Mary/Martha Moment

 So, I had myself a Mary/Martha moment today! But, let’s start at the beginning. You see, I got a gift! It was a wonderful gift, one of my favourite gifts to receive…a trailer full of wood! (and there was much rejoicing!!!!) Another reason I love this time of year (it gets below 70), is that we get to sit out on our deck by the fire pit. So, my sweet, dear Jon brings home wood and it is wondermous! Well, this time the guys unloaded the trailer without us there. There was no rhyme or reason to this pile of wood, just LOTS of it. So much so, that the next day I went out to find this!!!

Yep, the wall couldn’t handle all the new weight. SO, today was the day for me to get in there and sort and move and pile the wood so it would be useful. Most of this new wood will not be ready until next year, but it was piled on top of the old wood that is ready to be used and it had caused the wall to tilt. It is all sorted now and I put another stake in the pallet wall to help it out and all is well!

As I was working, two thoughts really came at me at once…and yet again, I had to laugh at myself!

But, one thought at a time! Wood piles ~~~ we’ve all got them. You know the stuff! That thing some well intentioned person said that still rattles around in my head, the book I bought to help out with quiet time (that I still haven’t read) or something I learned in a sermon, but haven’t acted on…well, you get the idea! I’ve got a wood pile! 

The key is to sort. To not bury my old, useful stuff under all this new, “good” stuff. God does give us all abilities and things to come along in life to encourage us to grow. We just need to keep an eye on “where” exactly we put our priorities, so we don’t lose sight of growing things in God’s sorted order. Really good things can be brought to us by some very well intentioned people, but that doesn’t always mean we should pile it on…and if we do get God’s prompting to do so, make sure we ask Him where it goes in the wood pile! ;)

And now, on to thought number two…

as I was hefting and hammering, I looked over at Ruby and Ricky and I thought, “oh, if they only had thumbs they could help out here!” Meanwhile, Ricky was laying peacefully in Center and Ruby was resting quietly by the seat….and I’m sorting and grumbling. Insert Mary/Martha moment here! Not that the sorting didn’t need to get done, before the wall fell over translation: cook the meal so everyone could eat. Oh dear.

When Hezekiah and his leaders came and saw the extent of the mounds of gifts, they praised God and commended God’s people Israel. Hezekiah then consulted the priests and Levites on how to handle the abundance of offerings.

II Chronicles 31:8 ~ The Message Version

In this chapter of II Chronicles it talks about the abundance brought by the people to the temple of God and how Hezekiah sought wise counsel and then had the priests sort and hand out all that was given. That’s what struck me here today in my wood pile. Such a wonderful gift, but it doesn’t do well if not sorted and handled well. We can do that with God’s great grace in our lives, too. We can take it for granted, overlook His provision because it’s buried under my busy schedule, or not do well with it because I didn’t ask Him first what HE intended to do with ‘it’.

Sitting and sorting now…