Listening Skills

I never saw the movie, The Horse Whisperer.
Yet.
That may have to be remedied.
I took the time to look up the book; I took the time to watch the movie trailer.

The story is about a man who is a horse trainer.
He has a remarkable way of understanding horses.
One line in the trailer stuck with me.
The dialog of the two main characters says it all.

I read this article about what you do for people with horse problems. (Annie MacLean)
Truth is, I help horses with people problems. (Tom Booker)

I cannot say any more about the movie until I watch it.
However, the movie has been on my mind for a few days.
It has been on my mind for an interesting reason.
The reason hit close to home for me.

My daughter and her husband just had their annual barbecue.
My daughter has had this barbecue for years, even before she was married.
Back then, and in the first year of their marriage, the barbecue was held at our home.
Once she and her husband moved into their own house, the barbecue moved there as well.

We are always invited, which is quite sweet.
We are most definitely the oldest ones there.
I tend to like that, though.
I have had many of her friends in my home over the years.

I have seen engagements, marriages, and births of babies.
The number of people at the barbecue has grown through the years as well.
Having babies will do that.
I actually lost count at one point in the afternoon.

Many of the young moms at the barbecue taught school with my daughter.
In fact, at my daughter’s baby shower, there were six young women expecting babies.
Only one of those six young women is still pregnant.
She is due with her third child in a few weeks.

I looked around at all the precious babies.
They re all gifts from God’s hands.
Babies that were still in their mothers womb only months ago are now here.
Each one is different; each one already has their own personality.

I loved looking at each little face.
These children were prayed for; these children were joyfully anticipated.
Now their mothers cannot imagine life without them.
These little babies have captured their mommy’s hearts.

My husband and I looked around at all the young families.
My husband and I looked at each other.
This was us 30 years ago, he said.
He was right; it was us.

We were the ones that had the annual barbecue.
We all had many children over those years.
We watched as the children slept in our arms.
We watched them running around the yard the following year.

Just think what this will be like next year, I said to my husband.
We laughed as we envisioned the children rolling down the hill.
We watched the older ones draw with sidewalk chalk and play with bubbles.
We watched a little boy, who is a new walker, push a toy all over the yard.

I had the privilege of holding some of the babies.
Their smiles and coos warmed my heart.
One sweet little boy was in his car seat, ready to go home.
I got down to his level and talked to him.

He talked back in that wonderful baby way.
When I said something and paused, he answered with sounds of his own.
We were holding a very important conversation.
His mom was standing behind me, watching.

At some point, his daddy came up behind me as well.
I heard his mother say, Mama G is the baby whisperer.
I have been called many things in my life.
Even at the barbecue, my names varied: Mrs. Gallagher, Mama G, and Mama Gallagher.

Baby whisperer was a first.
I’ll take it.
I will more than take it.
It was a sweet thing to have said to me.

And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand.” (Matthew 15:10)

Jesus was very concerned with how the people listened.
Consider carefully how you listen. (Luke 8:18)
Listening was even more important than seeing at times.
God’s Word must be heard in order to go down deep into our hearts.

We do not routinely listen well.
We often listen just long enough to plan our next answer.
We half listen and make assumptions about what the person is actually saying.
If we fully listened, how much more we would hear?

What if we listened to each other much like we listen to a baby?
What is we paused and did not try to fill the silence with words?
What if we stopped talking long enough so the other person has time to answer?
What if we were comfortable in the silence?

Baby whisperer, indeed.
If I am a good listener I will gladly accept that name.
We learn far more from listening than we do from talking.
What if we sat still more and really listened?

No agenda.
No thinking about what we want to say next.
Just quietly pausing so another person has a chance to speak.
It is amazing what you will hear.