🐚 Listen: Can you hear it?
God is in the soundtrack of our ordinary lives.
What does it mean to listen to your life?
At dinnertime, I try to ask my kids to share two things about their school days:
What was your high?
What was your low?
There’s nothing fancy about this. I’m sure families are rehashing some version of this all around the world. Some say roses and thorns, others say woos and boos. (Actually, I’m not sure if anyone says woos and boos. But just go with it.)
This moment of reflection as we pass spaghetti on plastic plates is a small rhythm we try to incorporate into our weekdays. It helps us listen to and connect with each other but also helps us take a moment to listen to our lives—to reflect on where we noticed God’s presence, to pay attention to our feelings and what they might have to tell us.
When we embrace a listening posture as we recount our days, it becomes much clearer how we can orient our hearts to the love surrounding us, to the One whose still, small voice whispers into the forgotten corners of our hearts.
When I was a kid, a giant shell sat on my grandpa’s bookshelf.
“Put it up to your ear, kiddo,” he whispered, “and you’ll hear the whole ocean.”
I wonder: How might you hear the whole ocean in the shell of your life?
What does God sound like?
In the "Listening" chapter of Every Season Sacred, I write:
“Listening shape-shifts throughout parenting seasons. We learn to interpret what our newborn’s different cries mean, translate our toddler’s garbled requests, and decipher our teen’s eye rolls and door slams.”
Listening—honest, humble, and intentional—is a discipline. It helps us stay connected to our children and stay connected to God.
Gary Thomas offers this thought-provoking reflection:
“Just as we have to choose to hear what our children are truly saying, so we have to choose to hear those quiet whispers of divine love and guidance. The great challenge, of course, is that listening to our children and our God can be difficult. Sometimes we misunderstand our children, and sometimes we will mistake our own fears for the voice of God. But the fact that we aren’t perfect hearers provides no excuse to throw out the discipline of listening.”
But maybe you’re thinking the same thing I often do: How can I possibly get quiet enough to listen to God in the midst of this noise-filled, busy life? Parenting is constant—how do we carve out space to listen?
Listening to God comes in many ways. Just as our natural seasons change, so do the ways we hear God.
Of course, there is value in quieting ourselves in prayer and turning to Scripture, but maybe our extraordinary God is in the soundtrack of our ordinary lives too—the giggle of a daughter as she pops iridescent bubbles one by one, the triumphant shout of a son as he cheers on his teammates from the bench.
How do you typically expect to hear God’s voice? Reflect on the assumptions you might have about how God speaks. Could God be communicating in a way you hadn’t previously noticed? Consider the noises around you. How might the rustling of leaves, a child’s laughter, or even the hum of daily life be an invitation to listen more closely to God?
September Reading Guide
I created Every Season Sacred as a resource for parents to meet God in the chaos of life. As we enter the fall season with intention, this guide can help you find which chapter to turn to each week, offering rhythms and reflections that meet you where you are.
Words to Savor
Lately, a refrain from an old song keeps playing in my mind: “Slow your breath down; just take it slow.” The song is from Future of Forestry.
It wasn’t until I spent some time really listening to the words that I wondered if it was an imagining of what God might be saying to us:
This chest is full of memories, of gold and silver tears
I'll give you more to own than all of this
And I'll give you more than years
For you were once a child of innocence
And I see you just the same
Your burdens couldn't win or lose a thing
Oh, I'd tell you once again
But you're always on the run
Slow your breath down, just take it slow
Find your heart now,
You can trust and love again,
Slow your breath down, just take it slow
Find your smile now,
You can trust and love again.
If you leave I'll still be close to you
When all your fears rain down
I'll take you back a thousand times again
And I'll take you as my own
I would sing you songs of innocence
'Til the light of morning comes
'Til the rays of gold and honey cover you
In the sweetness of the dawn
But you’re always on the run.
Which phrase sticks out to you? What would it look like to slow your breath down and take it slow in the comings and goings of your days?
In this week’s playlist, I’ve collected a handful of reflective, instrumental songs1 — including a version of this — to help you listen to what God might be saying to you.
Pray this with Your Kids
God of whispers and shouts,
You are here in the quiet times and the loud times.
Help us to know that You are with us not just at church
But also in our home, our neighborhood, and where we go to school.
Help us to show love to our friends and family through our listening.
And help us to hear what You’re whispering into our hearts too.
Amen.
Breath Prayer
Breath prayers help us tune our hearts to God’s presence, even amid our daily noise.
With each inhale, we invite God’s Spirit into our being.
With each exhale, we release our distractions, worries, and burdens.
You don’t need a perfect setting. You just need your breath.
As you practice these prayers, let them become a rhythm that helps you listen for the ocean of God’s grace in your everyday life.
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