Have a Mary Christmas

The past few days I've been reading in John, chapters 8-12. In there is the account of Mary and Martha. I noticed that Martha didn't just run around when Jesus showed up at her house. That was sort of her Type A personality. She ran to meet Jesus after her brother Lazarus died. He was spending a couple extra days away, after being told Lazarus had died. He knew He'd resurrect Lazarus, so was in no hurry to interrupt the ministry in town that God had called Him to. After Martha ran to meet Him, she ran back to the house. Can't you just see her? And where was Mary? Sitting in the house. Martha handled stress by being busy. Mary handled it by resting.

The last several years I had treated the stress of Christmas the same way Martha did. Go, go, go. Run here, run there, wrap, shop, wrap, bake, run, party, bake, run, wrap, party. And that didn't include the biggest time-absorber for me: cards.

Every year I write a poem chronicling our family's highlights and lowlights throughout the year. I do it when the inspiration strikes, which can be anywhere between Nov 30th and December 2oth, give or take. I'd crop pictures for it, take it to Staples for 60 copies, hand address all 60 and mail them by Christmas, or intend to deliver a good third of them to church, only to foget to take them at the last opportunity. Then I realized no one was particularly fazed by not getting their card from me. Some asked, "Are you gonna write your family poem again?" And I realized that was anticipated by some people but certainly didn't shake up their routine in the least. So I sent them out after Christmas and you know what? I didn't melt like Frosty at 50 degrees. In fact, I remember a sense of relief, a huge feeling of "this is better than fine!"

That one small change in routine turned a Martha moment into a Mary one. That way, not only did I cut out the trip to the copier, spent precious time addressing envelopes, stamping them, filling the envelopes with both card and poem, I decided that adding a verse or two to the Chronicle meant I could include what our Christmas/Hanukkah celebrations actually entailed, which then becomes part of the year in review, so to speak, and goes into my scrapbook. Plus a lot of people say they look forward to having more cards come after the hubbub so they have time to appreciate them. I know I like to get cards after Christmas, too.

I don't care what Martha Stewart says. I'd rather be "Mary."

What are you changing this year to have a "Mary" Christmas?