Did You Hear That?

Recenty, Mike & I traveled to San Diego & back to Texas (not to worry, I don't have another bad airline story! lol!), then, Blessing Ceremony over the Sharon Washburn Center for Hope & finally, Washburn Women Weekend with cooking class. It was a few days full of travel & fun for me. Seeing & spending time with people I love & some I didn't even know well, but fun & exciting all the same. I noticed something as I watched people living & going & doing.

I noticed parents & children traveling through the busy airports, all the while, keeping tabs on one another so no one would get lost or separated. I noticed ticket agents & airline staff working with passengers to get them on the desired plane & to their destinations. There were passengers, like me, needing assistance with wheelchairs & pre-boarding; there were pilots & airline stewards giving direction over the intercoms during flight in case of emergency, so we'd all know what to do. (One even sang the instrutions to the tune of "Heartbreak Hotel" just to keep our attention!)

In San Diego, there was a lot of the same communication on the beach. The keeping up with one another & parents applying sunscreen to children who were ready to run in the water & explaining their efforts so children would understand the delay of play in guarding them from a potential sunburn.

Back in Texas, we attended the Blessing Ceremony that was one of the sweetest events I can remember. There were speakers wanting to get the word out about the Center & care of abused women & their children. The staff was excited in showing all who attended the ceremony their work of the apartment projects & what they'd done so far in this effort.

Finally, the Cooking School that evening that was so much fun! The Chef wanted our attention as she demonstrated rolling egg rolls & pot stickers. As she spoke, it came to me that every single person I'd seen in the last week wanted the very same thing... to be heard. Isn't that funny? We all were in different circumstances & locations & stages of life & career, but all wanted someone to listen to what we had to say.

Every person I've mentioned above & including all members of our family later in the weekend together, all wanted the same thing! We all came together from busy lives & had needs & wants to share. We all just wanted & needed a listening ear. To be heard & understood by another person.

As I thought about all the people I'd seen as I people watched through airports & ceremonies & family gatherings, I realized God has the exact desire & that's to be heard. He wants desperately to be heard because He knows if we listen to Him, we'll like what we hear. We'll follow His lead in our lives. He tells you & me all through His word that if we knock on the door, He'll open it. He's saying when we come to Him, He'll tell us about Himself. He shouts every morning as He brings the sun up that He loves you & me & He just wants us to hear that from Him. He wants to be heard when He sets a rainbow in the sky. So, as a result of this recent trip & family time, I'm going to hear as people speak. Whether I know them or not, I will hear them out. The desire is to be heard, so I will listen. All my loved ones are worth listening to, & so is my God.

Blessings!