I can't stop thinking about last Tuesday...

I was talking to a friend this morning and telling him the story of the college group’s recent serving at the Lydia House. I told him how it was my first time, and that while I was a little nervous about what to talk about with the women, that God opened up doors in amazing ways; that by the end of the night a woman walked up to Tytus and I and hugged us with tears in her eyes. 3 hours earlier I had no idea she even existed. I have almost nothing in common with her, and yet there we were, just kickin it together as if we had known each other for years.

The friend I was telling this to said that it reminded him a story in Luke 10. It’s about when Jesus went to this village and was welcomed into the home of two sisters, Mary and Martha. When Jesus showed up, Mary immediately sat at his feet and ate up every word he was saying, while Martha worked tirelessly organizing and cleaning and making the meal for them. Martha gets frustrated that Mary isn’t helping, and complains to Jesus about it.

So Jesus looks up at Martha and says, “Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Hearing these words really made me think… I wonder how often I’m too occupied by doing what I think is Jesus’s work, and how often I miss out on what’s most important – relationships marked by love. How many times do I busy myself with “serving,” when what people really need most is just to be listened to?

I wonder, how many times have I gone to work for Jesus and missed out on simply being him to the people I’m serving?

It hit me hard how easy it can be to get caught up in serving and doing good things and still not address the deepest needs people have. We all long to be truly known, to be loved, to be heard and feel like we’re valuable. Serving is something Jesus calls us to do, and it’s beautiful when the people of God are actively living out his will and his heart. In that story about Martha and Mary, it seems that there is more to our serving than just doing good works. It’s about relationships. I can make a meal or paint a fence or clean a room for someone, and while that’s great, it seems that Jesus wants more. At the end of last Tuesday night, a few of the women asked if we could come back and just spend time with them on a night that’s not our specific serving night. They were asking for relationships.

I don’t ever want my deeds or serving to be an event. I don’t want to view the beautiful women at Lydia House as a project. I want to know them. I want to share life with them. When I’m not there serving, I want to not be able to get them off of my mind. I want to be Jesus to them, and to want nothing in return. I want to know their names, know their stories, know their laughs and learn from their lives. I want to love them recklessly.

I'm so excited for God to continue to use our group; for his grace to flood our hearts, and that he would overwhelm us with an uncontrollable love for not only these women but each other as well!