LISTEN...

Listen…if Beyonce' never sings another song hearing her sing Listen from the Dream Girls soundtrack just blew me away. Gosh, the feeling that came over me while driving in my truck listening to my daughter’s CD ran chills down my spine. Since I love melodies I was drawn to the song because it had a smooth sound; then I was drawn even closer because of the words. It seemed like somebody opened up my head and pour out my words to music because not a day earlier I’d just told my husband and my children that they don’t listen. Maybe I was hormonal as I was driving but when she sang, “I’m not at home in my own home. And I tried and tried to say what’s on my mind. You should have known….” I cried all the way home. It’s hilarious thinking about it now because I probably sounded like a blubbering drunk – there’s nothing worse than a person trying to sing while crying. Anyway……

Listen….This morning that word & the song came to me and it steered me away from the original message for this week; I suppose this message stemmed from two meetings that I was in on yesterday. At two separate locations and times of the day this seemed to be the main focus for both. In my earlier meeting we discussed how morale had taken a nose-dive and that no one seems to be listening to the needs and concerns of another. In fact one colleague said, “no one cares what’s going on with you at 8:59 or 5:01” and though I hated to admit it she was right. Her statement drew me back to the sky-high days of gas when no one seemed to care that it was costing some of us an arm, a leg, and three fingers to get to work weekly; to us all they cared about was that you were at work. The second meeting that I attended basically had the same concerns – people felt that they had been pouring their hearts out for justifiable reasons but no one was listening. They had concerns, but nobody heard them. I couldn’t help but wonder if we had become a generation of people that don’t care. Selfish robots - I don’t care about your feelings, I don’t care what you think, I don’t care how I make you feel. Has the world become so selfish that we have become a care-less society? Now-a-days it seems that people feel that if it’s not about them then it’s not important. Supervisors are less compassionate, family is less considerate, and friends are getting less supportive. “A generation of people that don’t care…” What I learned overnight from both of these situations was that all people wanted was to be heard, to be understood, and for someone to “act” like they cared. Are they asking for too much? “I tried & tried to say what’s on my mind, you should have known. Now I’m done believing you. You don’t know what I’m feeling….”

Listen…As my daughters and I sat at their bus stop this morning I had to scold Breyona about always having to have a comment at the end of everything I say; ohhh the days of being 13 and knowing everything. It wasn’t until I said “listen” to her 3 or 4 times that the word rang into my memory. “Sometimes all you need to do is be quiet and listen, you don’t always have to have something to say – LISTEN!” I said. My youngest, Shay, said, “Just like Beyonce’s song, mommy.” WHAT!?! How could she have known? Nobody knew that but God and I. There’s no way that she could have heard the still small voice this morning. Listen….Hmm…sometimes all a person wants to feel is that someone cares; that someone knows that life is a little rough some days and that if I can’t do anything else I can always listen. If I call you with a question, call me back with an answer. If I have a problem, help me find a solution. If I say I need three fingers, somebody lend me a hand. Sometimes all a person wants is to be heard……”LISTEN to the song here in my heart…” NSBIG

~Stay Prayed Up! ~ CLICK ON THE LINK