Simplify

Last night I made Thai basil ground pork and rice for supper. Only the kitchen counter was still cluttered with dishes from breakfast and lunch, and instead of clearing a spot for my cutting board, measuring cups, and other assorted utensils and ingredients, I worked around and among everything that was already there. 

For some reason, I thought that was simpler and faster than first clearing a spot to make supper. But was I ever wrong about that! For by awkwardly reaching around and over everything on the counter, I managed to knock over my almost-full bottle of Little Saigon fish sauce and sent a river of the sticky sweet sauce across the counter and onto the floor.

What a mess! I rescued my bottle of fish sauce which was still half full and put its cap back on. I used a couple of dish towels to soak up the sauce. I finished putting my supper together, and while it simmered, I thoroughly washed both counter and floor. And when the floor still felt sticky, I washed it again. My one consolation was that my late dinner was delicious!

But it was also more complicated than it needed to be. Instead of making the simple supper that I had intended and enjoying a peaceful evening, I had to quickly rescue the rest of my fish sauce and wash the kitchen floor not once, but twice.

That experience reminded me again of my 2024 word of the year: simplify.

At the start of the year, I had been feeling quite overwhelmed. Yes, I was meeting my speaking and writing deadlines and paying my bills on time. But I was also taking on too many things and struggling to keep up. I would sometimes find the dryer door standing open with the laundry only half put away because I had been interrupted by a phone call and then gone on to something else without giving the laundry a second thought. I had misplaced my bank card – which was so unlike me – and couldn’t find it for weeks until I finally found where it had fallen and gotten caught under a seat.

So, I decided I needed to simplify. Not so much decluttering in the sense of giving away things I no longer use or need, although I’m doing some of that too. But I needed to simplify in the sense of decluttering my calendar. Streamlining my bill paying. Finishing one thing before going on to another. Putting things away so I can find them when I need to. Making two trips from the basement instead of trying to make it up the stairs while carrying a sheaf of papers, a pen, my cell phone, and a cup of tea, with my exercise mat tucked under one arm. And now I’m adding to that list: clearing away the breakfast and lunch dishes so there’s room to make supper.

When Jesus pays a visit to his good friends, Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42). Martha plays the role of responsible host, and is “distracted by all the preparations.” As you might guess, I have a fair bit of Martha in me. Like Martha, I’m responsible, energetic, busily working, and as Jesus describes her, “worried and upset about many things.”

But I have a little bit of Mary in me too. Like her, I’m not always so responsible with household chores, witness the clutter of dishes on my kitchen counter. Mary is not at all concerned about the duties of hosting and apparently not at all concerned about leaving Martha with all of the work. Yet Jesus commends her, for “only one” thing is needed, and Mary “has chosen what is better.” She sits and listens to Jesus.

Perhaps that’s the real key to simplifying – to listen to Jesus. Instead of filling my calendar with appointments and deadlines set by other people, what if I first listened to Jesus? Instead of taking on more and more and letting other things languish half done or barely started, what if I first finished those things that the Spirit has placed before me? Instead of being distracted by many things, what if I waited on God for the one thing that is needed? I invite you to join me.

They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings as eagles;

they shall run, and not be weary;

and they shall walk, and not faint.

– Isaiah 40:31

April Yamasaki is a pastor, author, editor, and spiritual formation mentor. She currently serves as resident author for Valley CrossWay Church, editor of Rejoice! magazine, part of a mentoring group for a seminary student, and often speaks in churches and other settings. Her published books include Sacred Pauses, Four Gifts, and This Ordinary, Extraordinary Life. Read more of her writing at AprilYamasaki.com and WhenYouWorkfortheChurch.com