understanding – Grits with Grace

Family, food, friends, life, loving others, prayer, priorities, Scripture, thankful, travel

Hearing Ain’t Listening

Posted on September 26, 2024September 22, 2024 by Dewayne Taylor

God has listened; He has paid attention to the sound of my prayer. Blessed be God! He has not turned away my prayer or turned His faithful love from me.” Psalm 66:19-20

Hearing ain’t necessarily listening. On one of our recent post-retirement adventures, my wife Judy and I decided to head over to Branson, Missouri to see the Sights and Sounds production of the Biblical story of Esther. It was amazing—both the story and the production. It was amazing how the production company was able to make it all come alive right before our eyes. It was even more amazing to see how God orchestrated this masterful plan to save His children from certain annihilation. Needless to say, we enjoyed the show very much.

While we were in Branson, Judy wanted to do some shopping, which was quite the mystery since she is not much of a shopper. But the truth was she was a woman on a mission. One of our grandson’s 13th birthday was coming fast and she wanted to get just the right thing for him. We went to a place called Branson Landing which is a great place to look for birthday presents. As it turns out it was also a great place to get lunch. Now that is always something I can get into.

The restaurant we chose was called the Brickyard and offered a great variety of good old comfort food. But it also offered something else—a great view of the bluffs and river that flowed right outside their building. When the hostess was going to seat us, Judy asked if we could sit by a window. She heard Judy and sat us right by a window. The only problem was she sat us in a booth that was taller than her or me (which isn’t saying a lot) so even though the river was right there, and the window was right there—we couldn’t see a thing. Bummer.

Well, I said to Judy what I knew she was thinking—that didn’t work out exactly how we planned it. The hostess heard her, but she didn’t listen to the intent—Judy wanted a see what was outside. “Oh well,” I said, “at least she tried.” End of story—and end of the view. But then something happened. The manager of the restaurant came over and asked us, “Would you rather sit at this table in front of the window so you can see the river?” Bingo. You see (no pun intended) he was standing there when you made her request. He heard it but he also listened and understood what was important.

So, we moved to the table with a view and enjoyed a great meal with a great view and it all happened because someone not only heard but listened. So how about you? Are you a good listener? Do you only hear words, or do you listen to the heart of the message? It isn’t always easy, but it is always doable. It often means putting aside what you want to say or do next to grasp what is truly being said and trust me—that is a valuable thing—especially to the one speaking.

I’m glad to let you know that God is great at hearing but more importantly He is great at listening. He not only hears the words we speak but He listens to our heart to get the heart of the message. So, let me encourage you to hear, but even more importantly to listen. And, more importantly, let me encourage you to trust that your Heavenly Father is listening and understanding. And because of that—He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne

fear, forgiveness, friends, Grace, life, love, loving others, prayer, priorities, Scripture, sovereignty of God, thankful, travel, Trials

His World–Their World

Posted on May 19, 2023May 18, 2023 by Dewayne Taylor

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love.” 1 John 4:16

It’s like traveling around the world. I never cease to be amazed at the world that God has created for us. My wife Judy and I love to travel, and I have found a way to kinda, sorta travel while sitting right in my living room chair. It all happens courtesy of YouTube. I’m not sure why or how but one day, I stumbled upon a video of sorts that would take a part of the world and set pictures of it to relaxing music. It may be England or Africa or Germany or maybe Utah. Regardless, it is amazing and marvelous. I truly enjoy it and perhaps you should try it. And then…it got better.

So, while I was trying to pick a place to visit, I found a feature that showed live webcams from all over the world. Every few seconds, a different live video of a different part of the world would appear along with the current weather for that location. Ok…this is way cool. Imagine all these different places, all being shown live. People are walking, visiting, or perhaps sleeping. Cars are driving up and down the streets and trucks are making deliveries. It might be raining or snowing, warm or cold, sunny, or cloudy. It is a world tour of the…world.

Recently, I was watching, and a video showed up showing early morning Philadelphia. The sky was blue, and it was a beautiful spring morning. God was showing off. And then, just like that, I found myself looking at a place high in the Austrian Alps and even though it was mid-May it was snowing to beat the band. For all intents and purposes, it was still midwinter. And it was just about then that it hit me.

All those videos were just like snapshots of our lives…each one different and each one unique. As we look around some folks’ lives are like a beautiful spring morning—things couldn’t be better. Look over there and there is someone enduring the beating rain of a severe storm and finally, glance over there and someone is locked in the midst of winter. We sometimes forget that our lives, our experience may not be the experience of the person standing next to us. While our lives are neat and orderly, theirs might be filled with gale force winds and pounding hail. For us things couldn’t be better—for them things couldn’t be worse.

Can I encourage us to remember that? Can I encourage us to be sensitive to the fact that our world may not be someone else’s? Can I encourage us to be more understanding when someone seems to be rude and huffy when perhaps, just perhaps, they are doing everything they can just to stay afloat. Jesus was so good at this. He could read someone and respond and it wasn’t just because He was God in the flesh but also because He was determined to love others. We can, and should, do the same thing.

So, if you do the computer thing, check out YouTube and search for relaxing music or videos and enjoy and as you are, remember that those places are places where people are living and maybe struggling. Then, determine to be like Jesus, who managed to love each person no matter what. A song says that Jesus loves the little children, all the little children, and if He does…we should too. 1 John 4:16 says, “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love.” We have come to know and believe that no matter what…He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne

Family, fear, Grace, gratitude, life, loving others, prayer, priorities, Scripture, Southern born, sovereignty of God, thankful, Trials, wisdom

A Morning Nightmare

Posted on February 18, 2021February 17, 2021 by Dewayne Taylor

He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” 2 Corinthians 1:4

It was the thing that nightmares are made of. I wasn’t there for this, but trust me I have lived it over and over again with my wife, Judy. Let me tell you the story. When she was four or five years old, her father and mother went to work and so she had a babysitter that lived close by. It was a regular routine. Simple. Simple and routine till one day it wasn’t.

On the first day of school, the babysitter and her friend were taking the kids to school. The kids were entering first grade, there was no kindergarten. After they had dropped the kids off, it was back to her house again. If you’ve ever been to Valdosta, Georgia you need to know multiple times at multiple locations train tracks would cross the roads and highways. Just a few miles from the grade school was a pulpwood plant and often trains would drop off logs to be made into paper. On that particular morning, after leaving the school, the car approached this train crossing. In the early 60’s, many of the crossings didn’t have lights or gates and this was one of those. As the car approached the crossing, that’s when it happened.

It was not unusual for trains to just stop short of the crossing and sit there. As the car approached the crossing there was a train and the young lady who was driving assumed it was just waiting as they often did. Unfortunately, she was wrong. As the car neared the crossing and proceeded onto the tracks, she realized that the train was in fact moving—slowly—but moving. In a panic she thought she was pressing the gas pedal, when in fact she pressed the brake—stopping the car dead on the track. As if in slow motion, the train hit the car and slowly, methodically pushed it down the tracks. Even at such a slow speed, it took a while for the train to stop. The damage was extensive.

The collision was not without consequences and injuries. The lady in the front passenger seat where the train hit received two broken arms. The girl behind the passenger seat had a broken leg. The driver literally had a nervous breakdown. Thankfully, four-year-old Judy was only knocked to the floorboard where she tried her best to hold on to the “hump.” While everyone was taken to the hospital, gratefully the injuries, though serious, were not life threatening. As often is the case in situations like this, not all the injuries were physical.

When I met Judy in 1974, she was sixteen and full of fun and life. Because she lived on the other side of most of the tracks, we would often have to cross them. While never in a dangerous way, if I heard a training coming, I would speed up to make it across the crossing. I still remember the fear that came across her face. Each time it happened, she was reliving what happened. The accident still deeply affected her emotionally. Even if there was a crossing guard with lights, she would tense up, even though I was slowing down to a stop. What happened that morning 12 years earlier left lifelong scars.

At first I didn’t really understand and thought perhaps, just perhaps, she was overreacting. But it didn’t take years, or months or even more than a couple of weeks, for me to realize that for her…this was a big deal. I also quickly realized that I owed it to her, this young woman I loved, to be very careful around train tracks. It didn’t scare me one bit, but it did scare the one I loved, the one I cared for.

So, can I ask you a question? Is there someone in your life, in your world that you care about that might need a bit of special consideration? Is there someone who has a life experience that has left them scarred or wounded? Divorce? Tragedy? Abuse? Death? Illness? Prejudice? You see, in our very imperfect world, you don’t have to travel far to find the wounded and the broken. And what isn’t a big deal to you, might be a tsunami of emotions and difficult memories for someone else. And honestly, we need to be sensitive. We need to care. Jesus did that so well. The Bible tells how God cares and comforts us in our trouble so we can care and comfort those we meet in our daily walkabout life.

So, if you bump into someone’s world and they seem to act differently in a certain situation, why not precede with caution? Why not be the one that brings comfort and understanding to their fractured moment? You could be the one that finally brings healing and peace in their world. Judy is much better now. But if there is an unguarded crossing and a train whistle in the distance, you can bet I still slow down and check the situation out. Judy, well, she knows this guy loves her enough to do exactly that. And, by the way, there is a Dearest Daddy who loves His kids even more than that. And no matter how your world is scarred or rocked…rest assured, He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne