A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to listen to the story of Katherine Wolf. She is a woman who loves the Lord immensely. In the midst of her love for Him she unexpectedly battled through a life-changing brain injury.

She shared how the act of telling her story to people who listen with eager ears transforms it. Knowing she is heard takes away the trauma of the things she lost because of her injury and replaces it with a love for the life she gained. Storytelling fills her with a joy for the things she would have missed had her life stayed on her expected path. It reminds her that her story, as broken and sideways as it is, is a part go God's glory.

LISTENING SHARES GOD'S GLORY

Serving is an outpouring or Jesus' command to love Him as we welcome our neighbors and coworkers into family life. We are all broken and most of us also have a story with at least one sideways turn. Yet Jesus loves us and the details of our story just as we are.

Listening to the stories of our neighbors reminds them Jesus can be theirs too. By listening we show them Jesus values the details of their life too. After all, He knitted us together and knew the plans of our lives before we where even born!

LISTENING HEALS

As Jesus traveled through Galilee, a woman was healed when she touched His clothes. She approached Jesus trembling in fear. She feared she had broken the law when she touched Him. She trembled because she was standing in front of her powerful Savior.

But as Jesus stopped and listened to her story, she received spiritual healing. Her fear and trembling fell aside and He replaced it with His peace. -

The woman, like Katherine, found healing as she shared her story. She found healing because Jesus obediently followed His Father's command to travel through Galilee. She found healing because Jesus chose to be interrupted from His journey, asked to hear her story, and earnestly listened to it.

Jesus met her where she was at and did not leave her where He found her. He left her with a deeper love of Him!

LISTENING REQUIRES MOVING

To listen well, we often need to meet people where they are at. We can take a walk across a street to their home or reach across a table as we share a meal together. We can also take a walk of interruption and pull ourselves away from our daily tasks of working our jobs, cleaning our homes, or walking the dog to join our people wherever they are!

We choose whether to make the walk and how long the interruption will last.

And once we are there, we can listen. Listening reminds our neighbors and coworkers their story is a part of God's glory. It makes known they are valued and important to our Father, not just here on earth but for eternity in our Father's Kingdom.

When we listen, it opens a door for others to see that God’s unseen ears are eagerly listening to each and every word of their story too.

WAYS WE CAN LISTEN

Be available.

Meeting people where they are at means being available to gather together. Add an extra 30 minutes onto your daily tasks at work and home. This provides margin for you to go when your neighbor steps outside, a coworker stops by your desk, or the kid down the street rings your doorbell.

Keep open eyes.

Keeping our eyes on folks as they talk shows them we are not just hearing their story, but listening to it as well. Close your laptop as folks walk up so you can look at their faces as they talk. Open the front door as folks walk up to your home so when they get close, you can give your full attention to them as you say hello.

Say something and wait.

It takes 3 seconds for a person to take in a negative remark and 30 seconds to take in positive words. Give a complement and wait 30 seconds so it can sink in. Take advantage of the tasks at hand to pass the time as you wait. It can take a few seconds to dig the last hole when planting flowers, fold a shirt, pour a cup of sweet tea, or open a front door!

Invite someone to come alongside yoU.

If you find yourself doing the tasks of life alone, invite your neighbor to help. Asking someone to work alongside you opens the door for stories to be shared as we stand together. (It also makes the work more fun too!)

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Hope Heals by Katherine Wolf

The Listening Life: Embracing Attentiveness in a World of Distraction by Adam S. McHugh