Unseen & Unheard

Today, I snapped at my husband . . .

. . . for doing the laundry.

I had previously asked him to check with me to make sure that everything I had everything that needed to be washed in the laundry bin. This morning, he started the laundry while I was sleeping. He wanted to help me and didn't want to wake me up.

When I realized that he had started the laundry without checking with me, something in my heart said, Have you not heard a word I said about checking with me first?

What came out of my mouth was sharp, accusing and bitter.

We stomped around the house for a while. And then what I had done sunk in. I started to cry. I asked my heart what had happened.

Oh, God, I'm turning into my mother!

When we were younger, Mom used to say she felt like she had to yell and get angry to be heard.

I had just done that to my husband. What is going on?

At the root of it, I think it is the fear of being 'unseen'. If what I say isn't important enough to be heard, then damn it, I'm going to make it important.

I discovered, in my heart, a little girl who believes that you have to yell to be heard. She believes that no one will take her seriously. And that no one places value on what she has to say.

But what is the Truth?

My words have value to my husband. What I say is important to him.

God hears me. He thinks my words are important, too. His Love Letter says so.

Psalm 55:16-17 (NLT)
But I will call on God, and the Lord will rescue me. Morning, noon, and night I cry out in my distress, and the Lord hears my voice.

Psalm 34:15, 17 (NASB)
The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry. The righteous cry, and the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.

Psalm 145:19 (NIV)
He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.

Proverbs 15:29 (NLT)
The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of the righteous.