Well Played

If you read my blog post, “There Has Got to be a Filter for That,” you may recall that I tend to talk a lot. Something I have prayed about and asked the Lord to help me with. I had mentioned in that blog post that He put a perfect example in front of me of how to use fewer words to say more. I tried to use this example when speaking to others; sometimes I was successful, and other times I wasn’t. And then I lost my voice.

I can honestly say in my 42 years of life that I have never lost my voice. I’ve had scratchy and sore throats, and at times my voice has been hoarse. But I have never fully lost the ability to speak. That is, until now. While I would like to say that I immediately understood the blessing this was, unfortunately, it took a bit for me to realize what a gift God had given me.

I first lost my voice on a Sunday. I was shocked because, as stated above, this had never happened to me before! We went to Mass that morning, and I whispered through all the responses and songs. It felt bizarre! I kept drinking hot tea with honey that day, doing my best to soothe my throat. The next day I woke up and my voice was back - kind of. My throat was sore, and my voice was scratchy, but I could talk. So of course I did (eye roll at myself).

Then I woke up Tuesday morning - again with no voice. What the heck was going on? Now, it was difficult on Sunday not having a voice, but it was a much more leisurely day. We all woke up, got ready for Church, and it was easy to get out the door by 10am. BUT - having no voice on a morning when I was trying to get the kids out the door for school on time - what a battle!

First of all, they could barely hear me when I first went in their rooms to wake them up. All of the things I could normally call to them - “Breakfast is ready!” “Put your shoes on!” “Do you have your homework?” - I simply couldn’t. So I went about the morning as usual, without my verbal prompts. And wouldn’t you know it, the morning actually went SMOOTHER than normal! Turns out my kids are capable of getting ready for school in the morning without me micromanaging them. It forced me to stop and think before speaking, and to only try to communicate when I had something important to say. I didn’t have to tell my kids to put their shoes on (duh). But, I did have to tell my kids they were getting home from school that day in a different way than they normally do.

When I did open my mouth to whisper to them, they immediately quieted and funnily enough, whispered back to me. And THAT was when it dawned on me that losing my voice was such an incredible gift from God. He showed me how effective fewer words can be. Something He had done previously using another person as an example, but making it all the more eye-opening when I had no choice but to practice it myself.

Something that began as a nuisance, I’ve actually come to enjoy. I still do not have a voice as I type this and I am in no rush to have it return. I kind of like having to say less. It really gets me to think about what I want to say. And, makes me realize how many of my words are unnecessary. And isn’t this just what I had been praying for???

God is truly amazing. He is always answering my prayers, in His own way - and sometimes I just need to zip it and pay attention.

God Bless You!