Braving Busy: The One Thing We Really Need

I sank into a chair at a friend’s house and my pulse slowed a bit.  I could feel it.  My eyes traveled around the room taking in her decor.  Artful.  Tasteful.  Lovely.

I made mental notes.  Update decor:  Industrial accents.  A little more metal.  Add more white.  Stripes, maybe?

My pulse slows even further as we make small talk while she finishes her dinner prep.  Her pace is calm and she refuses my offer to help, gladly carrying along in her relaxed and easy manner.

Do you know this kind of friend?

 

This isn’t how I operate.  I wring out intention like a sponge.  I operate with a point and purpose. Hurried, I rush, apologizing for delay.

In my mind I’m climbing mountains.  In reality, I’m often slaying people in the process. I ignore what matters.  Because, efficiency, right?

It dawns on me slowly, because I’m not always as quick as I’d like to think. It’s not the gorgeous decor or the fabulous food offered by this friend that is drawing me out, drawing me in.  It is her unrushed soul that is contagious.  Her uncluttered home is only magnified by her uncluttered heart.  I can’t run out and order that from Anthropologie.  I can’t fix that with updated decor.

What if what I feel is focus is actually distraction from what really matters?  In my rush I fail to even see it, but when I meet someone who does, someone who really gets it, I can’t help but take notice.

I’m not alone in this.  I’ve heard the Mary and Martha story more times than I can count, but the words are always salve for this busy mom. “But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part…”

One thing, really?  Because I’ve chosen lots of things and I think they’re all good, God.  So much good here! Just watch, you’ll see.

I’m guilty, friends.  So guilty.

But here’s the thing.  I often blame it on my circumstances.  I have four kids, a growing family.  We are involved and we serve.  We homeschool and we participate.  We enjoy community and relationships and somewhere in there the house has to be cleaned, right?  Busy sometimes feels unavoidable, don’t you think?

But when I look closer, I don’t think this is really about busy.  We all have stuff to do.  Forget ages and stages, we can always fill our time with something, good things even.

And you know, I think Mary had busy too.  I imagine before Jesus showed up at her door, Mary was probably busy retrieving water or going about her chores.  Maybe she was making a mental list of the tasks she wanted to get done that day, but she did not let busyness distract her heart, clutter her soul.  Her eyes were clear enough to see past the haze of the busy to notice what was needed and she was brave enough to choose it.

Friends, that is what I need.

As I move into another busy school year, the season which always threatens to pull me under in it’s approach, I need a heart that is clearly set on things above.  As the blanks on the calendar fill and routine takes on a new shape and form I need eyes that see beyond the fog of busyness to the “one thing”, to Him.

And I need to be brave enough to choose it.  Brave enough to lay aside the tasks and demands, brave enough to look beyond the piles of laundry, brave enough to care a whole lot less about what the world around me might be thinking or doing or needing.  I need to be brave enough choose the “good part”.

And so this becomes my prayer – for you and me both as the tide of a new season rushes in.

God, please unrush my busy soul.  As we move into a fresh season of busy, a horde of new activities and commitments, fill my desperate heart with more of You, that Your peace, Your grace will flow out into all of the place and spaces I travel and the people I meet along the way.  Amidst all the things, give me eyes to see the one thing and embolden me with courage enough to choose it.  God, In this season and the next, may You be what is contagious in me.

I don’t need more time, friends, and neither do you.  We only need more of Him as we seek to boldly walk out the calling He has set before us.

Living this out right along with you, bravely.

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