How many times do parents think to themselves, “Is my child hearing me at all?!?”  Whether your child is elementary age, in the teen years, or a grown adult the challenges and frustrations of communication can be many.

Yesterday, our daughter’s kindergarten teacher (and our daughter) made my day!  She pulled me aside at afternoon pickup and told me about the story our daughter had written.  She said, “Your daughter wrote a story about you today.  She said you were going to talk to a woman.”  I thought, “Uh oh!”  Her teacher continued, “She said you were going to teach the word to her.  We all know what that means.  I thought it was beautiful and that you’d like to know she was writing about you.”

That morning before school we had sang the song “This Is The Day” and talked about the good things we would do that day.  Our daughter said she would listen to her teacher and I told her I was going to call one of our widow ladies and share an encouraging word with her.  That morning, as is the case many times, our daughter appeared to not be listening, but she obviously was.

Whether your child is young, in the teen years, or grown…they are listening.  During the young years it is easy to become frustrated and think your child is not listening because they seem to be in the land of fidgeting and distraction.  As they grow into teens they might seem like they are tuning you out or put out by even hearing your voice.  As an adult they will either long to hear your voice or because of ongoing tension seem to not want to hear it at all.

In my years of ministering to youth I have seen many teens who struggle with the physical, emotional, and mental challenges of their age and push their parents out.  At this time it is critically important for parents to communicate with their child in a loving, patient, and nurturing manner.  Good communication starts when children are young and can survive through the challenges of the teenage years.

I can’t tell you how many funerals I have helped facilitate where grieving adult children wish they could hear the voice of their mother or father just one more time.  As an adult, and now a parent, I appreciate the conversations with my parents so much more.  Many parents of adult children don’t enjoy this blessing and continue to deal with stress and turmoil in their relationship.  Having dealt with the aftermath of many of these fractured relationships, I encourage you to keep reaching out with loving encouraging words.  Just remember, they do listen!

Young or old, one of the best things you can do with your family is spend a few moments in God’s word.  This week the theme of my Dinnertime Devotionals is “Listening.”  I have selected a few simple verses and supplied a few simple thoughts to encourage us all to be the type of listeners that God would want us to be.  You can check them out here >>>  Dinnertime Devotionals 2

(Note: I fixed some format issues on the Dinnertime Devotionals if you were having issues with it printing out too dark to read.)