I have a confession. It is one that I’m not especially proud to admit and may even be slightly embarrassed by, but it is one that I want to share because I believe you, dear reader, deserve to know.
Are you ready? Ok, here we go.
I planted fake flowers. (Whew, there I said it.)
Now there are several reasons why I felt compelled to share this with you. First, I think it is ironic that as someone who loves gardening I cannot for the life of me keep flowers alive in our front window boxes. I have tried for several years now and while the rest of our garden thrives and loves life, our beautiful window box blossoms shrivel up and die after a few short weeks.
The other reason I share this is that I hope these faux florals can be an encouragement to both you and I that we do not need to do it all.
Far too often it is easy to fall into the rat race of life, believing that we need to do all the things, all of the time. And things like social media or even blogs like this don’t help. While they can be great tools for entertainment, inspiration, or even education, we also see constant perfection on display – those who seem to be able to do it all and have it all together. We then compare our lives to these lofty standards that the rest of the world has deemed worthy of pursuit and feel that we constantly fall short.
But the truth is, we were never meant to live life like that.
One of my favorite stories from the Bible is the story of Jesus’ visit to the home of two sisters named Mary and Martha. During his visit, Martha busied herself with all the things that needed to be done. There was food to make, rooms to make ready, preparations to be done. And these were all good things – things she was actually expected to do as a hostess living in that day and age.
On top of that, this wasn’t just anyone they were hosting. They were hosting JESUS – Israel’s long-awaited Messiah! Why would she not want to make sure everything was perfect for him and that he could stay comfortably in their home?
But while Martha was busy with all the preparations, her sister, Mary, sat at Jesus’ feet, listening to him and simply spending time with him.
When Martha saw that Mary was just hanging out, she got mad at her sister and asked Jesus if he cared that she had to do all the work by herself. Then she told Jesus to tell Mary to help her.
How does Jesus respond? He told Martha (likely with a twinkle in his eye), “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10: 41-42)
I don’t know about you, but I feel like I can relate a lot to Martha. I’m often caught up in doing all the things. And maybe they are even good things – the things that I “should” be doing. But then I hear Jesus calling my name: Laura, Laura, you are worried about many things (including keeping flowers alive in your front window boxes). But few things are actually needed – or indeed only one. Will you choose the best thing?
I look at how Jesus talks about the burdens we carry. He invites us who are weary and burdened to come to him, promising that he will give us rest. He invites us to take his yoke upon us and to learn from him, for he is gentle and humble in heart, and he says that we will find rest for our souls. He tells us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)
Some things in life are heavy. There are situations we face or things we carry in life that are very, very heavy. But I also know – at least for myself – there are some things I carry that are heavy because I’ve put them there. I sometimes pick up burdens that were not mine to pick up in the first place. I sling heavy yokes of feeling like I need to do it all, all the time on my own shoulders – yokes that He never asked me to carry.
So in this season, I’ve given up trying to do it all and am choosing to take him up on his invitation to carry his yoke instead. I’m planting fake flowers and learning to choose the best thing, over the everything.
This Darling Adventure 