And so came the tests.

First, my cell phone dropped on the escalator out of the building. It stopped working. This was bad news as I had a seven hour drive north to get home, in the dark, alone. Oh well. I would rise to the challenge of being cell phone-less.

During the drive I got over the treacherous mountain pass, called The Grapevine, out of Southern California. At the bottom of the hill I stopped to use a pay phone and call my family to let them know I was on my way. A couple with a little baby were standing around and I asked in broken Spanish if they needed help.  They responded in broken English that they were waiting for a ride. I was on a mission to help people, so this felt good and right. I gave them an apple and a drink and went on my way… forgetting to turn on my headlights.

This was a big mistake. As I got on the freeway, still not knowing my headlights were off, I hit a curb. It is a miracle that my car did not flip and make me a human sardine. But ½ mile down the freeway I heard the horrible and familiar “thump, thump” of a flat tire.  Test #3.

I was stuck at 9 o’clock on a Sunday night on a busy freeway. I was very proud of myself that considering the situation, I did not cry. Maybe I was a little in shock. Instead, I laughed. I thought all that great, motivational training and I am getting to put it to immediate use. I am motivating myself!

I first said a prayer for my ‘deliverer’, whoever it was going to be. Then with hazard lights flashing I went out and flagged some passing cars. No one stopped or flashed their lights in acknowledgement of my predicament. Remember, my cell phone was broken.

Next, I sat on the trunk of this little Toyota Echo and waved frantically at passing cars. When this proved futile I got a white T shirt and waved it, thinking the light color would reflect the passing headlights and surely someone would stop.  No.

I climbed back into the car and tried to rest my weary eyes. Who can sleep with 18 wheeler trucks passing by 10 feet away going 65 or 70 miles per hour? The very ground thundered as they whizzed past.

I thought about walking back to the pay phone by the rest stop and calling for help. But the old adage of staying put when lost came to mind and I wisely decided to wait it out.

As a last option, I turned on the headlights and with white T shirt in hand I stood in front of the headlights waving wildly for someone to stop and help me. Ten minutes of that proved useless. So I trudged despairingly back to the car.

Where were the highway patrolmen who are always around?  Where were those tow truckers who are always prowling for stranded vehicles? Was there no one to help me in my plight? Are there no more good Samaritans in America? Is everyone so afraid of each other that we have forgotten to lend a helping hand?

All of a sudden I saw a pair of red lights backing up. Praise the Lord! After 45 minutes someone stopped to help me.

I went up to the truck to lavish my gratitude on this benefactor.  Turned out it was a young man with his wife and 4 kids in the truck. He stopped to help me, with the hope and action that someday someone will stop and help his wife, if ever she is in a similar situation.  He put on the spare tire in record time and sent me safely on my way with the warning to drive to a hotel for the night until I could get a new tire. I thanked him profusely and got his address so I could send a thank you gift card.

There is something wrong in America that a human being stays stranded on a dark freeway with thousands of cars driving by!  What has happened to the generous spirit that made this country great? Are we so paranoid of one another since whatever event wrought this ungodly fear? Or is it our tight schedules that keep us in the fast lane of life, that won’t allow us to stop and help another?   Call it your karma, but I know it as The Golden Rule: “Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.”  Thank you Grace and Richard for helping me.

Martha could have handled the situation so much differently.  I can think of 6 various approaches that would have yielded her a blessing instead of a rebuke. She would have been praised for being industrious like the Proverbs 31 women of many talents and many tasks.

First, Martha could have asked nicely. My Mother used to tell me that “you catch more bees with honey’. Her meaning was clear: if  I spoke with more kindness, I could get the desired result I wanted.  What if Martha had said, “Lord, I really want to hear everything you have to say.  Could you please spare Mary for a few minutes and then we can both be attentive to your words?”  It just sounds more pleasant and congenial. I also remember being told in a college class that communication is not what you say, but what others hear you saying.  This makes it a tough to please everybody. But that is just it, remember to ask with a please!

Secondly, Martha could have invited Jesus into the kitchen. I don’t know how Biblical kitchens were set up, but it seems to me that if Jesus were in the kitchen with Martha she would have been able to do her chores and listen to Jesus. Women are naturals at multi-tasking. We can easily peel carrots and have a discussion as we stir the soup and time the baking bread. Martha could do her work, which I believe the Lord would honor her for, and hear Him.

Another option for Martha would have been to quickly hire a neighborhood girl to come and help. The villages were tightly interconnected with family and friends. Martha could have appealed for help among her neighbors. Then she would have been freed up to join in on “the better part”.

Yet a fourth choice would have been to be better prepared.  It is rare for a true housekeeper not to be ready at the drop of a hat for company coming. There were no trips to the market or pantry. One had to think ahead and plan out meals. Martha was not only unprepared to serve and feed Jesus, but her own household as well.

A fifth option would have been to borrow food from a neighbor. One Gospel parable is of the man who bangs on his neighbor’s door until he gets a loaf of bread. Persistance from the man banging on the door brings charity from the neighbor. If Martha had good relations with her neighbors, they would have been glad to share.

The sixth response that Martha could have had, and the best of all, was to drop all she was doing and just be with Jesus, like Mary was doing. Jesus did not want food, He wanted their hearts. He had Mary’s and He yearned for Martha’s.

I have often thought of this story when I get so caught up in minor details that I miss the bigger picture. I do not want Jesus to someday tell me, “Jeanne, Jeanne, you were anxious and worried about so many things.” I  know that ‘the better part’ is an intimate life with Him, walking daily in His Word, worshipping with other Believers, loving those He put into my life.  When my life is done I want to hear Him say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”