Hello...

Do you remember the days when people would call you on your home telephone, before caller I.D. was the norm?  You'd pick up the phone, and you could often tell who was on the other end of the line just by the way they would utter two very simple syllables: Hello.

Of course, there was the occasional (or, unfortunately, not-so-occasional) telemarketer, random wrong number, or someone calling for you older brother or your mom that you didn't know.  But if the phone call was for you from a friend, you probably knew exactly who they were without having to ask, because you just knew their voice.

Well, nowadays (wow...now I've made myself sound old twice in this post already...and this is just the 3rd paragraph!) you just look at your phone and you know who's calling, but that still doesn't change the fact that if it's a close friend or family member, you just KNOW their voice.  You can hear their mannerisms when they talk, and you don't have to question the intent behind something they say because you know how their heart sounds in audible form.  You know them, because you've invested time in your relationship with them and vice-versa.

We are so blessed to be part of a church family who truly loves on our kids like they are their own--people who invest in our children's lives.  We have friends that keep an eye on Lucy for us each Sunday as we lead worship, and there are always willing arms to snuggle Gabriel during the service.  This past Sunday, he sat with a friend towards the back of the sanctuary, and when I was talking with her after the service she mentioned how when DH got up at the end of the service and was speaking and singing, Gabriel immediately jerked his head in his Daddy's direction.  My friend commented, "He knows his Daddy's voice!"  It's so true--from the time he was still a newborn, he could hear his Daddy's voice from far away, and he would watch him excitedly as he would walk towards him.

This Sunday evening, I went to the nursery to pick Gabriel up after children's choir.  He was happily chomping on some teething ring links as I called out from the hallway, "Gabriel!  Where's momma?!"  He yanked his head around, locked his eyes with mine, and he gave me the biggest, sweetest Gabriel-grin.  My heart melted as I thought, "He knows his momma's voice."

As I was reflecting on the day, I couldn't help but think of this passage in John chapter 10:
[The shepherd] calls his own sheep by name and leads them out...and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.  But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice...I am the good shepherd.  I know my sheep and my sheep know me....

Have you ever questioned which path God would have you choose?  As quite possibly THE most indecisive person on the face of the planet (seriously, I can't even decide what cup I want to drink out of at home half the time!), God and I have had MANY conversations about big life-decisions.  But you know what I've learned over the years?  When my heart is truly set on pleasing my Heavenly Father and bringing Him glory, He won't allow me to make a wrong turn...because I know His voice, and when I don't hear it, I know to run away.

I remember one time I was offered a job kind of out of the blue.  I wasn't looking for a job, and I didn't exactly HAVE to have one, but one had presented itself.  I was so very torn on whether or not to take it, and just didn't have a peace about it either way.  So I just prayed, "Lord, I don't know what You're telling me to do, and I have to make a decision right now, so if this isn't what You'd have me to do, then please just put a stop to it somehow." And you know what?  That's exactly what He did!  As I began to turn one way, I was no longer hearing my Father's voice, but more the voice of a stranger, and I knew I needed to run!

I was thinking of a praise and worship song today that I sang a lot when I was in college:

Hungry, I come to you
For I know You satisfy
I am empty, but I know
Your love does not run dry

So I wait for you
So I wait for You
I’m falling on my knees
Offering all of me
Jesus, You’re all this heart is living for

Broken, I run to You
For Your arms are open wide
I am weary, but I know
Your touch restores my life

So I wait for you
So I wait for You
I’m falling on my knees
Offering all of me 
Jesus, You're all this heart is living for
 
And then, later in the day, I saw someone post Psalm 63:1 on twitter:  
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

I was reminded how the more time we spend with Jesus, the more time we WANT to spend with Him; the more we learn about Him, the more we want to KNOW Him; and the more we listen to Him, the more we want to HEAR from Him.  We wait for Him because we know He will answer; we thirst for Him because we know nothing else will satisfy us.  The more we sit at His feet, the more we get to hear His voice, and then the more recognize Him.

From just minutes after Gabriel was born, we have had the privilege of talking to him, holding him, and loving on him.  He knows what our voices sound like because he has heard us speak to him, sing to him, and pray over him on a daily basis since he entered this world.

Oh that I would know the voice of my Heavenly Father so intimately, too...I pray that I will truly say that my God is the reason that I live, my source for everything, and the voice that I always respond to.  Just as my children know the voice of their mommy and daddy, I pray I will know the voice of my Heavenly Daddy, in hopes that they will know Him one day, too.