How Is Your Listening Skillz?

You didn’t listen! I seem to hear this phrase a great deal lately. I hear it at work, my husband has said it to me and yes, I have said it at times too. In fact, I said it just the other day to my husband as we were running some errands. Unfortunately, listening seems to be a lost art in our society. How many of you have ever had someone stop and ask, “Hi, how are you”? And they move on before you can even answer the question. It seems that everyone is so busy that we don’t really take the time to really talk to people. We are too busy trying to cram one more thing into an already packed schedule. Sometimes we just get too distracted. We ask a question but don’t wait for a response even if we haven’t physically left, we have mentally checked out of the conversation. I confess I am probably guilty of doing this to my family. Other times, I am too busy planning what I want to say next to really pay attention to what the other person is saying. We forget that listening is active; it requires that we concentrate on the person speaking. We put aside our need to hurry and the things that distract us and really pay attention to someone else. God says that we should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. Listening is critical if we want to learn about people. People need to know that we value them, but they will never know that if we can’t really listen to what they are saying. Active, focused listening to people is one way that we show them we care about them and their opinion. Today listen, really listen to those around you. Some of them are hurting, lonely, struggling just waiting for someone to listen, really listen to what they are saying. How is your listening skillz?

Father, as we go through our day,
help us to slow down, stop
and listen to the people around us.
Help us not to be in so much of a hurry
or too distracted
that we fail to really hear what others are saying
they may be crying out for someone to hear
what they are saying.

Comments

Live Fearlessly

As I was driving home today, I passed a person walking on the side of the road. Since it was cold, and snowy, I thought I should stop and offer the person a ride. As I drove on by, I was irritated with myself for not stopping. I could have and should have but I didn't. Why? I was scared! Maybe that wouldn't bother you, but I'm willing to bet there are things that make you afraid. It may be snakes or spiders that send the ticker into overdrive. Or maybe it's your job and finances that keep you up at night when you should be resting. Then again perhaps it's relationships that consume your thoughts and energy. As followers of God, we know that we are told not to be afraid. Yet we often are afraid despite everything we know. As I was driving away from a misse...

Tragedy: A Christian Response

I want to start by telling you a story. We were new parents. When Our oldest, a son, was about eighteen to twenty months we had another baby, a girl with brown hair and huge eyes. One day as I went to feed her, my son who may have been two at the time wandered off to another part of the house. The next thing I heard was a thud. I grabbed my baby girl and ran to see what happened. There was my son with a table on top of him. He had pulled it over on himself and more blood than I had ever seen was running all over. We put him in the car and dashed for the ER. It was not a fun trip. He had a skull fracture and many stitches. Fast forward about fourteen or fifteen years, I’m at a stop light and watch my youngest daughter about ten start across a street on a bike start across a street just as a truck comes around a corner into the path of the bike. She hit the side of the truck and bounced onto the road....

Just A Word of Praise!!

On Sunday, after church, we went to a town about thirty minutes away. On the way we drove through an area where they were working on the road. It was no big deal. We had lunch, bought some food for the week, and drove back home. Later, as we were on our way to church for the evening service, I heard the ominous flapping sound that a tire makes when it’s flat. Yikes! I pulled over and while I was debating how I was going to change a tire. A car coming in the opposite direction drove by and stopped. As the driver appeared from the vehicle, I recognized him as a neighbor and fellow believer. He approached the car, and asked if I had an air compressor to inflate the tire. My answer, “Yes, but I’m not sure how good it is. I’ve never actually managed to inflate a tire using it. I may not be using it properly.” I produced it from the trunk of the car and handed it to him. Within...

Inspirations

Search This Blog