were displayed dominantly in the foyer.

As the morning progressed and even before our worship service began, the dolls disappeared. All those little girls had taken all of the dolls. Not one remained. The morning was a complete train wreck because the dolls were missing. And this was all BEFORE the worship service began.

I tell you this dream because I believe there are some good lessons to be learned.

First, when worship and a church service becomes more about the “stuff” and the “makings” than about Who we are to worship, we have missed the true meaning of worship.

Second, sometimes we can get caught up in the planning and preparation that we miss being present for worship (I will admit this happens to me all the time…I’m working on it!).

And third, we (meaning I) need to be flexible when it comes to worship.

I’m reminded of the Mary and Martha incident in Luke 10:38-42. Martha showed all the signs of being concerned about the “makings” of a great meal for Jesus. Martha was caught up in the planning and preparation that she missed being present with Jesus. And Martha was definitely not flexible.

Mary on the other hand didn’t care about creating an environment that was perfect to sit at Jesus’ feet. She just sat down. Mary didn’t get caught up in the plans or preparation for this time with Jesus. She was present with Him. And Mary was flexible. She sat where Jesus sat. She would have gone wherever Jesus was.

How valuable this lesson is for me! As I approach tomorrow and this big day, I have a choice. I can either learn to be more like Mary or I can fall into my old habit of identifying with Martha. Oh how I want to be more like Mary in these situations!

My prayer today is that I will step out of that comfort zone of “doing” and rest in the “being.” Maybe that should be your prayer today as well.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Donna