Martha....Who Me??

You all remember the story of two sisters in the Bible. As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. Luke 10:38-39.

You remember how Martha was the hostess with the mostest! She was busy with every detail in the kitchen to serve company, while her not so helpful sister sat in the floor of the living room listening to Jesus. I have often referred to myself as being a "Martha" in almost a boastful way. The scripture gives us direction for what is the most important. The scripture tends to sing Mary's praises, but honestly Martha appeals more to most women's perfection tendencies. This author does a beautiful job, in a humurous way of redirecting women's thinking towards putting first things first. She states that the Living Room Intimacy Mary enjoyed with Jesus will never come out of the "busyness" of Martha's Kitchen.....ouch! This author points out that, while the world applauds achievement, God desires companionship. The world clamors, "Do More! Be all that you can be!" But our Father whispers, "Be still and know that I am God."

I could include so much more from this book, but you might just want to get a copy and read it too. I am not completely finished reading it, but I have enjoyed every word of it. I have found that it may just be that if I would sit more often at the feet of Jesus ...the busyness of life would be much easier. The author puts it this way - "when we put work before worship, we put the cart before the horse. The cart is important; so is the horse. But the horse must come first, or we end up pulling the cart ourselves.....we then grow frustrated and weary, and can nearly break under the pressure of service". She says, "when we take time to hear His voice--God provides the horsepower we need to pull the heaviest load".

Mooving Along

I just had to add a picture of some of the Jersey cows. I believe this picture was taken last spring, but the cows remind me of fall, as well. The dairy has been our primary livelihood for almost 30 years. It has been BD's dream come true. The farm requires constant, ongoing work, but it has always been exactly what BD loved to do.... and he is good at it. The day will come when we will no longer be able to operate this farm. That will be a sad day for our family, but we all understand reality. We have cared well for these cows and they have taken care of us. We have been blessed to have shared these years in the country and reared our children and now grandchildren in this environment. It is a place to escape the rush of the world, while staying very busy operating it. I used to spend the fall mornings bottling calves....many calves.........all very hungry....it was a hassle as they knocked the bottles out of my hand, licked my clothes, and slung mud, but the task really gives you a chance to be alone and think. Yes, country life has its disadvantages, but there are many blessings, if one just chooses to look around.

Someday, I will share some of the more humorous events around here....like the day I drove about 10 miles down the interstate before I realized I was dragging our "old wire gate" behind me; or maybe the first time I was left alone to milk the cows and one of the cows fell in the milking pit with me; or one of the many times I walked out of my rubber boots in deep manure & mud......maybe even the time I pulled BD on the old WD45 Allis Chalmers to the neighbors for repair, with no regard for the speed I was traveling................oh, the memories. Rudy, Katie, and their spouses were here this past weekend, and we had some side-splitting laughter recounting some of these memories...........OH THE MEMORIES!