Whispering

My kids are not listening, and I'm worn out.

Lately our habits (theirs and mine) have gotten pretty ugly. They don't listen. I yell. It doesn't help. I get mad. I yell more. They finally hear me and look at me like, "What is your problem, crazy lady?" I lecture. They try not to roll their eyes. We all walk away grumpy.

I know ... Mom of the Year - here I come!

So, yesterday I decided to do a little experiment. I called the troops in close - their three little bodies and mine - and in a hushed voice, I told them the plan. "Today, I will only be whispering, so you may have to try a little harder to hear. Got it? Ok, go play!" And off they went - Cole on his scooter and the girls, straight to their friends waiting nearby, ready to play.

And that's what I did - I whispered to my kids all day long ... and it was quite a lesson FOR ME. Here's what this experiment taught me (don't laugh people, I'm a slow learner sometimes):

1. It's hard to be mad (and act like a crazy woman) when you are whispering. With my volume in check, my tone changed too - so even when I needed to correct or discipline, it was done softly (imagine that!!)

2. Whispering forced me to get more physically involved with my kids (ie: I couldn't just yell at them from the couch.) I had to be where they were, where they could see me, if I expected to be heard.

3. I was a whole lot less tired (and peaceful) at the end of the day.

... but my favorite part of whispering to my kids was this: they had to get so close to hear me that we were forced to spend the day in sweet proximity. Face to face and uncomfortably close for most. A few times my Little Mr. would actually press his sweet face into my neck so that he didn't miss a word coming from my lips - and I loved every minute of it!

Towards the end of the day, I was reflecting and with a gentle nudge, God reminded me that He likes to whisper too. Not in a great and powerful wind. Not in an earthquake. Not in a fire. But in a gentle whisper, he speaks (1 Kings 19:11-13). And now the thought of it overwhelms me, because I have practiced and experienced with my three the intimate way that God so often chooses to speak to me. He whispers. He stays close and maintains His presence all of the time so that when He speaks, we can hear Him. And He invites to press in close - uncomfortably close at times, so that we don't miss a single word He says.

This is goose bump kind of stuff, my friends! Our God whispers.

Today's challenge: If He was whispering to you today, would you even hear Him? Our God speaks! Press in to hear what He might say.

Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. Isaiah 55:3