January 18 – “Conversation by gender”

I have been doing some research lately.  So, how do you girls out there go about doing that girl thing you do?  Oh, which one, you may ask?  And rightly so, for there are a myriad of skill tasks that appear so simple for those of the female persuasion when in actuality they are at best excruciatingly difficult for us simple guys.  So which one am I talking about today?  How about the way women can think of things to talk about?  Random things.  Yet somehow they always seem to be appropriate.  Come on.  A guy can sit for hours and not say much of anything, and when he gets up to leave he feels like he has done some serious communication.  But a girl can only allow for brief moments of silence before she comes up with something to say.  And if directed toward a man, it is usually in the form of a question, designed to elicit a response from the often unsuspecting male on the receiving end.  If she is talking to another girl, that question requirement appears to be invalid since the other girl will undoubtedly have something to say in response anyway. 

My Uncle Jerry came by for a visit the other day.  I had been taking a much needed nap when he arrived, so when I entered the room, he and Chris were already in discussion.  I was able to slip into a chair across the room and watch the master at work.  There have been times when Jerry has come over that he has actually fallen asleep on our couch.  No problem with me.  I usually just join him, and everyone is refreshed when he leaves.  A perfect visit, right?  But this time Chris was engaged and he had no chance.  At the slightest hint of a lull in the conversation she thought of something else to ask.  His children.  His love for travel.  His poetry.  One after another the topics flew forth, always in the form of a question.  Always requiring him to respond.  I was in awe.  It would have taken me a week of praying and research to come up that many questions, and I would have had to throw out most of them as not applicable in this situation.  Maybe I could take notes next time and compile a book called Questions for Causing Conversation Continuance.  Wouldn’t sell many copies, though.  Guys wouldn’t be particularly interested.  Girls don’t need any help.

Psalms 57:9-11 says, “I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.”

Father, thank you for the differences in your creations.  Sure makes things down here more exciting.  Amen.