"Nobody cares!"
I watched the mom putting her son in the car and speaking out those words and closing the door behind him. Now for those who know me, I am anal about what comes out of my mouth most of the time. Especially in regards to my children. I have cultivated warnings such as these:
"Listen mommy is tired, and I am a bit frustrated and if you don't stop now I can't promise you that you will have a patient mother in just a few minutes."
I have cultivated warnings like that because I so thoroughly disliked the times I behaved otherwise. When well, you know, the "stop screaming at your sister," said in a scream louder then the child. I didn't like it when I was that way... they didn't like it when I was that way... no one profited when I was like that.. we all lost....
My heart froze in that parking lot.. and yes, I stopped what I was doing and stood there after the mom drove off and prayed. I prayed for the mom. That the worries, the exhaustion, the affects of her life and her day would fall off of her and that her heart would be awoken to the reality of the love of God for her. I prayed for the child that his heart would not believe the words that nobody cares and that he would be guarded from harmful words and challenging times.
But the truth of the matter is that harmful words and challenging times are always upon us.
I woke up amidst concerns. Hey it would be ludicrous to not admit that... Just because one can put beautiful descriptive words together to talk about challenges and the realities of life doesn't make them not so and doesn't make them any less real and doesn't take the angst away when they are present. In pursuit of faith the foxes come.. the cares of this world press in, the realities of the voices of this age (call it whatever you will) but it all presses in...
Ringing in my ears as well as the reality of the concerns of this day and all that needs to get done and be paid for and that list goes on and on.. the roar of the day.. Amidst all of that comes the quietest of voices.
And instantly I reminded of the story I have heard about the kindergarten teacher who never yelled. It the kindergarten teacher effect. The louder the class got the quieter she whispered. She was reading a story and the children were being the kids that they are.. she never matched their tone or their noise level, she didn't stop what she was doing either, she just kept reading but she did get quieter and quieter and quieter.
Until one by one the children's attention was pulled into her voice because they decided that they really did want to hear.
The roar of the crowd, of the world, of the flesh can be deafening but His voice is the constant. It is constantly singing over you words of affection, it is constantly speaking words over you of strength and confidence, It is whispering over you peace all the time..
As things stirred this morning there was also a whisper in the air.
His question to me was... Which one are you going to hear?
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