Placemats and Deviled Eggs!

I think I need to take a detour from Colossians 3 for a week and share my 'Mary Melt-Down' from Thanksgiving Day. If you recall from my Mary/Martha Saga series (January-May in archives) I had always considered myself a Mary who felt guilty for not being a Martha. Well, I thought I had that licked after my concentrated study of the two sisters in Luke 10 and John 11. If you recall, we determined that both “Marys” and “Marthas” have their own unique strengths and weaknesses. We discussed the importance of both types working together for the cause of Christ. Marthas have their influence and Marys have theirs.

Well, sure enough, my lack of Marthaness overwhelmed me Thursday as I prepared for our Thanksgiving meal with my son and daughter-in-law. I was so excited to be preparing the meal for the first time in 3-4 years, and as you can imagine, I was stressing to make sure things would be ‘just right’!

GRRrr #1: I was so proud of myself for planning and organizing a Wednesday start to preparations. I planned and thought through what could get done on Wednesday-a very Martha-ish process I might add. One of those details was boiling the eggs for deviled eggs. But, Thursday, when I started fixing them, I realized that that probably wasn’t a wise move, as the shells stuck and the outer egg was all messed up on all but two. So, frustratingly, I had to boil a new set of eggs.

GRRrr #2: When I got ready to set the table I couldn’t find the green placemats that matched my CLOTH (I had to use my cloth one!) rooster tablecloth. I was getting frustrated, and Greg couldn’t figure out why it was such a big deal! I WANTED IT TO LOOK AND BE NICE! I thought it had to be nice-after all, it was Thanksgiving-aren’t things supposed to be nice for Thanksgiving?  (I am sure all the Marthas are shaking their heads ‘yes’.) So, begrudgingly, I set the table with my nice rooster dishes without pretty green placemats.

GRRrr #3: Back to the eggs—They turned out nice-Yeah!  I set them in the frig for just a little while as we finished last minute preparations.  As I reached in to grab the can of cranberry sauce (while my dear, sweet daughter-in-law stood behind me) I knocked over the eggs. Only 3-4 were savable! I stood there and cried! 

Christie couldn’t figure out why I was taking it so hard because just a few minutes earlier we were having a laugh about Jimmy dumping a pumpkin pie as he took it from the oven. Guys must not have those moments because he was laughing with us and sharing how they scooped it up and had pumpkin pie pudding! Back to the eggs, though… I hugged her and told her I had just wanted to make everything ‘nice’. How many of you are relating to this right now??

The problem with those GRRrr moments is that my warped definition of ‘nice’ doesn't compare to the love Jim and Christie have for us and we for them! The fact that our family was together on that special day was the ‘nicest’ thing of all. The fact that my life can be an influence on this young couple and their family is far greater than placemats and deviled eggs!

I think maybe I should go back and reread that series and let it serve as a reminder of our true purpose. I used Colossians 3:17 throughout the "Mary/Martha" series, as well as recently in my "Colossians for Christie" series: 

And whatsoever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

I really don’t think our Lord is overly concerned about placemats and deviled eggs!

I trust you learned the lesson better than I did!

I love you, Christie—I trust Thanksgiving Dinner was special! We are so glad to have you as part of our family-both our physical and our spiritual family!

Momma Debbie