Learning To Be Quiet

"…the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." 1 Peter 3:4

Yesterday I was thinking about when I was very little I was a chatterbox who loved to fill every available minute with questions, giggling, and talking. One day, my parents were taking me to visit their aunt and uncle. I remember clearly making the decision that today, just for fun, I was going to be as quiet as a little mouse and see if anyone would notice. Well, I got the reaction I wanted. Everyone noticed my quietness. My aunt kept asking me if something was wrong. I had never had so much attention!

I kept up my quietness for the attention, but I began to notice something. The quieter I was in social situations, the more I learned! People don’t notice a quiet little kid and they would say things in front of me that they wouldn’t have said if I had been my normal noisy self. It was so much fun learning all the interesting "gossip" that I never returned to being a chatterbox.

Another thing, I learned if you didn’t tell what you heard, people would be willing to tell you more things. My grandma always said "You don’t have to tell everything you know." I took her words to heart. And that’s how I became known as a person that would keep a secret.

It’s interesting to see that all this has contributed to my life’s calling: a church secretary has to be able to listen and also not to tell all she knows since she is privy to people’s most private events.

Sometimes I feel I would like to be the vivacious chatterbox I was when I was little, but most of the time I like who I am now. I love when people seek me out to share what is on their heart – at least most of the time!