Hey,
I've heard the expression "if you don't use it, you lose it" and I think that's true in many cases. In this case in particular with my writing. If I don't blog for ages, it becomes difficult.
So from now on - I'm going to write a blog every single day.
Yeah. You heard me.
Lucky you, eh?
I think even if NOONE reads this, I can at least look back on a daily chronicle of my life for this year/next year which will be a pretty cool and very unique experience.
Some days, I'll "write war and peace" as Marc teases me about...and Sue says my blogs are too long, too...and they're both right...but I'm not going to change :) haha. You'll get some amazing blogs, some rubbish ones, some really emotive, long and drawn out ones and maybe on other days, you'll just get a sentence. Or a photo. I need to figure out how to upload pics onto this. It would definitely make it more interesting.
So.
Today's Blog - MARTHA.
There is a passage in the Bible about 2 sisters, Mary and Martha. Jesus comes over to their house for dinner and while Martha races about cooking/cleaning/preparing, Mary just hangs out with Jesus. I've always read this passage and rooted for Martha - she's the one doing all the hard work, bless her. I've looked at Mary as being lazy in a way - sitting with Jesus while Martha runs around doing everything on her own. I identify with Martha because I think it's important when you have a guest over to make them comfortable and welcome and to have a tidy home and lots of yummy food. Jesus, however - defends Mary when Martha has a go at her for not helping out. In His eyes, it is more important to spend time with a guest than it is to provide for them. I've never really understood it.
But now I do.
Firstly, I understand now how much more valuable just spending time with someone is. I met up with an old friend for coffee and cake on Christmas Eve. I spent the entire time before the meeting getting anxious. We hadn't seen each other in about a year - maybe longer - and rarely spoke apart from tagging each other on posts about reading on Facebook. What were we going to talk about? What if it was awkward? I was anxious as I was going to meet "Sarah" after a long day of work and also anxious that I wasn't going to be able to go home to a fast-asleep Alun and snuggle up to him before he left for work. In short, I didn't want to go.
But I made myself go because the act of being there for someone is so important. I didn't want to let Sarah down and the happy, well-adjusted part of me was looking forward to seeing her lovely face again. I love spending time with friends when I'm well :)
So I went. And you know what? I'm so glad I did. Coffee and cake ended up being 2 hours of us just being so happy together. I notice now that when I'm with someone I love, I try to take in everything - not just what they're saying, but how they're saying it. Why they're saying it. I try to read their body language and I 'tick off' in my mind all the beautiful things about them as I'm talking to them/listening to them talk to me. In Sarah's case, I could see she was hurting. She jokingly mentioned hoping for "a better year next year" and I saw the tears that sprang to her eyes before she blinked them away. I saw how brave she was trying to be when she smiled and how much she really needed a friend.
I bet Jesus sees us this way, only more so because He sees our hearts.
Secondly, I'm working with a lady who is probably the toughest lady work-wise I've ever met. She's ALWAYS working. I don't think she ever stops. So she's racing about all day every day doing a million things. This lady works easily 12-14 hours a day; here at the office well before anyone turns up in the morning and always the last to leave. At first glance, that's really admirable. Being here 2 months, however - I'm seeing more of a fuller picture and what this lady does - and let's call her MARTHA - does a million little, unimportant things but acts as if she's saving the world. Martha focuses a lot on things that don't really need doing, to be honest. She gets caught up in what types of bowls (size/shape/colour) we put on the meeting room tables for guests/clients. Martha gets caught up in having things tidied/measured/updated/moved/shifted that don't really need attention. She gets so flustered, bothered and anxious about so many irrelevant things that I wonder how she's able to manage her ACTUAL job at all. Martha is always complaining of being "overwhelmed/overworked/so tired/so stressed" but if she just did her job and didn't worry so much about the posters on the wall in the kitchen that hang at a slight angle - then she would probably have a much better day.
And so would the people around her.
...Because Martha is so stressed and strung out all the time that she's not very nice to be around. She is bossy and abrupt and everything is about work. Martha doesn't let anyone get to know her so I wonder if she has any friends at work - or outside of work - to really talk to. Martha is so caught up in the 'nitty gritty' of details at work that the underlying social aspect of work (getting along with others, making time to help others, being kind to people she works with) is completely lost on her.
So I get why Jesus defended Mary, now. I still understand why Martha in the Bible - and "Martha" at work - want to do so much and get things done - but I understand more now that just being with someone is the important thing. When we die, I don't think we'll be remembered for how much we did or didn't do - we'll be more remembered for how we made people feel...for how it was to spend time together.
See you tomorrow xx
I've heard the expression "if you don't use it, you lose it" and I think that's true in many cases. In this case in particular with my writing. If I don't blog for ages, it becomes difficult.
So from now on - I'm going to write a blog every single day.
Yeah. You heard me.
Lucky you, eh?
I think even if NOONE reads this, I can at least look back on a daily chronicle of my life for this year/next year which will be a pretty cool and very unique experience.
Some days, I'll "write war and peace" as Marc teases me about...and Sue says my blogs are too long, too...and they're both right...but I'm not going to change :) haha. You'll get some amazing blogs, some rubbish ones, some really emotive, long and drawn out ones and maybe on other days, you'll just get a sentence. Or a photo. I need to figure out how to upload pics onto this. It would definitely make it more interesting.
So.
Today's Blog - MARTHA.
There is a passage in the Bible about 2 sisters, Mary and Martha. Jesus comes over to their house for dinner and while Martha races about cooking/cleaning/preparing, Mary just hangs out with Jesus. I've always read this passage and rooted for Martha - she's the one doing all the hard work, bless her. I've looked at Mary as being lazy in a way - sitting with Jesus while Martha runs around doing everything on her own. I identify with Martha because I think it's important when you have a guest over to make them comfortable and welcome and to have a tidy home and lots of yummy food. Jesus, however - defends Mary when Martha has a go at her for not helping out. In His eyes, it is more important to spend time with a guest than it is to provide for them. I've never really understood it.
But now I do.
Firstly, I understand now how much more valuable just spending time with someone is. I met up with an old friend for coffee and cake on Christmas Eve. I spent the entire time before the meeting getting anxious. We hadn't seen each other in about a year - maybe longer - and rarely spoke apart from tagging each other on posts about reading on Facebook. What were we going to talk about? What if it was awkward? I was anxious as I was going to meet "Sarah" after a long day of work and also anxious that I wasn't going to be able to go home to a fast-asleep Alun and snuggle up to him before he left for work. In short, I didn't want to go.
But I made myself go because the act of being there for someone is so important. I didn't want to let Sarah down and the happy, well-adjusted part of me was looking forward to seeing her lovely face again. I love spending time with friends when I'm well :)
So I went. And you know what? I'm so glad I did. Coffee and cake ended up being 2 hours of us just being so happy together. I notice now that when I'm with someone I love, I try to take in everything - not just what they're saying, but how they're saying it. Why they're saying it. I try to read their body language and I 'tick off' in my mind all the beautiful things about them as I'm talking to them/listening to them talk to me. In Sarah's case, I could see she was hurting. She jokingly mentioned hoping for "a better year next year" and I saw the tears that sprang to her eyes before she blinked them away. I saw how brave she was trying to be when she smiled and how much she really needed a friend.
I bet Jesus sees us this way, only more so because He sees our hearts.
Secondly, I'm working with a lady who is probably the toughest lady work-wise I've ever met. She's ALWAYS working. I don't think she ever stops. So she's racing about all day every day doing a million things. This lady works easily 12-14 hours a day; here at the office well before anyone turns up in the morning and always the last to leave. At first glance, that's really admirable. Being here 2 months, however - I'm seeing more of a fuller picture and what this lady does - and let's call her MARTHA - does a million little, unimportant things but acts as if she's saving the world. Martha focuses a lot on things that don't really need doing, to be honest. She gets caught up in what types of bowls (size/shape/colour) we put on the meeting room tables for guests/clients. Martha gets caught up in having things tidied/measured/updated/moved/shifted that don't really need attention. She gets so flustered, bothered and anxious about so many irrelevant things that I wonder how she's able to manage her ACTUAL job at all. Martha is always complaining of being "overwhelmed/overworked/so tired/so stressed" but if she just did her job and didn't worry so much about the posters on the wall in the kitchen that hang at a slight angle - then she would probably have a much better day.
And so would the people around her.
...Because Martha is so stressed and strung out all the time that she's not very nice to be around. She is bossy and abrupt and everything is about work. Martha doesn't let anyone get to know her so I wonder if she has any friends at work - or outside of work - to really talk to. Martha is so caught up in the 'nitty gritty' of details at work that the underlying social aspect of work (getting along with others, making time to help others, being kind to people she works with) is completely lost on her.
So I get why Jesus defended Mary, now. I still understand why Martha in the Bible - and "Martha" at work - want to do so much and get things done - but I understand more now that just being with someone is the important thing. When we die, I don't think we'll be remembered for how much we did or didn't do - we'll be more remembered for how we made people feel...for how it was to spend time together.
See you tomorrow xx
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