Listen Now
I want to be known as a person who is understanding. I don’t want to be known as a
judgmental or mean person.
When I look at this fun picture called a …wait for it … rebuses (eh, I like my description better: “fun picture”), I see something important to note. If I’m going to try to understand someone, I need to stand in their place.
Or as the saying goes, “Walk a mile in their shoes.”
And while sometimes walking in your shoes can mean experiencing what you have
experienced, that’s not always possible. I may never go through everything that you
have gone through.
But for me to understand you, I have to listen to you: listen with my eyes, listen with my
heart, and keep my mouth shut – at least for a while. Learn. Think. Care. Pray to have
God’s heart on the matter. Seek to understand.
I have to be willing to open myself up to more than what my own thoughts are on the
subject. I have to be willing to understand you and your situation.
As the articles in this issue came together, I realized that what they all have in common
was this thread of understanding:
understanding what school children need.
understanding what you can do for a friend who is so down and discouraged
that he or she may (or may not) hint about their thoughts of suicide.
understanding what it means to be in a rehabilitation program.
So many people are dealing with big problems. Isn’t it time more of us start to
understand and care?
Join me in being a Reach UP woman who reaches out and cares. That reminds me
where it all started — with Jesus: God reaching out to you and me and caring more than
we will ever be able to fully understand.
With loving affection,
Crystal Knapp
