Listen

I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.

This is the Scripture Ray brought to us at our family Bible time at breakfast. How amazing is that? God hears us! Knowing God, we know that's just one reason we can love God. But somehow my mind wandered away from Ray's intentional application of these verses.

How often have you had someone ask you a question or for your input and never stop talking to hear what you have to say. It's so annoying and rude. It happens to me often and I watch it happen to my children.

When we moved Sarah in to her dorm on Saturday, lots of people who stopped by her room to introduce themselves.  Sarah was polite and spoke, but she wasn't "out there" in the open. Later in the day, we saw one lady that we had met earlier, and she asked Sarah her name again, twice within 30 seconds, and then said, "Oh, I remember you. You're the quiet one hiding in the corner." I wanted to scream at the lady, "Stop talking and listen!" Sarah isn't the quiet one, sitting in the corner, and she has a lot to say! And she isn't the rude one that never stops to listen.

Over this issue, I've had to look at my own heart. I have been purposefully trying to think lately, how often do I actually listen? I'm a talker and sometimes I barrel over others. It's annoying and rude, and I'm sorry that I've done that, especially to my children and closest friends. I don't want to keep talking without hearing someone else's opinion. I want to listen to them and hear their voices and their hearts.