This week's newsletter from Karen

I’m currently reading a book call Listening: The Forgotten Skill. I was surprised at a statistic I came across in this book which compared the amount of time we spend listening to the amount of formal training we get in the skill of listening. According to the author, Madelyn Burley-Allen, we communicate in four modes: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The amount of time we spend in each mode as a percentage of total communication time is 40% listening, 35% speaking, 16% reading, and 9% writing.

We all obviously need training in each of these areas in order to be effective communicators. You would think that the amount of formal training we received in these areas would be proportional to the amount of time we spent using each skill. However, according to Burley-Allen, that is not the case. In fact the actual opposite is true. On average we receive 12 years of formal training in the skill of writing, 6-8 years for reading, 1-2 years for speaking, and 0-1/2 year for listening.

James 1:19 says, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (NIV). How different would the world be if we all took the time to actually listen to what others are saying? I’m not talking about hearing while a hundred other distractions are running through our minds. I’m talking about actually giving others our full attention and listening to them without those distractions.

Parents, this skill is essential for our children who live in a world where messages are coming at them at a “speed of light” pace. How will they know when to stop and listen when their God is speaking?

My prayer this week is that we will be able to come up with strategies to help our children develop their skill of listening so when God speaks to them, they will be able to focus on what He has to say.