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| good times with good friends |
Last weekend the girls had a big weekend, especially E. She attended a birthday party of a good friend from school in addition to the rest of the activities. After the birthday party, I took E and B to get their pictures taken a mall portrait studio. They behaved remarkably well. So, I rewarded them with rides on the little coin rides (I don't know why they love them but they do), ice cream cones, a spree at the dollar jewelry store, and some candy shopping. On Sunday, after church, we went to a local festival called the "Chicken and Egg" festival. We went with their beloved Opa and Gigi and started with lunch on the fairgrounds (chicken, naturally). Just as we were checking out the rides, we saw some familiar faces, our good friends and neighbors. The girls squealed with delight and got in line to ride all together. The rest of the festival involve four little friends running around giggling and included a pony ride and a petting zoo. It was, indeed, a packed weekend.
On the way to school, on Monday morning, I asked E what were the fun things she did over the weekend. She said, "Play with A--- and C----." That was it.
What? She went on her first pony ride that Sunday and all she could think of was the playing with her friends who live down the street. She didn't even mention the fair at all. When I asked, "anything else?" She replied, "and E's birthday party." Nothing else. I was a little irritated—all that time spent running around trying to do things that would be fun for the girls and they only remembered playing with their friends. Sheesh. I knew it wasn't cool to get too frustrated with a 4 year old but she knew I was annoyed, even if she didn't understand why. The irony of the situation was I was one who had forgotten something.
Today, the message at church was about Martha and Mary. I'd read the story and had heard sermons on them before now and thought I understood the passage, but today something finally clicked.
The passage is from Luke 10:38-42.
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
As I listened to the message, beautifully delivered by our good friend, Jack (the father of the girls with whom we shared the festival), the events of last weekend played through my head. I thought about my sweet, little girl and how out of all the fun happenings of the prior weekend, from her perspective the best, most important part was being with the people she loves. And I'd gotten irritated with her. Doh! Mommy fail. An important lesson from Luke 10:38-43, is that, time with Jesus, their friend and loved one, was more important than all the preparations or tasks at hand. The lesson from E, the best activity is the one shared with your friends. E is a little Mary.
We are tasked to love God and told that one way to do that is to love each other. E has already figured that out. Hopefully, now her mama will be able to remember that.
