Keeping Big Things Big and Small Things Small

(Sorry I didn’t keep this post short. :) )

The other night, I was reading in Luke 10 about when Martha received Christ into her home. Martha was “cumbered about much serving” and “careful and troubled about many things,” while Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to His teachings—she chose the “good part.” I casually mentioned to Adam that I think I’m more like Martha in some ways, and I want to become better at deciphering how I can choose the good part and realize that some things I overly worry about are small and simply not worth spending time thinking about.

Soon after meeting Adam, I started to realize that we are kind of opposite in the Worrying Department. He worries about the big things (what job to take, whether or not to get a master’s degree, how to achieve [a certain] goal…you know, the important things), and I’m prone to worry about the small things, like these:

What should I wear to church tomorrow?

Did that thing I just said bother her or make her upset?

Should this picture frame be hung here or here?

What should I make for dessert for the ward party that everyone will like?

The truth is this:

On Monday, no one will remember what I wore to church the day before.
Most likely, it didn’t. If it did, I just should say “sorry” and move on instead of continuing to worry about it.

Does it really matter?

Not everyone will like every single dessert, so why am I even thinking twice about this?

It’s important to worry about (or rather to think about, work toward, and realize the importance of) big things. It’s NOT important to worry about the little things. Big things are big because they are meant to be that way. Small things are small because not a lot of thought or work—or worrying—should be put into them. We can’t spend all of our time worrying about trivial matters that won’t affect our lives past next week. Adam does a good job at making me realize that a lot of the small things don’t have significance in the large scheme of things, and a lot of the big things should be taken seriously.

I had an experience today that brought out the Martha in me:

This morning, I walked outside to falling snow and a cold car. I pouted for a couple of seconds, wondering if the cold weather was going to stay for my birthday. I called my mom on my way to work to ask her a quick question and shared a few complaints with her about the wet roads and cold steering wheel. THEN, I saw something that quickly changed my attitude. As I braked at a stoplight, I saw a man standing on the corner of the street wearing a jacket and hat, and he held a stick out in front of him. As he waved his stick a few inches above the ground and felt up and down the streetlight pole until he found the “Walk” button, I immediately felt guilty as I realized that this man could not see. Here I was worrying about not being able to wear a skirt and flip flops, and he was probably thinking about how grateful he was to have a jacket as he walked across the street through the cold, snowy weather.

Sometimes it’s important to be like Martha, and other times it’s important to be like Mary. It’s our responsibility to find out how to distinguish between those experiences.

I think this morning’s experience was one of God’s ways of teaching me that sometimes I need to be more like Mary, and that the small things need to be kept small.

Now, the sun is shining.