I have always been a person who likes to journal.  I started when I was a teenager and have kept a record of much of my life since that time.  There are large gaps missing during the busy child-rearing years, but occasionally I will “catch up” on what happened in the interim. My purpose for starting to journal all of those years ago was to remember what it was like to be a teenager and I hoped that it would help me to be a better parent when I was raising my own teens one day.   At that point in my life, journaling was also a way to sort out my feelings and thoughts.  There is a mental organization that takes place when I want to put thoughts on paper, and it helps me get to the heart of what is really happening with me.  I often felt better when I was in emotional turmoil after going through that process, and I often found my answers once I could dig down and figure out what the root of the problem actually was.  I found that once I met my husband, I didn’t need that outlet nearly as much (I had someone I could talk to about things face to face) but it still helped me from time to time and I still liked having those thoughts and insights written down.

I also always journal trips I take.  We have done quite a bit of traveling and I like to have a record of things I want to remember about those journeys,  whether they are facts I might want to refer back to for  future visits or just memories and experiences and observations along the way.  So many times in my life I’ve thought “I’ll never forget that, ”  and I’ve lived long enough to know that you definitely do forget some of those things, even when you don’t want to!

Now, I am going on a very different type of journey than I have ever experienced before.  I’m moving toward a world of deafness and I feel that it’s a journey that needs to be recorded.  I am in  a unique situation with my story and the way that this has happened to me and I want to record everything that I am feeling and experiencing  while it is fresh  on my mind.  I am seeing so many things in such different ways than I ever have before.  It is affecting every aspect of my life and I have become aware of  many things that I have taken forgranted in the past, and many ways of applying spiritual truths and principles that I’ve never thought of before.  It’s so much new information coming at once and at a time when I’m working very hard at processing it all …I want to record it.

I decided to make this a public blog for several reasons.  This is the sort of blog that I would enjoy following about someone else if I was aware of it.  I have  family and friends all over the country and I thought that some might like to stay updated on things with me through this venue.    Many people know or will know someone in their lifetime who is deaf or hard of hearing and if anyone can gain more sensitivity or understanding by following me on this journey, then I want to be able to share.  If anyone will feel less isolated and alone because of this venue, I want to be there.  If any new spiritual thought helps someone out on their christian walk, I want the information shared.   So much can apply to any struggle in life.   I’ll put my thoughts out there, and I hope others will share theirs, too, and maybe we can all grow and learn and be encouraged by the experience.

I chose my name “Quiet Insight” because what I hear now is so very quiet.  I have to stop, listen carefully,  be quiet myself so I can hear as much as possible,  and work at understanding what is being said.  I’ve been forced to recognize the fact that often things are misinterpreted or misunderstood by me at first, and I have to stop my initial reaction/response to what I think is happening and make sure that I did in fact understand correctly in the first place.  This involves repeating things back to confirm!  How often do misunderstandings occur in everyone’s lives simply by not paying close enough attention to  what is being said or by thinking we know where a person is going with a thought and mentally jumping ahead in our own minds with our reply before we’ve really even heard what is spoken?  I think many of us need to learn to truly listen, whether we’re talking about following a basic conversation, having a heart to heart talk with someone or   making sure we are accurately understanding what God has to tell us in His Word.  When we stop and be quiet and make an effort at real understanding, there is insight to be found and true communication that takes place.  That is what I want to share.