"Martha, Martha..."

I seem to always have a favorite scripture for the different seasons of my life.

About two years ago, just as I was learning how to be a new mommy, one of our stake presidency members came to our ward for a visit. He spoke with the women about creating balance in their lives, a kind of balance that I was struggling to find (and still can be struggling to find some days!). However, his message was timely and what my little heart needed to hear, and the scripture that he used often echoes in my mind when things start to get a little crazy. He opened the New Testament to Luke 10 and read verses 41 and 42:

And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

For me, those passages oozed with tenderness. It was as if I could hear Jesus saying, "Kimberlee" and then again, in an even softer and more loving, yet concerned, manner, "Kimberlee." At that moment I knew. I knew that dinner did not always need to be elaborate, the floor did not always need to be perfectly clean, my food storage menu plan did not need to be flawless, and I certainly did not need to feel depressed if my baby weight had not yet given up residence at various spots on my body. I, too, was "careful and troubled about many things." And I was letting those things get in the way of my happiness as a mother, my ability to be a good spouse, and my relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Something needed to change. I needed to more fully understand that "one needful thing."

Of course, as it so often does, the answer to my problems came back to what I already knew: I needed to be reading my scriptures more often and more diligently; I needed to be praying--always--and really listening to what my heart was told in return; I needed to be less critical of myself and others. I needed to just refocus, refrain, and remember that sitting at the feet of Christ will always be more important than the pile of laundry in my bedroom.

I wish I could say that I have been perfect at this principle since that day. Oh, I wish! But I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father that helps me to turn back to this scripture every once in a while and remember what was in my heart that day. I am grateful for the atonement and the ability to be forgiven and try once again to be better. And I am oh-so-grateful that when I do stay on track my life is full of peace.