ok. so i'm not good at listening. i'm pretty good at talking, not so good at listening. especially when it comes to God. i mean, i pray. i talk to God. but it's mostly me talking. mostly a one-way conversation.
because listening is hard. it takes patience and focus. and keeping your mouth closed. and i'm good at none of those. i'm working on it, but progress is unfortunately slow.
but i love how God keeps whispering to me anyways. he just keeps lovingly speaking in the little things, knowing that when i am able to slow down enough to see and to hear, i will be blessed.
and boy was i blessed today.
i was running my normal after school taxi route, picking up kids from here and there. and it was raining. as i pulled up to the school , the 9 year old neighbor girl ran around the car one way to get in, and my 9 year old son went around the other way with his umbrella, leaving her to fend for herself.
and as i watched this play out, i debated about whether or not to give him a hard time about it when they got in. i thought of several different ways i could jokingly jab at his lack of chivalry. and i almost did. and i have before. but this time, a small voice from somewhere told me, "not today, momma." so i let it go, making a mental note to do a seminar on the art of being a gentleman at some point in the near future.
but then, as we pulled up to the little girl's house, my son got out first. i was thinking maybe he just didn't want her to crawl over him and that he would be getting right back in. but as i looked out my window, the next thing i saw was this amazing young man walking this young lady to her door, covering her with his umbrella. oand my heart was blessed. like, as in, one of the proudest moment of my life, cup running over, want to shout for joy but can't for being speechless, downright blessed.
and then it hit me....... what if i had said something? what if i had given him a hard time 5 minutes earlier? what if i hadn't listened to that small voice? what if i hadn't heard the whispering in the rain? i would have robbed him of the opportunity to serve on his own. and i would have missed out on the blessing.
so maybe listening is hard. but maybe its also so worth it.
Proverbs 8:34 - "Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates....."
