{"id":1667,"date":"2011-09-16T01:00:55","date_gmt":"2011-09-16T05:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=1667"},"modified":"2011-09-14T21:35:47","modified_gmt":"2011-09-15T01:35:47","slug":"welcome-to-my-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/09\/welcome-to-my-world.html","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to my world"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>About 20 years ago, my husband and I met a doctor who was an audiologist. \u00a0This is an ear doctor who treats actual hearing and balance problems. \u00a0After giving my husband a free, unsolicited hearing exam, he leaned back in his chair and folded his hands. \u00a0&#8220;You know that a man goes deaf at the frequency of their wife&#8217;s voice after twenty years of marriage,&#8221; he told us. \u00a0He declared that it was a scientific fact.<\/p>\n<p>My husband laughed and replied, &#8220;It&#8217;s true. \u00a0I can&#8217;t hear anything my wife tells me any more.&#8221; \u00a0I was not laughing.<\/p>\n<p>In the course of my life, there are so many things which happen that cannot be explained that I&#8217;m constantly wondering if I&#8217;ve gone deaf to the sound of God&#8217;s voice as he speaks to me each day. \u00a0My good friend, Wylene, once said, &#8220;I really wish that Jesus had not said, &#8216;My sheep know my voice.&#8217; \u00a0Because I don&#8217;t always know when the Lord is speaking.&#8221; \u00a0I had to agree with her.<\/p>\n<p>Then something happens and I know God is saying, &#8220;See, Linda, I&#8217;m still here. \u00a0Don&#8217;t fret. \u00a0I&#8217;m still working in your life.&#8221; \u00a0It may or may not be miraculous. \u00a0Often, it is in the course of a normal day when God&#8217;s Spirit because forward to remind me that He is still taking charge of my life.<\/p>\n<p>In the past months, there have been so many. \u00a0As an example, Natalie Carley, a missionary to Spain, has come back into my life recently. \u00a0She lived across the street from our house when she was growing up. \u00a0When Natalie was a little girl, she and her sister attended a Bible study that I taught to the children in our neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p>Miss Carley has recently moved her ministry to Spain, after spending 10 years in Mexico. \u00a0Miss Carley never intended to become a missionary. \u00a0After 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. \u00a0She went with no support and stayed for 10 years. \u00a0Her financial support did grow but not as much as her outreach and her reputation reached across the Spanish-speaking world.<\/p>\n<p>Her counseling curriculum is in demand wherever Spanish is spoken. \u00a0However, Mexican Spanish uses words and idioms that are not understood by other Spanish-speaking nations. \u00a0Spanish 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.<\/p>\n<p>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. \u00a0Before she left for Spain, she came over to the house to give me a hug and say, &#8220;Good-bye.&#8221; \u00a0There were no thunderous sounds breaking forth in the heavens when she hugged me for the last time. \u00a0We didn&#8217;t cry or even pray.<\/p>\n<p>However, I was thanking God for putting this wonderful lady in my life to be my friend while God was speaking to me, &#8220;See how much I love and care about you to give you such great friends.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Danielle called tonight to fill me in on the recent antics of a family member. \u00a0She came to Special Gathering, which is a ministry within the mentally challenged community, at the age of 16. \u00a0She continues to serve this cloistered sub-culture and she has been my friend since she came to help on Sundays.<\/p>\n<p>Her family is coming for dinner tomorrow night at our house. \u00a0I explained my current computer problems and she laughed, &#8220;Don&#8217;t worry. \u00a0If you can&#8217;t get it fixed, Sam <em>(her computer genius husband)<\/em> will be there tomorrow. \u00a0You know he&#8217;ll do whatever needs to be done.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It was a simple conversation but God was saying, &#8220;I even care about your funky computer problems.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>At these quiet, loving moments, I feel like God&#8217;s pet project, a child who is given special treatment for no reason, except my Father loves me so much. \u00a0Simple acts. \u00a0But they are life-changing acts of gracious love.<\/p>\n<p>What about you? \u00a0What has God done for you today that helped you to know how much He cares for you?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About 20 years ago, my husband and I met a doctor who was an audiologist. \u00a0This is an ear doctor who treats actual hearing and balance problems. \u00a0After giving my husband a free, unsolicited hearing exam, he leaned back in his chair and folded his hands. \u00a0&#8220;You know that a man goes deaf at the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,3,40,186,49,215,85],"tags":[273,21,688,699,715,701,694,272,689,6],"class_list":["post-1667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-love","category-prayer-2","tag-audiologist","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-male-hearing-loss","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-simple-scriptural-truths"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Welcome to my world - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/09\/welcome-to-my-world.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Welcome to my world - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"About 20 years ago, my husband and I met a doctor who was an audiologist. \u00a0This is an ear doctor who treats actual hearing and balance problems. \u00a0After giving my husband a free, unsolicited hearing exam, he leaned back in his chair and folded his hands. \u00a0&#8220;You know that a man goes deaf at the&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/09\/welcome-to-my-world.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-09-16T05:00:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-09-15T01:35:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. 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