Lists and Interruptions

First off...I know I've been gone a while.  Okay...a long while.  I am hoping and praying that my absence has made your heart grow fonder!  It is suppose to work that way, right?

So, we have moved, kids are in school, we love our house and Kentucky, David has a 9-5 job, and I'm still trying to figure out what I'm suppose to be doing.

I'll get back to you on that last item. 

In the meantime, I have been blessed to be a part of a Protestant Women of the Chapel Bible Study.  One of the sweet ladies asked me if I would write a devotion once every six weeks or so.  Me? Write? You want my thoughts? <gulp>

So here are my thoughts that went out today.  It is the second time I have shared my thoughts with the group.  It is the second time I became transparent to a group of strangers. (Guess it being the second time, meant it was okay to share again.) So I thought I would share it with you...my friends. 

This season of Thanksgiving and Christmas throws me in a tizzy!!  So much to do, so much to accomplish, so many LISTS!  It really is a time I struggle with that passage in the Bible that deals with two sisters Mary and Martha.  I love those girls!! I am SO Martha, but I SO want to be Mary!! I wonder if Mary would have the gumption to help Martha out a little, grab her LIST and tear it into little pieces!! Martha would probably fly off the handle...I would.  But would Martha through it all, have the notion to sit down next to Mary, and take comfort in the Master's feet?

I'm praying that as you read the following words, many of you can understand and sympathize with me!  The demands of days yield sticky notes and scraps of paper with LISTS!  I often must remind myself to simply be grateful for paper, pens, the ability to write, and the very freedom to make the choice of what goes on that LIST. 

Lists and Interruptions

Luke 10:38-42

Mark 5:21-43

Lists.  I love them!  I have a list for just about everything.  Shopping lists, gift lists, a baking list, a daily “to-do” list, a list of lists! My list is typically made the night before my day begins and when I wake up, I can usually count on adding two or three more items to the list that came to me in the middle of the night. And with the holidays fast approaching, my lists are mounting!

Why do I make lists?  The most obvious reason is so that I do not forget to do something.  (Lately, I find myself making more lists the older I get and the less space I have for memory!) I also find that making lists yields the reward of crossing something off the list.  A sense of satisfaction and accomplishment floods over me as I line out and cross the task off the list.  I sometimes add an item that I have previously forgotten, just for the simple satisfaction of crossing through it!! (Crazy…I know!)  However, there is the opposite feeling of dread, disappointment, and even failure if my list remains un-crossed.  When my day and “to-do” list remains intact, it is often because I have had what I view as an interruption.  Sometimes these interruptions are unpleasant or annoying…extra messes to clean up, children home sick from school, extra errands to run, a certain item not found at the store.  Sometimes the interruptions are pleasant, but deviations from the list none the less…phone calls from friends, unexpected dinner guests, husbands home early from work. 

So when the interruptions occur, how do we view them? Are they welcome changes to the routine or irritations to the “to-do” list?  Lists and interruptions, did Jesus encounter either? Did He have a “to-do” list? Was He ever interrupted?

I have often wondered this.  As for lists, I don’t believe Jesus had to have a list to help Him remember what to do.  He was always about the Father’s business.  He always knew exactly what to do and when to do it.  His eyes were on the Father, the list would be accomplished.  There would be an exact time when the list would be crossed off.

As for interruptions, I believe that Jesus was perhaps often interrupted.  In Mark 5:21-43, several interruptions occur.  Jesus was merely trying to get out of a boat when a crowd gathered around Him and causes an interruption.   He was then interrupted by Jairus, who desperately needed Jesus to heal his sick daughter.  On the way to Jairus’ home, Jesus is interrupted by a woman who had been the subject of bleeding for twelve years. In the midst of her healing, once again, the Master is interrupted by a messenger from Jairus’ house stating that the daughter had indeed died.  He is interrupted by the crowd gathered outside of Jairus’ home as they wailed and mourned for the life of the young daughter. 

Yet Jesus continues on, doing the work of the Father, healing and fulfilling, despite the interruptions. In fact, I do not think Jesus ever saw the encounters with people as interruptions.  I think He saw them as appointments.  He never became irritated that He was detained.  He never became irritated that He couldn’t cross off an item on His “to-do” list.  His list was crossed off, literally, on the cross when He uttered the words, “It is finished.”

No more lists. No more interruptions. Only a Divine appointment fulfilled.

So as we go about making out lists of “to-do’s” or if our list is interrupted with life, let us look to Jesus for our example.  Put Him at the top of your list.  Spend time with Him first. Be prepared as you go about your day to view your interruptions as divine appointments.  After all, we serve the One who is the Author of all lists and the Conqueror of the Cross.

I hope that in my transparency, you can see my struggles of the Martha that I am, and the Mary I so struggle to be.  May I not hear the Lord say about me, "(vs 39)...she had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said. (vs.40) But Stefi was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made."  Instead, I pray that I sit at the Lords feet, listening to what He says, and I hear, "(vs.41)...Stefi has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

I am praying that each of you allow yourself to lay down the list and fully enjoy the interruption of your day that is Jesus.  He has set aside a Divine Appointment just for you!!

I have lots more to write and fill you in on, but I wanted to make sure you knew that I was still here!!