Listen to My Words!

You may already know that we were recently blessed with our 9^th grandchild…a precious baby girl!

She is absolutely adorable and everyone adores her!

While mama and daddy were in the hospital after the birth of Baby Everly, I had the privilege of caring for her three older brothers during part of that time!

Everly arrived on Monday (the day after Easter), so her older brothers were out of school that day, which was perfect! 

They were able to come to the hospital and meet Everly during the day instead of having to wait until after school to meet her!

But the next few days were school days, so we had busy schedules to maintain

I got up early each morning to get ready for the day!

It didn’t take me long to remember how hectic mornings can be!

Getting breakfast ready…lunches to pack…beds to be made…each child dressed and teeth brushed …book bags set out and ready to go…making sure each child had their jackets on…and out the door on time!

We had several school drop off and pick up times, so staying on schedule was extremely important!

On Tuesday, I needed to drop off Hudson and Gabe between 8:00 and 8:15 at school! 

After drop off, Beau and I headed to my house to take care of Josie, our Chesapeake Bay Retriever. 

Beau and I ran a few additional errands and that was back at school to pick up Gabe at 10:30!

We were only home for a short bit before I need to prepare lunch for these two little cuties!

On this particular day, both boys napped, and by the time they woke up from their naps…it was time to pick up Hudson from school.

After picking up Hudson, we all headed back to my house to take care of Josie again!

That evening we had quite the agenda!

We were decorating Welcome Home Posters…making brownies…making pumpkin/chocolate chips muffins for breakfast the next morning…and deciding how we should decorate the kitchen for the Welcome Home Dinner we were planning for mama, daddy and Everly!

We also were trying to squeeze in a movie before bedtime!

And of course, we had to work in stories and bible reading/devotionals before bed!

The next morning was very similar, except that we added an additional drop off and pick up for Beau, who had to be at his pre-school at 9:00 and picked up by 11:30! 

And of course, I still had to work in my trip home to care for Josie!

Our mornings were busy and full!

After picking up Beau and Gabe that day, I was asking the boys what they would like for lunch!

I was sharing a variety of options for them to choose from, and of course, they were both telling me at the same time what they would like!

Gabe’s speech has improved so much the last several months, but sometimes I still have a little trouble understanding what he is trying to say.

Unfortunately, I had asked Gabe to repeat himself a couple of times.

After asking him twice to repeat himself, Gabe turned to me and said, “Listen to my words”!

I quickly stopped what I was doing and looked at him!

Gabe was looking directly at me…and very slowly saying…”Listen to my words” …placing emphasis on each word!

I completely understood every word he was saying!

What had changed?

Was it the way he was slowly, emphasizing each word?

Was it the particular phrase that he was using that caught my attention?

Or was it that I had stopped what I was doing…and was only focusing on Gabe and what he was saying?

I’m sure it was a combination of all of the above!

But as I thought about this sweet little boy who was trying to get me to understand what he was saying, I thought of how often God could easily say the same thing to me!

Tammy…”LISTEN TO MY WORDS!!

How many times has HE tried to share something with me when I wasn’t paying attention or when I wasn’t really listening?

Or when I was distracted by everything else going on around me…

Or I was trying to do several things at once and not focusing very well on anything…

Or I was listening to other voices around me instead of only listening to what my Heavenly Father was saying to me…

How many times has my Heavenly Father had to say to me…”Listen to my words”…”Listen for my voice”!!

And as I was pondering this…I wondered what God’s word said about listening and found the following scriptures written by David’s son, Solomon in the book of Proverbs:

“but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.” …Proverbs 1:33

“Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many” …Proverbs 4:10

“Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say” …Proverbs 5:7

“Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say” …Proverbs 7:24

“Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right” …. Proverbs 8:6

“Now then, my children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways” …Proverbs 8:32

“Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it” …Proverbs 8:33

“Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway” …Proverbs 8:34

And these are only a few of the scriptures concerning “listening” to God!

And I smile…thinking of how my 3 ½ year old grandson spoke directly to my heart that day!

How his words penetrated my heart and reminded me how important is to listen…especially to God!

Dear Ones…turn your listening ears on today…and hear what God is saying to you!!

I’m sure God has so much he wants to share with you!!