i've been gone for a few days.  Delightfully distracted by the wedding celebration of my daughter.   Today i have a bad case of the "what-was-i-doing-this-time-last-week" blues.  Sigh.

To make matters worse, i have realized that, while i was knee-deep in wedding planning, summer slipped away. The pool is closed.  The traffic is backed up at 8:00 a.m.  And my calendar is full.

Busy.  Everybody's suddenly busy.

i used to take quiet pride in my busy-ness.  As if somehow, the busier that i was, the more important i must be.  When people would ask, "How are you?"  i would answer, "Busy.  Good, just busy."  And if i were really in the zone i would rattle off my schedule, just to impress.  "Well, i have training for our leaders this weekend, and i need to finish writing lessons.  And next week i have a meeting with regional women's leaders and our kick-off is on Thursday.  i have meetings with four potential leaders....and on and on,..."  And it worked.  People would say things like, "Wow.  i don't know how you keep everything together."  Score.  Points for me.

Ugh.

One day, as a result of a fairly humiliating encounter, i realized that 1) i am not a highly paid physician and 2) no one's life depends on my "getting the job done".  Several years later, i hope i'm a little less intense (don't laugh) and, perhaps, not as desperate to impress people with my amazing ability to keep-the-plates spinning.  i've certainly dropped and shattered my share of said plates, at some expense to people that i love.  i'm slow, but at least i'm aware.....

There does seem to be an increasing cultural appreciation for women who can "do everything".  Every room needs a "mom".  Every team needs a "coach".  Every troop needs a "leader".  Every committee needs a "chair"..... the laundry needs to be done, and the groceries put away, the library books returned, and the school yearbook ordered.  For many women there is a deadline to meet, a client to please, and a plane to catch.

i'm wondering if anyone has time to think anymore. To plan. To pray. We don't spend time alone with the Lord. We don't read quality books. We don't study.  But we are busy.

The spiritual spin on this syndrome can be found in Luke 10.  You know her...she's the hero of every i-must-keep-the-plates-spinning woman of our generation.  Mary's poor sister, Martha.  Martha of Bethany has become the poster-child for Christian busy women.  Women who contend that they just can't help that they are prone to over-commitment, to hyper-busyness, to "highly paid physician" intensity.  They are, after all, more like Martha than Mary.  It can't be helped.

May i gently say, "Malarky"?  (i am certain that i just aged myself.  That was my dad's saying.) 

i have learned over the years that this "I-am-like-Martha" mentality is 1) a smokescreen for something else and 2) not at all good exegisis of the Scripture (that's a fancy way of saying 'application or interpretation'). 

The text found in Luke 10 is not a study on personalities.  It is not the Holy Spirit's tool to advocate "a Mary heart in a Martha world" (no slam on the book...i read it).  It doesn't even fairly represent the "other sister" on its own.  It's a snapshot. 

And you know how i feel about snapshots.

What was i doing this time last week?  Sleepover in the bridal suite with Hannah and her friends, my mom and other girl-family members...putting together gifts for our hotel guests...in sand buckets with shovels.  The wedding was at the beach.  Smile.

To be continued.