Turn off the flow

There are so, so many Proverbs about our speech.  There are verses on being slow to speak, having kind words, not arguing, not rambling, not using foul words, and also when to speak up.  One verse in particular came to mind this morning.   

"Don't talk too much, for it fosters sin.  Be sensible and turn off the flow!"  -Proverbs 10:19

You see, I lost my voice today.  I didn't have a choice to turn off the flow; God just cut it off!  My voice became weak yesterday afternoon, by bedtime I sounded pretty horse, by morning I sounded like a raspy old man, and after Sunday School (with 29 kids!!!) there was no sound- my voice is gone.  I'm left with a very quiet whisper.

It's interesting not having a voice because it really makes me think before I speak.  It's so difficult to strain my voice to get a message across that I'm finding myself thinking whether whatever I want to say is really that important.  Most of the time, its not.  I stay to the point because its difficult to have a conversation, and I'm a lot better of a listener.  I'm only a few hours into not having a voice, but so far God is teaching me something in this.  If you thought being a mom was a hard job with a voice, try it without a voice!

Today I taught the four and five year olds the story of God calling Samuel.  You know how it goes- God called Samuel three different times, but Samuel didn't know it was God speaking.  He thought it was Eli the priest.  Finally, once Eli clued Samuel in that the voice must be God, Eli told Samuel to respond by saying, "Yes, Lord.  I am listening."  Maybe that story was for me today- He's got my attention.  The flow is shut off.  I'm quiet.  I'm listening.  I want to respond with an obedient heart that says, "Yes Lord."  :)