I Can't Hear You!!!

It starts as a soft call to your children at the bottom of the stairs to come and get their laundry....no reply comes from above. You raise your voice just slightly higher and try again....still no reply comes from above. You raise your voice to the highest decibel possible and all of the sudden three little bodies come down the stairs and in unison say "Sorry Mom we couldn't hear you." Now on the other hand you call to your children in that same soft voice that they can have pizza for breakfast and all three little bodies come traipsing down the stairs in record speed. Likewise if my husband calls to the boys in his normal daddy voice they come barreling in the room as well. My mom would probably agree that I had this same wonderful sense of hearing as a young child and especially as a teenager. She would agree that I was able to tune out what I didn't want to hear, especially if I was in trouble or was being asked to do more chores. I imagine all moms at one time or another go through this wonderful phase where their children "can't hear" them with their amazing sense of selective hearing. Oh I love when you tell all three of them to not take any snacks from the refrigerator because we have a huge dinner planned and all THREE of them some how mosey to the door and get caught sneaking a snack. I remind them that there were no snacks before dinner and amazingly all THREE of them state "Oh, sorry mom, I didn't hear you!" In college we studied this amazing phenomenon and the thing is...we hear just about everything that creates an audible sound....the problem is...most of the time we do not actually LISTEN." Hearing is just the mere physical aspect of the sound being processed by the ear, while listening is actively engaging the brain in the reception of the message and processing that information for a response either in verbiage or in action. I have to admit that sometimes I tend to be a poor listener as well. My brain flies at about a million miles a minute...constantly thinking about future projects, designs and what I will be doing in five minutes. I have to actively shut down all the "extra" stuff so that I can actively engage in a conversation without getting distracted. I think most women probably agree that we will listen for noises from our children while talking to our husbands or will be planning dinner when on the phone with a friend because that's how God made us. I find that even in my prayer and Bible reading time that I have to actively focus on the Word and Him so that my mind doesn't wander into the ponderings of womanhood!! I found it easiest when I journal my prayers and thoughts because then I can categorize them and focus on what God's message is for me. I have to be quiet, sit still and focus to hear from God too because he's always trying to talk to me too. Like I constantly tell my kiddos "Listen to me I'm trying to tell you something". I can imagine that God is up there in heaven saying the same thing to me!!