I Loved the Sound of Your Voice

Okay, so I was daydreaming one day while I was driving in my car. And it occurred to me one of the things God could possibly say to me is that He heard me. He could say “Don’t you love that voice I gave you? I think I did a good job with it. And I heard all those things you said to me.”

And how would I reply?

It was a fun thing – my daughters and I have the same voice. No one could tell us apart on the phone. Except my husband – he knew who answered the phone and always had us from hello.

But the part about hearing my prayers. Will God say that to me? Will He say something like “I loved the way you prayed for your husband. Wow. You so nailed it. And the mother and grandmother in you – I loved hearing the thoughts you thought.”

My daydream stopped when a red light turned to green. I made a mental note to go home and write about remembering God hears my voice.  

I never thought about this whole concept – God knows who is talking to Him. He knows who is not talking to Him.

He knows the thoughts we think and the cares we keep. He has heard all the promises we’ve made. He hears the vows along the way. He knows the rules we made for ourselves and the degree of our brokenness.

He knows why we are broken. He knows our disappointments. He knows if our thoughts are about ourselves, and he knows how much better we feel when we care for others.

He gave us that owner’s manual, and he knows who is paying attention to it. He knows if we live it well. He knows which favorite verses jump off the page to us, what we gravitate to, and what we love to be reminded of.

My thoughts kind of blew me away. God sees every tear slip from our beautiful eyes, and He is there to catch every one of them.

God knew about my failures before I did. He knew I would have regrets. He knows it took a long time for me to see the full picture, and He knows what part of the picture is still not in focus.

No wonder people use the phrase “Only God knows.”

He gave me such a magnificent daydream that day, and now I want to live up to it. Can we pray for ourselves, our spouse, and our friends and family to the point where God would give us some very positive feedback? And then I told myself that was a bit of a silly question.

I am not much of a teacher when it comes to the bible and even when it comes to prayer – but I did have the thought all of us should ask ourselves – do I talk to God enough that He would someday say to me “Hey that was awesome the way you talked to Me. I loved your words. You so nailed it.”

But I also remember the times I threw a mental pity party for myself. I thought I was the only one showing up for those parties. Sorry Lord. I didn’t realize how often you were invited. I often forget that You know our thoughts.

Why do I allow myself to throw parties such as those? And the procrastinator in me – why do I do it?

And then I realized sometimes I just need to take a simple look at what really matters – what should I care about? Do I see Him in the ordinary?

My grandson Deano was 4 years old when I asked him if he would still visit Grandpa and me when we are old. There was a pause before he answered and said “Grandma – you already am old.”

And there I had just been given yet another little comment from Deano that will be a forever memory.  

I felt Deano had not answered my question – which was about visiting his grandparents in the future. He focused instead on possibly bringing me into reality – which to him was I am already old, and I do not even realize it.

But on second thought – he felt he did not need to answer my question. Proof was in the pudding. Grandma is old. I am visiting. You have your answer.

There are children who say they do not want to grow up – they have apparently figured out spending the day doing what kids do is a lot more fun than spending the day doing what adults do.    

I recently asked my great nephew Jackson if he wanted to grow up. He told me he wants to stay a kid. So I asked him why – and he said when you grow up you have to work all the time and pay bills. Like utilities.

And he is right – if there were just a way to hide from growing up. Like maybe take cover in our blanket fort – then certainly all would be well all the days of our life. Our only concern may be keeping batteries in our flashlights. And sharp crayons. And good reading material.  

Most of us would agree the child in us never really leaves us. We can still sit on a swing at the playground and enjoy watching the children – and we remember how we once played just as they are playing. We wore those same little summer outfits. And we can remember the tan young faces of our friends.

I can still feel my hands wrapped on the monkey bars at my childhood playground. I know what it takes for my body to swing just right for my hand to reach for the next bar. And given the right tree – I could still climb one.

Wouldn’t that be a memory for my grandchildren – telling people they remember their grandmother climbing a tree – when she was old. And I can only hope the story would have a good ending.

Have you ever known, just by the sounds coming from an adjacent room, which family member was in that room? When I was a child, I knew which sibling was walking up our staircase just from the sounds of their footsteps.  I guess it is safe to say my siblings and I did not walk up the steps, we ran up the steps. But I still knew who it was.

Appreciating the differences in us may be a way of seeing God in the ordinary. He made family members look a lot alike and sound alike – yet we are unique in our thoughts, our ideas, and our personalities.

I’ve heard it said the best place to be is in someone’s thoughts and prayers.

I usually end with a disclaimer – but there are no disclaimers about your conversations with God – just remember He is the only one who knows if you are speaking to Him and what the subject is. He knows who you are keeping in your thoughts and who is held tightly in your prayers.

He made your voice – and he knows it so well – He will have you from hello.