In the last week I’ve listened to about 10 people vent about their problems - including one complete stranger who told me all about the problems she’s having with her mother-in-law. After hearing so much venting over the week, I was feeling kind of sad and my husband noticed it. He asked me why I was sad. I had to think about it a bit - and I realized it’s because I was carrying a burden for all these people. I’d been praying a lot this week mostly for those people and the problems they were having, but also praying for me to have the strength to listen. I guess I was also complaining to him abit about having so many people venting to me. And later that night after we read our devotional, I realized that the ability to listen to people who are burdened is a gift from God and I needed to appreciate it more.
If you were to ask my friends and family if I’m a better talker or listener, they’d all say “talker” but over the last 1-1/2 years of marriage, I’ve actually turned into a listener. If I weren’t willing to just sit down, shut up and listen, my husband wouldn’t share anything with me (he’s kind of quiet). So I’ve been learning how to just listen - not offer suggestions on how to solve the problem - just listen! And I guess God’s been working on me in that area a bunch, by bringing other people to me that I just need to listen to.
So I guess the extent of this post is to state that I’m not resenting the people who are sharing their problems with me, I’m actually going to be open to where God leads me and to whom God leads me.
Thanks for listening 
