I am not advocating ragamuffin-looking children or an unkempt house with this article.  I am, however, advocating knowing what is needful and what is cumbersome.

Is the story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10 not clear enough?  Our lives are cumbered with many things that simply do not matter.  Let us stop and smell the roses with Mary.

Service is necessary but not at the expense of relationship.  Mary would cook again.  Clean again.  Organize again.  But she would not do it at the expense of spending time with someone she loved.

 

Relationships cannot be multitasked

We have a lady who visits our house every so often, but she always brings something to do when she comes – letters to write, crocheting or something or other.  Needless to say, that relationship has never grown.  You cannot multitask a relationship to fruition.  They demand undivided attention.

 

Learn to procrastinate on things that don’t matter

The laundry can wait ’til tomorrow.  The dishes can wait ’til tomorrow.  The lawn can wait ’til tomorrow.  Learn to procrastinate on these things.  A timely conversation with your teenager may make a huge difference.  Play a game with your kids.  No families sit around reminiscing and say, “Remember how everything was always dusted.”  No, they remember attention given them.  Paint the house another day.  It’s not that important.

 

Provide for your own

I know the passage in I Timothy is dealing with money primarily, but it would behoove us to apply it to other areas.  The church will get decorated by someone else.  Someone else can do the special music or gossip…I mean, pray for the missionaries at the WMS meeting.  It is amazing how we will sacrifice to do everything extracurricular, but if there is the slightest sniffle – if the next door neighbor sneezes – we just have to skip church.  I am saying, provide for your own first.  If not, you are worse than an infidel.

 

Lastly, take time to sit one on one with those you love 

Let everything else go and just sit and listen…or talk.  Sit down and talk.  Turn off your phone.  Stop washing dishes.  Forget the lawn.  Take a leisurely walk.  Work ethic has made America great.  Cumbersomeness and busyness have made American relationships weak.

I know, I know…you are superwoman or superman and you can keep everything Mary Poppins-like without shortchanging your relationships.  For the rest of us, though, – from time to time – let’s just let everything else go to pot for a little while we stare into the eyes of the ones we love.  That is what is needful.