"That Good Part"

Last night I was at a Young Women Presidency meeting that ran 2 1/2 hours on a school night. Did I mention I am a mom of six school age kids? Did I mention my husband was out of town? Did I mention I picked up groceries that were still in the car? Did I mention the oldest of the six kids was at marching band rehearsal all evening so he couldn't help babysit? Well, I walked into the meeting with a mild headache having already dealt with the days normal load of work and problems to conquer. I still had many things on my mind I needed to do in getting the house cleaned up and the little ones ready for bed. So, the last painful hour of the meeting my mild headache turned into a migraine and I grew more and more frustrated at the length of the meeting.

Needless to say I was exhausted by the time I returned home, put the children to bed, and cleaned up dinner. I was also angry, angry with the kids for not cleaning up dinner, angry with the president for letting the meeting go so long, just plain frustrated with the feeling of life being so complicated. Today after a good night's sleep I had some time to ponder the evening and a story came to mind. The story of Mary and Martha from the New Testament.

Mary and Martha lived together in Bethany, a small town in Judaea, near Jerusalem. They were faithful followers of Jesus, and Jesus loved them very much.

One day while Jesus was visiting them, Martha was busy cleaning the house and preparing food. She wanted to be sure that Jesus was well cared for. Instead of helping Martha, Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, listening to Him. The harder Martha worked, the more upset she became with Mary. Finally, Martha complained, “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.”

Jesus understood Martha’s feelings, and He answered tenderly, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

“But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part.”

Jesus wanted Martha to know that it was important for her to care for her home and that He appreciated all she had done for Him. But it was even more important to learn about God and to grow spiritually.

I should have done the same thing. I should have chosen the good part. Rather than feeling the burdens during the meeting I should have had my heart in it. I should have been focusing on the "good part" of serving the young women. I should have worried more when I returned home about fitting in family prayer and scripture study.

Easy to say, harder to do. Tonight I need to coordinate a Young Women activity, boy scouts, cub scouts, soccer practice, play rehearsal, and the lady I visit teach just called to see if I can drive her son to scouts as well. I'll take the challenge-I'm going to try to choose the better part tonight and serve my family and friends spiritually first. Oh yeah, did I mention my husband is still out of town?