Motherhood Monday!

Hearing God's Voice

And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they besought him to lay his hand upon him. And taking him aside from the multitude privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue; and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, “Eph’phatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
—Mark 7:32-35

This is an excerpt from yesterday's Gospel. The priest gave an excellent homily on being attentive and listening to God's voice. This whole concept not only got me thinking about my own spiritual life, but also the spiritual lives of my children. Part of my duty as a mother is to teach my children to hear God's voice. Now, I realize this will be very difficult to do since I have a 3 year old and 18 month, and they can't even seem to master the art of listening to mom's voice! But I feel that it is important to start planting seeds early, so I try to make it a point to teach them the importance of recognizing God's voice in their daily lives. I want to teach my children at an early age to recognize God's voice and the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I desire to help them to recognize the small tugging at their hearts, and to remind them that this is often the way that God draws us to Him! My job is to help them learn to constantly turn their minds to God, and to make their days a conversation with God! And lastly, hopefully I can teach them to always keep God in their decisions, and to listen attentively to the voice in their hearts that will ever so gently pull them in the right direction, even if it is not the easiest path.

The best way for me to teach my young children these concepts is to model the behaviors I want them to learn. If they see their mom trying to listen to God's voice and promptings, then hopefully they will learn to do the same. I pray that God will help me in this process, and that our Blessed Mother Mary will intercede for me as I try to teach my children to always be open to God and to hear His voice!