Seasons & Being Prayerful

Been doing a lot of thinking lately......and a whole lot of praying.  I have several things going on in my life, some that are absolutely fabulous, and some not so fabulous.  We ALL have that going on.  One night, I was having a conversation with my Mom about the seasons we are both going through in our lives.  I'm talking about the struggles of day-to-day, the big and little problems we face in our lives, the things we "deal" with.  My Mom had been sharing hers, and I was sharing mine.  We laughed, cried and cried some more, and hugged a lot!  Then my Mom had brought up a friend of hers and what she was going through......man let me tell you, I thought I had it rough!!  Whew, I was just so relieved that I wasn't going through that.  Then I stopped and thought, if her friend had heard my struggles, would she have felt the same way?  I bet so!  Why, well I'd like to think we are all, in some way or another,  in tune with each other on the radar of how heavy is your load compared to mine.  We are all sensitive to what it means to each of us.  That being said, there are certainly days when I will, and have thought I'm having it rougher you and everyone else on this planet.  Heck, I just had one of those a few days ago! Those are what I like to call Valerie Pity Parties of 1.  I am no fun on those days.  But after the tears, sniffles, thoughts and how am I gonna fix this, I give it all to the Lord, and man is my load ever lighter!!!  Amen!

That conversation got me thinking more and more of how in tune I need to be with other people and their seasons, situations, troubles and struggles.  Mine can be a drop in the bucket compared to what someone else is going through.  These days I've been a lot more open and aware of how prayerful I need and have been, for others in my life.  When I have my alone time in the morning, or at night (depending on how my day starts with lil' hoss) I am just amazed at who comes to my mind when I'm allowing myself QUIET TIME, time to think, pray, talk to the Lord, time to just be still.  People I haven't thought of in weeks.  It's happened twice this week already!  I highly recommend you try it if you aren't already in practice of this.  There are so many more people in your life, close to you, acquaintance, church friend, co-worker, guy at the grocery store that needs prayer. 

Just wanted to share that lil' tid bit with you..........ya' never know what your thinking, I'm thinking or your momma may be thinking that lights a spark!

My Mary & Martha {MM} Moment.....

Ya'll know the story of Mary & Martha right?  Jesus and his disciples visit the house of Lazarus and his sisters Mary & Martha (their story is in Luke 10: 38-42 (NIV).

The visit is right around mealtime, and Martha is busy preparing the food for their meal in the kitchen while Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus hearing His message.  Martha then complains to our Lord about Mary and how she is not fulfilling her duties in the kitchen and making Martha do all the work!  Martha is then reprimanded (and she deserved it!) for complaning and Jesus tells her "....Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (verse 42)  I don't now much about Mary and Maratha's personalities, but I have my inclinations.  I'd like to think that maybe Martha was the older sister and was more of a leader and more hospitable than her sister?  Mary was maybe a tad bit lazy leaving all the cooking to her older sister, or maybe she was a bit shy?  I don't know, but I do know they are two complete opposites! 

That right there ladies and gents gave me a spiritual spanking, as my lovely friend Allison always says!  It woke me up!  I had my first M&M moment, and caught myself in it.......after it happened.  I am so glad to be able to share this with you because on my faith walk, I have been realizing more and more moments when the Holy Spirit has touched me, speaking to me and just being alive in my spirit!

We were at the park the other day and we had been there about 45 min and it was about time to pack it up and head home for lunch, then nap time.  Of course like any almost 2yr old would do, Holden threw a fit when I picked him up screaming and crying to head to the car.  I happened to just glance to my right and saw another mommy at the park with her little girl; and the look on the moms face just touched my heart.  She was sitting on a brick wall watching her daughter play and her face just looked somber.  I just felt like I needed to stop what I was doing and go to her.  So I did.  BUT in the back of my mind I was thinking: I need to get home!  I gotta get this boy fed, get him down for a nap and finish up the 4 baskets of laundry, vacuum, clean up the kitchen from breakfast and start prepping dinner all before he wakes up!  So I put Holden down half way out of the park and he bolted back to the play-scape.  I walked over to her and said hi and introduced myself.  She didn't even look up, just said hi and a smirk.  I started to make small talk about her little girl and Holden, commenting on the weather, ya know the usual suspects in a stranger to stranger conversation.  Then out of no where she just broke down crying, and I'm talking the ugly kind of cry; sobbing so loud both the kids looked over to see what the noise was.  I just held her, gave her a big hug and told her it was going to be alright.  I hugged on her for a few minutes, and she started to tell me that her and her longtime boyfriend broke up for good and he left for out of state a few days ago, and wants no contact with his little girl any more.  I told her my I'm sorries and how bad I felt for her, then I asked her if it would be OK if I prayed for her.  This is HUGE for me because I have never done this before, let alone to a complete stranger!  She said yes very welcoming and with a smile.  So we held hands and I said a prayer over her and her daughter and just felt the Holy Spirit in doing this.  She gave me a huge hug and said thank you.  I gave her my mommy card and told her to call/text/email whenever she need to talk or to just hang out.  

Now I know some of you may be thinking, how is this a Mary & Martha moment.  Well, it gave me an opportunity to share Jesus with someone, and it showed me that I need to have a heart/mind more like Mary, and not Martha.  I need to be more attentive to my spiritual radar and when it goes off and when to engage it.  I have been feeling my spiritual radar more and more; I'm just learning how to use it!  That moment at the park when I was about to leave, I had a mind like Martha; I gotta get home, put him down to nap and and prepare for the rest of the evening, I gotta get it all done!  But the Holy Spirit put in on me right then and there to have a heart like Mary; taking the time to stop and listen to her story and be there for her, share His message with her.  

I have yet to hear from her, and I may never hear from her. We've been back to that park twice since that's happened and I haven't seen her.  But I've prayed for her and her little girl.  I know the good Lord is gonna provide and take care of them!  They're in good hands!  I think we have Mary & Martha moments like these to become more aware of ourselves and how we look at situations.  We are challenged by these moments to grow in our faith and to not be so busy in the world, to take time to listen.