Do butterflies listen?
Time
marches on…and no one is really left behind. In this past year I’ve continued
to write daily on my blog. Daily. Plodding along, I do get sidetracked from
time to time…but I do have a mission…a goal in mind. As Benjamin Franklin said,
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”
Over the years and especially this
past year, I’ve found that the most important thing in writing is to LISTEN. A
favorite mentor of mine always had an acrostic for everything. Although she
isn’t living nearby and mentoring me anymore, I’ve taken up her habit of
finding words associated with important or focus words. This is my attempt at a
mind-bending utilization of listen skills.
L – is for Lovingly
I – is for Intentionally
S – is for Sincerely
T – is for Tenaciously
E – is for Enthusiastically
N – is for Never giving up
Listening
is a skill that we all need to develop and share with others. Have you ever
noticed that when you listen intently and intentionally to other that they in
turn listen to you? Try it. I think it really works. The active listening skill
of repeating back to someone what they’ve just said is very useful in
communicating with others in a loving way. It shows them that you are sincerely
listening to them. Expressing that listening skill in an enthusiastic manner
not only lets the other person know that you are indeed listening to them and
hearing specifically what they’ve said, but that you are interested in what
they have to say. Sure, you may be tucking away some tidbit of information, or
even trying to formulate a question to ask them, but you are persistent in your
endeavors to not just hear what they say, but to understand—really comprehend
it. Remember how it feels when someone really listens to you? Feels good
doesn’t it! That is just how you want to make that other person feel when you
are totally listening to them. Loved. Cared about. Respected. It shows that you
value what they are talking about.
Maybe
they’ve been speaking about the very topic about which you’ve been planning to
or actually writing. When you are watching a YouTube video, are you listening
intently and taking notes? That’s another thing for which good listening skills
are important—taking notes. Intentionally listen for the main points and jot
them down quickly before you forget or before the speaker begins details on
another aspect.
Good
listening is so much like good painting. You see or hear the highlights and
those are the important elements on which to focus. Never give up—keep
listening. I am and I’m hearing more and more each day—every moment of the day.
Commit
yourself to instruction; listen carefully to words of knowledge. Proverbs 23:12
Prayer
– Lord God, please help us to focus on You as we listen to Your words. Then give
us wisdom and understanding that we can apply Your teaching to our lives—each to
our individual situation. We are not the same—yet You love us all and provide
just what we need.
Meditate on
listening.
Verse
of Salvation ~ We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us
with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. All of this is for your
benefit. And as God's grace reaches more and more people, there will be great
thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. That is why we never
give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.
For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce
for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don't
look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that
cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we
cannot see will last forever. 2
Corinthians 4:14-18
© 2025 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All
rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless
otherwise noted.
New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale
House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
Books by Mickey M.
Hunacek
Available as e-books or paperbacks at Amazon.com
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