Thoughts on Listening

I have a few thoughts on listening, albeit three very different ones. I'll go in order from funniest to most serious.

#1. I am so glad I took the opportunity this morning to ask B* a question and really listen to his answer, because I've been laughing over his response all day. Let me introduce you to B*: he's a sweet, mild-mannered, polite, quiet, calm, good boy.

This morning he'd been riding a rather tall tricycle for his height (and when I say "riding", I mean slowly pushing his feet off the ground while sitting on the bike's seat). And then he says to me, "Ms. Abbi, I'm tired of riding bikes."

When he tells me this, I know that what he means is that he's not enjoying riding his bike, and I wonder what he'll say if I ask him this question: "You're tired? Are your legs tired, or your arms tired?" So, I ask him.

And this is his response, with a rather embarrassed look on his face, "It's hurting my....my....this thing." (And while saying "this thing," he stands up a little on the bike and points to his booty.) Hahaha!!! By divine providence I was able to keep a straight face and suggest he ride a shorter bike, but I've laughed out loud over it multiple times since then.

#2. While driving my 3 minute commute to work today, I listened to "The Sweet Escape" by Gwen Stefani on the radio. When I turned on my car over 9 hours later to drive home, the same exact song was playing on the same exact radio station. Should I take this to mean something?

#3. Recently I've been thinking a lot about listening to God. Am I really listening to Him, or am I so focused on what I want or what I need to get done that I don't pay attention to what He's trying to teach me or direct me to do? This quote keeps coming to my mind:

"The object of our prayers should not be to present a wish list or a series of requests but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is eager to bestow, according to His will and timing. Every sincere prayer is heard and answered by our Heavenly Father, but the answers we receive may not be what we expect or come to us when we want or in the way we anticipate."
-Elder David A. Bednar, "Ask in Faith," Ensign, May 2008

This quote makes me think about my kids--they are usually all too eager to "present wish lists and series of requests" to me, but they are not so eager to listen to me and do what I ask them to do. Frequently throughout my days I try to motivate my children to listen, ask my children to listen, remind them to listen, command them to LISTEN!! :) Some days I get exasperated over how they do not listen to me, and I wonder if that's how Heavenly Father feels sometimes. I think, "If they'd just listen to me, this whole experience would be sooooo much better!" And then I wonder if God thinks the same thing in regards to me sometimes.

So this is my new goal: to listen to God as attentively as I would like my children to listen to me.