Having a Martha Home the Mary Way by Sarah Mae

I received a copy of this book from the publisher to provide feedback.

Are you a Martha personality or a Mary personality? I tend lean more towards a Martha personality. I like to get things done, and I have to remember to take time for the important things in life. I have to slow down and treasure the moments before they pass me by. I need to work diligently at filtering what I say and being careful that I don’t come across too strong in conversations. I do believe that we all have a little bit of Mary and Martha in us and sometimes it depends on the situation which personality type is more dominant.

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42

Lately, I’ve been so busy with getting things done outside that things inside of the house have gotten set aside other than the basics – food, general cleaning, laundry…. I needed something to help me get back into the routine of getting things done around the house as things had, once again, gotten cluttered. I have also allowed some other daily habits to slide as I try to get up early to beat the heat.

In Having a Martha Home the Mary Way: 31 Days to a Clean House and Satisfied Soul, Sarah Mae gives readers simple tasks to complete in the home as well as tasks to complete in their spiritual life. The Mary Challenges focus on connecting with the Lord and starting the day off on the right foot. It’s meant to provide inspiration and encouragement. The Martha Challenges are small, manageable cleaning and organizing tasks that can be done each day.

This book recommends that you start with a clean house. It’s not a deep-cleaning, get your house in order book. Oops! Guess I need to get things in order first before I can use the book as recommended. The book does start with a prep day to get your house in order. Of course, I needed more than just a day to get things back in order. I had let quite a few things slide as I was spending a good portion of the day outside working trying to get things done before the heat of summer hit. I could have waited to get the challenge started, but I chose to just dive right in anyway.

Each day starts with a quote or verse and then a little encouraging write-up based upon Sarah’s experiences. I love that she shares the good and the bad. There is no judgement in failing at tasks. As someone who is a perfectionist but not a neat freak, this is something that I appreciate. (Yes, as crazy as it may sound, the two can go hand-in-hand.)

Once you’re done with the daily reading, you come up to the Mary Challenge which gives a scripture passage to read and then several reflection questions. This is a journal type set-up where you can write down your answers directly in the book, if desired. Now you have your Martha Challenge. Some challenges are recommended for daily tasks while others are just that day. She gives recommendations for getting your kids involved.

I admit that I found it odd that she recommended starting the day by cleaning the kitchen. I don’t know about you, but I want to start the day off with a clean kitchen which means ending the day by cleaning up the kitchen. I’m up early to feed the animals, put together hubby’s lunch, and make him breakfast which means I don’t want to have to clean up the kitchen before I’m able to get to work.

The book itself is set up where you are implementing the cleaning ideas (Martha Challenges) Monday through Friday. Saturday can be a day for projects or catch up. Sunday is a day of rest. The system is quite flexible even though it’s designed around a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house with a living room, kitchen, and dining room.

I really like that she decided to take her original 31 day to clean challenge and turn it into more than just a cleaning challenge. Using Mary and Martha as the role models for the two types of challenges is a smart and interesting approach to the idea.

The book is well written. It’s not meant to be a real in-depth spiritual study or deep housing cleaning project. It’s a great way to get into the habit of meeting with the Lord daily as well as completing certain cleaning tasks daily. It’s flexible and encouraging.