My siblings and I were sitting at the table talking about everything and nothing while getting ready for dinner. Our dinnerly duties included: filling up the water cups, setting the napkins, and placing the utensils. 

“Guys so at school today─,” Ethan starts, but before he can finish Faith cuts him off.

“Hannah, so one of my managers was like let’s all hang out and…”  

“Why would they ask that and which manager are you talking about?” I asked her.

“I… Guys I....” he struggles to get out what he wanted to say, but we both pay him little attention. 

“I don’t know, and I’m talking about both of them. Anyway, they were like so and so is coming and you should too,” Faith continues still talking over him. A look of frustration crosses Ethan’s face, and he opens his mouth to try again when my mom interrupts us all.

“It’s Pastor Danny’s birthday in a few days. Please think about how much money you want to give him. Hannah and Faith a good amount would be between $15 and $30, and Ethan a good amount would be between $10 and $15.”

“I’ll give him $30,” I tell my mom decisively. Pastor Danny is like a second dad to me and I wanted to give him more of my money this year.

“I’ll give him $30 too,” my sister Faith responds after she hears the amount of money I’m giving. Then my brother with a thoughtful expression on his face tells my mom the amount he wants to give.

“Mom, I want to give all my money,” he declares his face earnest. All of Ethan’s money amounts to about sixty dollars, but without hesitation he repeats, “I want to give him all my money.”  After a couple of beats he adds, “I’m going to buy him a car too.”

His words made me pause, and I looked over at my brother. I hadn’t given him the chance to talk. I didn’t put in the effort to care about his words because he’s so much younger than me. At that moment, I realized that age doesn’t matter. Ethan showed me his character with only a few words. He is a king, and me being the talkative tyrant I was, I drowned out his voice. I was the one who needed to become like a silent servant and listen because now I wanted to learn everything about my brother with the heart of a king. Sitting at the dinner table, finishing up our chores I ask, “So, Ethan, what happened at school today?”

Listening is one of the most important things that I am still learning to do well. I know that words have power, but words only have power if people listen. Learning to listen has taught me how to learn about the people in my life. It excites me because I never know what I might find. I will always remember the moment when my brother opened my ears so that I could truly hear.