Going Slow with Dr. Low

Consumer surveys show the companies Canadians struggle with most are the phone companies who receive more consumer complaints than any other industry.  This has certainly been my case over the past several months as I have been experiencing increasingly worse cell phone reception, or at least I thought I was.
Everyone who has phoned me since last Spring has complained about not being able to hear me, especially when I was in my home.  I have been sticking my head out of my house windows and speaking loudly to people and getting more and more frustrated with Telus as time went on.  I've had people give up and hang up on me including people I was counseling which is such a huge frustration for me.

I have launched several complaints with Telus over the last several months getting more upset and impatient each time.  I have been told by other people who live in my area that Telus's reception is not good here and Telus assured me there was not much they could do about it other than switch phones or switch networks.  After my last confrontation with Telus complaining about their lousy cell phone reception I got off the phone and it suddenly dawned on me, "But I heard everything he said."  I suddenly realized during all these months of people complaining they could not hear me well, I could hear their complaints - I could hear everything they were saying.  Hmmmm, maybe it was not Telus after all (insert humility/embarrassment here).

I finally noticed the mic was quite dusty, almost plugged, so wondered if maybe that had been the problem all along.  So I took my IPhone into the Apple store and had them clean out the mic.  But that didn't help.  So I went back the next day and the gentleman helping me had me phone him and as he listened to me he said, "Oh ya, that's terrible, we're giving you a replacement."

All this time I was blaming the reception, trying to talk more loudly and getting more frustrated by the day, especially when people I was trying to coach over the phone would give up and ask me to email them later.  All the while I did not realize the person who gave me the phone had paid for Apple Care which meant it could be replaced for free if anything was wrong with it; I was in the dark about that.

Sound familiar?  I couldn't help but think how I, and so many people I serve, struggle with hearing God or others and speaking to God or others.  And, like me with my phone, they blame others (like Telus), try talking louder and do not realize help is right there (like a brand new phone, heart, attitude, perspective etc.).

Are you having trouble praying to God or listening to God?  Are you yelling at Him hoping He will hear you better or hoping He yells back?  Prayer does not always come quickly, easily or naturally.  Like communicating with family and friends we often have to work at it and learn from others how to speak better and listen better.  Quieting yourself before prayer can be helpful and it can also be helpful to find a Spiritual Director or someone like that to help you grow in this area.  If this is an area of struggle for you seek help; like my phone, the problem might be different than you think and the solution not has difficult as you might think.