Zip it and listen

Really do you ever think about this? We have two ears and one mouth. Yes you got it! We need to talk less and listen more. I just wrote a small story to a friend of mine and thought it was worth sharing. Here it is. Hope it blesses someone :)

I am in one of those seasons where the fruit in people's lives around mean is just falling off the trees. I get discouraged at times with the lack of funds etc or just the crazy mentally and physically exhausting way life is here but over and over again God is showing me how He is using me in the girl's lives and I am humbled and grateful to no end. The other day I kind of lit into a girl over and issue that I was just kinda frustrated with her about. Afterwards I felt like I had been too harsh and the next morning I read in my devotional "be kind to others because you don't know the kind of battles they are fighting." It put me in tears. This girl had seen more trauma in her short life than I would ever experience in mine. Right after that I read in James "be quick to listen and slow to speak." So I saw her later that day and she was complaining about how someone (a distant relative) had ignored her a moment ago in the market (culturally like a slap in the face).. She had missed Bible study AGAIN for not any kind of good reason and I wanted to lecture her but kept my mouth shut. After all I am not the Holy Spirit and anyway those two things from my morning reading were ringing in my ears. So I just sat there and let her talk while I put my groceries away my back to her and just biting my lecture prone tongue. And you know what happened? After a long pause she said, "That man ignored me but that doesn't mean that I should not have greeted him anyway, right Jena?" That precious sister listened to the REAL holy spirit at work in her heart and came to the right conclusion. From that open door we had a great conversation about looking to Christ as our example and not others. I am loving our girls and ladies meetings but I feel like so much more ground is covered in those sweet moments of just hanging out.