You say “bake, take, lake sake, make, fake, rake, wake,  hake, cake.”

I say, “Whaaat?

I hear you talking, but I can’t understand.  Those words all sound the same to me.  Call it:

• a hearing deficit,
• a hearing disorder,
• an auditory dysfunction,
• a sound wave impediment,
• as people used to say, “He’s a little deaf.”
• whatever is the current

Simply put,  I have a hard time discerning the consonant sounds for b, t, l, m, f, w, h, and c.

Since my sound discrimination is related to my service in the Navy and Marine Corps, the Veterans Administration, using new auditory and computer technology, has been attempting to make, with some success,  incoming sounds more distinguishable for me.

But a big problem remains.   I cannot always understand my wife.

Now some people would look at that as a blessing, but when my wife says something, it is usually something that I should listen to.   A few days ago the VA gave me a new gadget for her.  It is a small microphone she clips to her blouse.  This transmits her voice to this other device I wear around my neck that converts to Bluetooth that forwards the sounds to my hearing aids.  Now when she even whispers, I hear her loud and clear.  Whoopee.

I even hear her when she’s talking to herself, when she is talking to the cat, when she is fussing at the dishwasher, washer, dryer, microwave controls or other item of frustration.  I can hear her all the time.

Now, is that a good thing, or a bad thing?  (No comment)

I believe God talks to us.     I believe what God says is important.  My problem is that I am not always tuned to God’s channel, so to speak. Looking in retrospect, I can see there were times when God was trying to get through to me, and I just wasn’t listening, or even worse, was ignoring his messages, or most likely, I was too involved with myself to pay attention to God.  Bummer!

In Vacation Bible School, we face the challenge of trying to help children to be aware of God. We discuss  times when He tries hard to contact us, to give us guidance:

• about things to do, or not to do.
• about things to say, or not say
• about words to use, or not use
• to write or not write.
• to act, or not to act

Yes, God is always with us, trying to help us to make the right decisions.  The closer we are to God, the more we decide to do things God’s way rather than our way.  If we will only listen!

We direct the children’s attention to Proverbs 2:2 NSV  Making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;  Make believe God is wearing the microphone and you can hear His messages just like I can hear my wife.. You have clear channel reception.  Be alert to those messages from God!    Pay attention.

Next week: Ensuring Congregation Support.