There’s popcorn all over the living room floor and, truth be told, it’s all over the kitchen floor, too. It’s everywhere.

It’s Saturday and Saturdays are for movie nights around here. It’s when we snuggle and stop and just be family.

There were, of course, a million requests for a sibling to move out of the way and arguments over popcorn bowls and who had more and there were more “Be quiet’s!” than I could keep count.

It wouldn’t be movie night without all of that.

Settling them to bed, I pad downstairs in bare feet and feel the kernels and puffs beneath my toes. The crackle and crunch mimics the sound from the mouths of those I love most just two hours before.

I take deep breaths because, try as I may, I still fight the Martha in me that wants to get grumpy about the popcorn that is now all over the floor.

We all know who will eventually be picking that popcorn up and it makes me tired to look at it.

And we all also know about the grump that threatens to steal joy from the sacred moments that make memories.

Haven’t we all had special moments of our own when we throw temper tantrums because we just can’t do one more thing for one more person?

Is there a mother alive who can peacefully lay their heads down at night following said tantrum and not feel any remorse or guilt for having blown-it?

Don’t we all know what it’s like to have a Martha on one shoulder and a Mary on the other?

And I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been missing Jesus so much and I told Him so today or if it’s the hour of worship music I listened to while making dinner but I hear Him tell me to go be a Mary.

Sometimes we just need to leave the popcorn on the floor.

The sun will rise amidst happy and loud summer birds and it will still be there. I might even encourage my kids to eat it for breakfast.

In the end, who will notice if the popcorn is picked up or if it’s left on the floor?

No one but me.

And I’m not saying we should just throw our hands up and live in squalor in the name of being a Mary because that eventually becomes laziness.

But I am saying that sometimes we just need to let it go.

Sometimes we just need to walk away and let what will be, be.

Sometimes we need to choose memories over Martha.

resized Memories over Martha

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Let the popcorn on the floor be a reminder of time together. The dishes in the sink are there because you have a family to feed. The laundry means life is being lived and dirty floors mean our kids are playing outside.

I saw a sign a while ago that read, “Excuse our mess. We live here.”

God excuses our mess every single time. He leaves our popcorn on the floor in a trail of sin from yesterday and gives us rest. He reminds us we aren’t defined by our soiled souls or the dirty laundry of our hearts.

Through Him, we truly live here. So excuse our mess.

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