A Call to Focus: Learning from Mary and Martha

“…You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one” – Luke 10:41-42 

I’m late writing to you this month, and while I doubt you’ve been checking your inbox for my email I don’t like being late, and yet I often am.  

I’ve been thinking a lot about the tyranny of the urgent and how it relates to the ministry being done at Queen City Pregnancy Resource Center (QC PRC). For example, writing to you—you, who pray for, serve and financially support the ministry--is important, but I get distracted by the urgent.  

I’m guessing this is a pervasive problem in all our lives and jobs. 

If you have visited QC PRC, you know the first floor is intentionally medical and we do all we can to create a peaceful environment for the families we serve.  Every single day our program staff sets aside their urgent and pressing tasks to do the more important things. And that important work often starts with a slow-paced conversation with a woman in a counseling room who’s trying to deal with the urgent situation in her life.  

I think of a few different clients we had those types of conversations with recently. Just this week we served a woman who openly shared she is a long-term drug addict. She was honest that this pregnancy gave her hope and a reason to try one more time to get clean. Another woman was devastated when she found out she was most likely experiencing a miscarriage.  A third client was shocked to learn she is pregnant and at the end of her first trimester. Being that far along means she can’t abort in North Carolina, but she was still initially planning to go out of state.

In my role I don’t directly interact with these clients, but I do talk to the staff who regularly serve them. I’m often impressed at how they’re able to stop their day and focus entirely on the woman in front of them and their stories. These staff members listen intently, they love deeply, they share compassionately.  

The women we serve experience unconditional love at QC PRC that is expressed in a variety of ways. For the woman who struggles with addiction, the staff get her to a health care provider that is known for its ability to serve pregnant women with her specific issues. For the woman who is miscarrying, the staff prays with her and has a deep spiritual conversation with her, explaining that God isn’t punishing her for a past abortion. For the woman who was planning to go out of state for an abortion, the staff gently listens as she poured out her heart. She told us about the children she’s raising, her disappointment in the father of the baby, and her regret over past decisions. We steer her to resources that can help, and then ultimately, we point her back to Jesus, Who is the only One that can give her the fresh start she is looking for.  

As I wrote that last line, I’m reminded that Jesus gives us a fresh start every time we ask for it. And He was clear about where our time is to be invested. I think of the story of Mary and Martha and His gentle, but firm reminder that Martha was “worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42). 

Would you please continue to pray for this ministry as we’re experiencing a season of growth and change? Specifically, please pray that we’ll learn from the story of Mary and Martha and stay focused on what is important— serving the family, saving the baby and sharing the Gospel.  

As part of our efforts to stay focused on what we’re called to do, we’ve been working diligently on creating a seven-year strategic plan for QC PRC. I look forward to sharing more of that plan with you in the coming months, but for now I can let you know that we’re hiring several new staff positions. These positions are needed to keep pace with the growth of the ministry. Would you please look at these open positions and share with anyone you feel may be called and qualified?   

Thank you for your prayers, thank you for serving alongside us, and thank you for your gifts.  As always, if you’d like to contribute financially to this important work here is the link to do so. And if there’s something on your heart you’d like to share or you’d like prayer, I would love to hear back from you. 

Warmly, 

Mary