Flipping the chicken, I glanced at the clock. Thirty minutes before the team arrived. I grabbed the plates and silverware to set the table when the door slammed. 

“Mom, I can’t find Judd,” my son said. 

“What?” I hollered back as I finished arranging the table and wondered - where is the other folding chair? Did I add the sugar to the lemonade? 

“Mom, you’re not listening,” my son stood in front of me. 

Have you ever been too busy to listen? 

If anyone had an excuse not to listen, it should have been Jesus. 

Jesus had very little alone time or time to rest. His disciples peppered Him with questions, and people pressed Him all day long begging for healing as He traveled from village to village. 

Yet as Jesus left Jericho surrounded by a noisy crowd, He heard two blind men calling Him above the chaos. 

He stopped and looked, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 

“Lord,” they said to Him, “open our eyes!” 

“Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes and immediately they could see.” (Matthew 20:32-34) 

Jesus stopped His plans and loved others by listening. He prioritized relationships over responsibilities and didn’t view them as interruptions but rather opportunities to serve. 

We can do the same. It will require us to stop, focus on the other person, and close our mouths. We may need to ask the Lord to soften our hearts to love others like Him rather than ourselves and our agendas. It will require wisdom to discern: do we just need to listen, or does the other person need help? 

Snapping out of my mental to-do list, I stopped and looked at my son. 

“I’m sorry. Please tell me again.”  

“Mom, Judd is missing,” my son said.  

Long story short, my kids and I looked for my three-year-old son while supper burned. Judd showed up in a taxi outside our house a few minutes later. Since we were the only white family in town, the taxi driver offered to give my son a ride around the block! And I learned a value lesson about not being too busy to listen.