Are you a “do-er?” Are you someone that just loves to check things off of their to-do list? I know I am! I survive off of my to-do list and it often begins to control my life. If that is you as well, this episode is just for you. We are digging into a story in the Bible that may or may not be familiar to you, but it’s definitely one that that we need to understand or reframe our perspective on.

My friend, Katie Reid, joins me for this conversation. She is the author of both Made Like Martha: Good News for the Woman Who Gets Things Done. She’s also the co-host of The Martha + Mary Show, and a singer-songwriter. Most importantly, she loves to inspire others to live out their God-given purpose with tenacity and grace so that they can stand on truth and walk in freedom.

In this episode, you’ll:

• Discover when to let your to-do list go
• Learn that the way you are wired is not a mistake
• Identify what it looks like when we strive for things that God has already given to us
• Find out when to say “yes,” “no,” and when to ask for help.

There were SO MANY helpful nuggets of wisdom in this conversation. It was such a refreshment to me and I’m grateful to be sharing it with you today!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Katie Reid’s Website
• Made Like Martha: Good News for the Woman Who Gets Things Done by Katie Reid
• Get the All Done! Calendar
• Follow Katie on Instagram
• The Martha & Mary Show
• Change Your Mind, Change Everything 
• SocialWised U e-course (to help parents prepare, protect, and empower their kids online) 
• Honorable U e-workbook (to help parents navigate conversations about touchy topics with their kids)
• “Stop! Hammock Time” Videos
• As a thank you for listening, get your 3 free eBooks!

My Key Takeaways:

1) The issue isn’t wanting to get things done. The issue is your heart. All throughout the Bible, we see examples where God has given us work to do and that He values that work! In this episode, Katie highlights how the story in the Bible about Mary and Martha isn’t about how working is an issue, but instead it’s about our hearts. When our hearts view work as a way to have worth or take on a “hired help” mentality, we are no longer completing the work before us in a healthy, God-honoring way. It’s okay to be a high-achiever, but when we place our only value in completing the work, we start to view ourselves by what we have done and not who we are.

2) Are you striving to get something you already have? God has given us many gifts and one of those gifts is to be called His daughter. All our to-do lists and achievements can easily start to warp our thinking. We begin to feel good when we can check everything off the list, but feel like we are a failure if we don’t. When we begin to think in transactional terms of being worthy of the gifts God has for us, we are actually striving for things we already have. God intended for our work to be a response to what He has given, not a prize to be won.

3) It’s important we learn when to say “yes,” when to say “no,” and when to ask for help. Did you know that God has given you things to be done that only you can do? He does! That is why we need to learn to say “yes” to the assignment God has for us and to get comfortable with saying “no” to the rest. For high achievers, this may be difficult. Have you corrected someone in your family for not loading the dishwasher the “right way?” Odds are these are the types of things you need to let go of so you can focus on the assignment that God has truly given you.

About Katie: