When I was in high school I knew a girl named Kat (Katheryn) who
was probably one of the best listeners I have ever known. When you
talked to her, her eyes would never leave your face as she concentrated
on every word you said. They never wandered to the books in her hands or
the people behind you; they were always focused right on you. In fact
some people thought it was a bit disconcerting the way that she would
stare you straight in the mouth. Yeah, that’s right, the mouth. That’s
because Kat was completely (medical term - profoundly) deaf. You could
shout and scream all you wanted behind her because she wouldn’t ever
notice, But you could talk in a normal voice in front of the speakers of
a rock band and she would know exactly what you were saying. (of
course, if you remained there long, you would soon be just as deaf as
she was.)
Lip reading wasn’t a talent that she
naturally acquired. it took a lot of practice. She told me that she
would watch the news every day because the reporters would always look
directly at the camera and you could see their lips really well. She had
cards that had different words on them that had very similar mouth
movements that she would hand to people and tell them to read them to
her in a random order so that she could practice. She would also look
for people who had different accents because they would move their
mouths differently. She said that some British accents (south central
mainly) were the hardest because they didn’t move their mouths at all.
But
through it all, she was an excellent listener and she would concentrate
on every word you said because, quite frankly, she had to. Listening
for her was very hard work and she took it very seriously. When she
listened to you, she wasn’t thinking about what she was going to say or
about how to answer, she was thinking about exactly what you said. If
you were talking about something important she would always wait for you
to finish before she would respond, usually in a very thoughtful way.
She really was one of the best listeners I ever knew.
(Kat was horrible to get in an argument with, though. She would tell you exactly what she thought and then close her eyes.)
“I told you about my life and you listened to me.” Psalms 119:26
This week:
New Light Friday, May 20. What snacks will Duane bring this time?
Which School Sunday School, May 22
Spirit West Coast Christian Music Festival, June 12
Please let us know if you have any prayer requests. We really do pray for you guys!
Allen Cheung - avaliant@gmail.com
Sudden Gurung - sgurung2s@yahoo.com
Veronica Conte - mail4veronica@gmail.com
Duane Fowler - dlfowler@comcast.net
Cheers,
Duane
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