Shut Your Piehole & Listen!

You know this silence business is tricky stuff.  I am on day 30 of laryngitis. Still on voice restrictions, but hopefully by the end of the weekend the leftover raspiness will be completely gone. I’ll be back to my sparkling self. And back on the radio! Woot woot! *happy dance cha cha cha*

I feel really blessed for some of the down time I've had over the past month to just learn how to relax and ‘be in the moment.’ Is that a foreign concept to you? I've never been very good at it myself. I'm great at talking about relaxing; just horrible on the follow through. The huge to do lists or worrisome moments in that pesky thing called life always seem to get in the way. You too?

But ironically, the need to relax is just the tip of the iceberg for me. God has showed me so much about myself this past month, it's unbelievable. I'm still soaking it in. But my most recent discovery is a bit of a shocker: I am a HORRIBLE listener! *gasp* Cue dramatic music…shocking for a professional talker, right?

Honestly, this really was shocking to me at first. But I've had a few weeks to soak it in. And if we're being honest, I'm not really sure I wanted to listen (pun intended) to what God was teaching me. I've sort of been an unwilling student in this whole thing. In fact, I've always considered myself a good listener. A darn good listener. People like to tell me their problems. And I like to fix 'em!

Fix them. Did you catch that? See, that’s sort of the problem. I can only imagine that a family member or friend (or two or three) has wanted to give me a knuckle sandwich due to all my fixing over the years!

Why do I always think people need fixing? And more importantly, why have I always thought I’m the one who should be doing the fixing?

Sound familiar? At all!?!

If you, like me, are guilty as charged, let me just tell it like it is...we aren't truly listening to our loved ones. Not really. If we're so busy (a) identifying the problem and (b) finding a solution…then how can we be actively listening to what someone is really saying? 

The same goes for our relationship with God, by the way. If we are so busy going about the routine of our day, troubleshooting all those pesky problems that pop up, then can we be still and know He is God? I  mean, really be still? Can we listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling us when we are running around like a chicken with its head cut off? Let's face it. We can't. And we're not.

You know, sometimes (more often than not) we just need to listen to the people in our life, and let God do the fixin.’ Or, in the very least, wait until after someone actually asks for help to formulate a response.

And sometimes we just need to cool our jets. Lighten our schedule. Put away the stupid, albeit necessary, to do lists. Turn off our phone. Shut off Facebook and get into HIS book. Take a moment to catch our breath. Fix a good cup of coffee. Or tea, if that's your thing. Open up that bible. And then listen. To HIM.

Easy as pie, right?