About 20 years ago, my husband and I met a doctor who was an audiologist.  This is an ear doctor who treats actual hearing and balance problems.  After giving my husband a free, unsolicited hearing exam, he leaned back in his chair and folded his hands.  “You know that a man goes deaf at the frequency of their wife’s voice after twenty years of marriage,” he told us.  He declared that it was a scientific fact.

My husband laughed and replied, “It’s true.  I can’t hear anything my wife tells me any more.”  I was not laughing.

In the course of my life, there are so many things which happen that cannot be explained that I’m constantly wondering if I’ve gone deaf to the sound of God’s voice as he speaks to me each day.  My good friend, Wylene, once said, “I really wish that Jesus had not said, ‘My sheep know my voice.’  Because I don’t always know when the Lord is speaking.”  I had to agree with her.

Then something happens and I know God is saying, “See, Linda, I’m still here.  Don’t fret.  I’m still working in your life.”  It may or may not be miraculous.  Often, it is in the course of a normal day when God’s Spirit because forward to remind me that He is still taking charge of my life.

In the past months, there have been so many.  As an example, Natalie Carley, a missionary to Spain, has come back into my life recently.  She lived across the street from our house when she was growing up.  When Natalie was a little girl, she and her sister attended a Bible study that I taught to the children in our neighborhood.

Miss Carley has recently moved her ministry to Spain, after spending 10 years in Mexico.  Miss Carley never intended to become a missionary.  After she graduated from seminary and had also earned her masters in psychology, she was invited to come and teach one course in counseling at a seminary in Mexico.  She went with no support and stayed for 10 years.  Her financial support did grow but not as much as her outreach and her reputation reached across the Spanish-speaking world.

Her counseling curriculum is in demand wherever Spanish is spoken.  However, Mexican Spanish uses words and idioms that are not understood by other Spanish-speaking nations.  Spanish spoken in Spain is the purest form of the language and is understood by all Spanish-speaking people. Recognizing that she needed to learn the language of Spain, she took a position at a seminary in that nation.

While on furlough in the US raising additional support to be able to live in Spain, this competent, talented and resourceful woman and I have become a good friends.  Before she left for Spain, she came over to the house to give me a hug and say, “Good-bye.”  There were no thunderous sounds breaking forth in the heavens when she hugged me for the last time.  We didn’t cry or even pray.

However, I was thanking God for putting this wonderful lady in my life to be my friend while God was speaking to me, “See how much I love and care about you to give you such great friends.”

Danielle called tonight to fill me in on the recent antics of a family member.  She came to Special Gathering, which is a ministry within the mentally challenged community, at the age of 16.  She continues to serve this cloistered sub-culture and she has been my friend since she came to help on Sundays.

Her family is coming for dinner tomorrow night at our house.  I explained my current computer problems and she laughed, “Don’t worry.  If you can’t get it fixed, Sam (her computer genius husband) will be there tomorrow.  You know he’ll do whatever needs to be done.”

It was a simple conversation but God was saying, “I even care about your funky computer problems.”

At these quiet, loving moments, I feel like God’s pet project, a child who is given special treatment for no reason, except my Father loves me so much.  Simple acts.  But they are life-changing acts of gracious love.

What about you?  What has God done for you today that helped you to know how much He cares for you?