Not quite a wrap

11:11 p.m. Today's project was to get many tasks taken care of before leaving for our church's ladies' retreat. I started shopping for meals for Steve and snacks for me ( in case the food is heavy on carbohydrates). Just now realized: I need to clean our a cooler to carry my fresh things, like raspberries and cheese, and to keep my sugar-free pudding cold. After finishing up my Mary Kay Customer Delivery Service for several large orders when I came home from our weekly training meeting, I swept the kitchen, took out garbage, texted with my second son and first daughter, and am taking some time to reflect on this busy day.

Pastor Chuck Smith was teaching John 11:45-57, where the plot is hatched to kill Jesus because of the miraculous raising of Lazarus from the dead, which led to many more who believed in Him. Caiaphas the chief priest said these villainous yet prophetic words in verse 50, "...it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish."

Later in Chapter 12, many Jews come to see Lazarus at dinner in his family's home with Jesus. We find out in verses 9-11 that the chief priests want to have Lazarus killed also! The part of the Bible study that ministered to me the most, however, was what Chuck Smith said about John 12:2, and Martha served... Chuck added, as she always did. You know, that was just her personality, we're all different, but Martha always served." With a morning that started out rather slowly because of a serious lack of sleep the night before, and then commenced with running to the bank, readying my dining room for a facial guest, and then visiting my friend Chelsey and her darling baby to help her plan to get back into her  Mary Kay, ministry,  I appreciate that Pastor Chuck didn't treat Martha as some callous worker bee with the "more spiritual" sister Mary who took time to sit at Jesus' feet!

I love to do both--spend a serious amount of time at Jesus' feet every morning, but do my Martha thing at home and out! It would be nice to have a little more help around the house, yards and garden, and with business matters, but even though we Marthas can get overwhelmed and irritated with those who seem a little too mellow [see Luke 10:42], we love what we do. My afternoon wasn't much more relaxed. Steve and I took our renter to get a fax sent; I then changed and left for my meeting an hour earlier than usual because my dad wanted to meet with me, and making one trip to Redlands today made more sense that heading over two days in a row.

There are still more  details to be completed before I head up the mountain, but all in all, it's been a wonderful day. God has kept me moving along calmly, handled every matter in its time, and showed me that when I put the joy and success of others first, His blessing "makes it a wrap!"