Tag: speaking up

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Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on Losing Your Voice

You can click play if you want to hear me read this week’s post (even though it’s a little squeaky).

I’ve been losing my voice this week.

On Monday afternoon I got a sore throat.

On Tuesday morning, I missed my swimming because I didn’t feel well.

Things improved after that and I went to swim on Thursday morning. Something was still a bit wonky with my throat, but I didn’t feel bad at all. As the day progressed, my voice continued to change. We visited with a nice family from church in the evening and I tried to ignore how I sounded (of course I wanted to chime in even more than usual, even with my voice being a bit hoarse).

Now it’s Friday and I still feel fine, but my voice is even more squeaky when I talk. (I’m supposed to sing on Sunday and Gary and I are planning to talk about my depression during the church service, so I’m hoping things improve by then.)

So anyway, I’ve been thinking about our voices this week. I’m still me, even if I don’t sound like I usually do when I talk right now.

We can lose our physical voice, but we can still find ways to speak even if we can’t get the words past our lips.

We can write something down on a piece of paper and show it to someone.

We can type lots of words and send them out into the cybersphere.

We can look someone in the eyes and smile to show them that we care.

We can work on different tasks and projects to lighten someone else’s load or brighten someone’s day.

Even if you can’t talk, you never really have to lose your voice. Find a way to speak up today!

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5:14–15 NIV)

Have you ever lost your voice? How did that feel? How can focusing on God help you to speak up (with or without your actual voice)?

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Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on Speaking Up

We had a mentor meeting after junior high youth group on Wednesday night. After our fearless leader went through some business and asked everyone for feedback and suggestions, another man asked to speak for a minute.

He had been visiting that night and he started out by commending all of us for being willing to mentor these 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. “There’s a lot of energy there!” We laughed because it was true.

Then he went on to reassure us that what we are doing makes a difference, even though we may never know it. Or maybe we would.

He told us about a high school sophomore he had mentored through the kid’s high school years. That student came back and met with him about seven years later and gave his life to Christ because of the seeds this man had planted in youth group.

He reminded us that we are making a mark in these students’ lives as we spend time with them and talk with them about their faith.

It was just what I needed to hear.

I love our group of 7th grade girls, but I was starting to wonder if mentoring was worth it. They’re sometimes silly and easily distracted, so at times it doesn’t seem like they’re getting the message.

This man’s words brought back my hope and reminded me why I signed up to mentor in the first place. They also were a wonderful example of our topic for that night. Our leader had taught about how important our thinking is and how we need to turn our thoughts around when they’re negative. (See Philippians 4:8 at the end of this post.)

After our youth group meeting, this man could have kept his mouth shut. I’m glad he spoke up instead. He encouraged us and gave us hope for what might happen in the lives of the students we’re mentoring.

Just think of the people we could encourage if we chose to speak up instead of staying silent!

I like to do it through this blog, but you could also speak up at home, at work, in Sunday school, at church, at a meeting, or wherever it feels right. Speaking up when God prompts you just might give someone the strength to go on.

To go on taking care of children, to go on doing their job well, to go on growing in their faith, to go on serving in your organization, or maybe even to go on living.

That sounds extreme, but there are many people who lose hope and wonder what their purpose is in life. So many people. Let’s speak up and help them find hope again.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8 NIV)

Do you speak up and encourage the people God brings into your life each day? How can focusing on God give you the wisdom and courage to do that faithfully?

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Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on Speaking Up

When I was very depressed* back in September of 2014, I made lots of mistakes in how I was thinking and acting.

One of my biggest blunders was failing to speak up. Gary knew how much I was struggling, but I said very little at the high school where I was getting more and more stressed and upset about the teaching job I couldn’t seem to handle.

Looking back (and isn’t it always easier to see what we could have done in hindsight?), I might have been able to handle things better if I had spoken up and talked to the other teachers about my worries and frustrations.

I could have gotten more help with the technology problems with the online textbook, instead of being determined that I should be able to figure it out myself.

I could have asked how the other teachers handled disruptive students, instead of just heaping more shame on myself because I couldn’t keep everyone happy and attentive every day.

I could have been more open with people at church and asked them to pray for me as I adjusted, instead of keeping it all to myself and slipping more and more into that dark place.

I learned from the mistakes I made back then when I got so sick.

Now I’m much more willing to speak up when I’m going through something difficult. I talk to God about it, and I talk to other people who can help.

I was reminded of speaking up earlier this week at VBS. In the midst of a busy day of herding a group of 3rd and 4th graders through their various activities at Vacation Bible School, I heard one of the other volunteers admit that she had a meltdown one evening as she thought about a commitment she had made for later this summer. She had doubts about whether her faith was strong enough and if she was the right person for the job she had signed up for.

How brave of her to voice that doubt in a group of peers. We could encourage her and now we know how we can pray for her as that commitment approaches.

We all need to get more comfortable speaking up. Let’s not keep our troubled thoughts to ourselves. Let’s talk to God about them and practice speaking up to people in our lives who can pray for us and give us help and encouragement for whatever we’re going through.

God knows our thoughts, but people aren’t mind readers. We have to speak up.

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5:14-15 NIV)

Do you feel comfortable speaking up, or do you keep your thoughts and feelings to yourself? How can focusing on God help you to be more willing to talk to God and others about your troubles?

*You can read more of my posts about depression over at robynmulder.blogspot.com (search for “depression” or “mental health” to find more posts)