![\"cornicopia\"](\"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/cornicopia.jpg\")
<\/a>Every day I would say, \u201cI\u2019m not going to cook tomorrow.\u201d And then tomorrow would come and I would cook a meal, sometimes two meals. One day my son said, \u201cI thought you weren\u2019t going to cook today?\u201d I just chuckled.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I then thought I\u2019d have it made if I went back to work on the Monday after Thanksgiving. I would be free of cooking and cleaning.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I was wrong. I had volunteered to help cook our staff breakfast on that Monday morning\u2026we started cooking at 7 am. And that evening was our staff Christmas party\u2026I was the last person to leave after 60+ people left my boss\u2019 home.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Needless to say, I didn\u2019t have a cook or clean-free day on Monday either.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I wonder if that wasn\u2019t a little bit of Martha\u2019s problem in Luke 10. Perhaps she had always been the one who cooked and cleaned in their home. If that was the case, I\u2019m sure Martha knew that she couldn\u2019t depend on Mary for help. But the problem was that Martha couldn\u2019t seem to get past the issue.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I can hear Martha banging pans in the kitchen trying to get someone\u2019s attention. Maybe Lazarus would come to her aid. Maybe Mary would begin to feel guilty and come to help. Maybe Jesus\u2019 disciples would think to help. Or maybe Jesus himself would give some assistance to Martha. But Martha received none.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Finally, Martha had to come face-to-face with Jesus and make her complaint. She was fed up with the fact that there were many mouths to feed and no one would lift a finger to help her. She told Jesus to command Mary to help. \u201cTell her to help me!\u201d<\/em> (Luke 10:40 \u2013 NIV)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That was a bold statement.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jesus, in His kind-hearted way told Martha that He would not do as she asked. Mary had chosen what was better. To sit at His feet and listen to His words.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The busyness of this life will draw us away from what is better. Especially at this time of year. But if we don\u2019t nip it in the bud, we\u2019ll miss out on the very best this season has to offer. Jesus.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I must admit that my above statements sound like I\u2019m complaining. Maybe I am a little, but to be honest, serving and being hospitable is what I do. It\u2019s what I\u2019m made of. I thrive on being the \u201chostess with the mostess.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But here\u2019s the thing. When I\u2019m busy in the kitchen am I building relationships? When I was busy at our staff Christmas party making sure all the food was in the right place and set just perfect, everyone else was mingling and engaged in conversation. I wasn\u2019t. I believe I missed what was better.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It will be difficult for me to step out of that role. Perhaps that\u2019s why Martha had difficulty. When it\u2019s part of our make-up it\u2019s difficult to be something else. But I believe it\u2019s what Jesus wanted of Martha and what He wants of me. To choose what is better.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What is causing you to keep your distance from others? Is there something keeping you from choosing what is better? I pray that you will find a way to put it aside. I pray that you will fall at our Master\u2019s feet and listen to what He has to say to you today. It will be worth it and nothing else is more important than that.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Donna<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I cooked a lot over the Thanksgiving holiday. It seemed like I was in the kitchen cooking or cleaning constantly. Of course I had a house full of people every day, so it was only natural that this was part of the hostessing. Every day I would say, \u201cI\u2019m not going to cook tomorrow.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,15,17,18,14,21],"tags":[1517,1516,475,1515],"class_list":["post-2640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-following-god","category-knowing-god","category-obeying-god","category-pleasing-god","category-seeking-god","category-trusting-god","tag-choosing-what-is-better","tag-luke-1038-41","tag-mary-and-martha","tag-the-hostess-with-the-mostess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2640"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2644,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640\/revisions\/2644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}