02 Feb 2022 Love, lessons and little Martha-isms

Posted at 11:04 PMh in Faith by

By Laurie Green 

My mom is honestly one of the hardest workers you could ever have the honor of meeting. Growing up, our childhood was instilled with little “Martha-isms” that our mom would always say and teach us. For example, in my sassy pre-teens I’m pretty sure I thought my name was Miss Aster. Before you ask, I have no idea who she is. However, anytime my mouth spoke faster than my brain was working, mom would point her finger at me and say I’d better simmer down and stop acting like little Miss Aster.

Another of my favorites that she said a lot to me in those early years was, “Smarty had a party and nobody came.” Again, I have no idea what exactly this was supposed to mean, but I heard it so much growing up that I find it flies out of my mouth almost involuntary whenever someone says something sarcastic to me, LOL. But seriously, my mom really did make an impression on the type of individual I grew to become.

Laurie Green’s mom was a Texan who would correct her children with unique sayings. Martha took her children to the petting zoo at Pickles Gap when they were young. In the photo a daughter, Dallas, holds a goat (from left), Laurie, and their brother Brazos.

My mom has always believed that everyone should work for the public at least once in their lifetime. She would always point out to us how people who have done their time serving others behave just a bit differently, and honestly, the older I’ve gotten the more I find this to be true.

We grew up with the firm understanding to be kind to everyone, from the lowest job to the highest ranked position. Mom would always remind us to treat each individual with the very same respect and kindness.

Another little Martha-ism we were taught was to leave a place better than when you arrived. To this day, my family, my siblings, and all our children have carried on our mom’s tradition of cleaning our table when we eat out. We will scrap, stack, and line everything neatly in a little stack to be picked up from the corner of our table. (I have noticed that I do get some funny looks when on a cruise ship when I do this.) But if there was one thing that you NEVER said, certainly not in the presence of mom, it was those dreadful words, “That isn’t my job. That’s what they get paid to do.” That was certain to get you called Miss Aster along with being reminded that smarty had a party and nobody was going to come! But seriously, all kidding aside, it was important to mom that we made sure to make others feel important, regardless of their job, financial status, or rank. Mom made sure we knew everyone deserves to feel like someone special. I dare say that I agree wholeheartedly and hopefully have passed this same legacy down in our children.

And while I realize not everyone had the advantage of growing up with a mom quite like mine, I have a little bit of advice that I have found to be the secret for loving whatever it is you do for a living. The funny thing is it’s been around since the beginning of time, and I’m pretty sure this very thing was ingrained into my mom and passed down to us without me even realizing. It’s a small little passage in Colossians 3:23 (that can easily get overlooked): “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”

I can’t tell you how many times throughout my life I have been in a job that I didn’t necessarily enjoy or feel appreciated at. Yet I would remind myself of this little verse and keep pressing on until another door would open. It wasn’t always easy, but I knew that piece of scripture helped remind me to give 100% even when I didn’t feel like I wanted to. I can happily say that after a lot of different career paths (many of which involved working for the public, LOL), my husband and I now get to work side by side in our lawn care business. Is it always easy? Heck no! I mean, you folks know what Arkansas summers are like around here. But do I love what I get to do? YES, without a doubt! This season of life is another area where I get to see the goodness of God at work in my life.

So, in closing, I really want to encourage you to write that piece of scripture down in Colossians 3:23. Put it where you can see it every day and, more importantly, live it and watch it transform your day. 

Lastly, I’d like to share another one of my mom’s little Martha-isms that always helps keep me grateful and grounded: “The very things we often complain about, someone somewhere is currently praying for.” Life is too short and too beautiful not to wake up and always find something to be thankful for.

Laurie Green
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