Reflection Options  

Journal  (reflect on one or more of these questions)

• After reading one of the articles listed, journal about which skills you think you excel in and which ones you want to improve.  Then try one or two things out in a conversation and journal about how it went.

• Reflect on a time someone listened to you in a way that allowed you to feel valued and understood.  What kinds of things did they say? Do? What was their attitude, tone or body language?

• Reflect on Jesus as a listener.  Can you come up with some examples of ways that he listened to those he was ministering to?  What did it look like?

Quote Interaction (Agree, disagree or otherwise engage with the quote/quotes)

• "The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said." Peter F. Drucker

• “The first duty of love is to listen.” Paul Tillich

• "To say that a person feels listened to means a lot more than just their ideas get heard. It's a sign of respect. It makes people feel valued."  Deborah Tannen

• “Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you." Henri Nouwen

Reading & Reflection from the book, Shaping The Journey of Emerging Adults: 

• Read “Teach Specific Skills for Healthy Relating” (pp. 158-160) Are there skills listed in the text or the bullet points that you want to know more about? Create a list of some of the relating skills you aren’t confident in and ask three people for feedback on how well you are doing at those things.

• Read “Talk Less and Pause More” (pp. 160-161).  Evaluate your ability to sit silently or to allow silence with others.  How can you challenge yourself in this area?

• Mentor: Read “Understanding Discernment” and “Strategies for Discernment” (pp. 77-86). Identify as many ways as you can find that practicing good discernment in disciple making is connected to being a good listener.