Back in 1986 I had a phone number that when you spelled out the numbers on the dial pad was 728-PRAY. I can't tell you how many times I was woken in the middle of the night with calls from people who truly needed someone to pray for them and with them. We had the ability to put our phones on silent even back then; all you had to do was leave the receiver off the hook! (I know I just lost about 2000 kids on that one..."What's a receiver? What's a hook?") I don't recall any one particular call that was made, but I can tell you that God blessed me at all hours of the night with new experiences, new prayers to share, words of comfort that I didn't come up with myself, but that the Holy Spirit through me could be blessed and Jesus glorified. It was an amazing thing really - and I don't know if I would have changed my number even if it had become obnoxious.
Today, basically 34 years later, I find myself in another odd and fun situation via the telephone. About once a month someone will misdial on their end and end up texting me. Most of the time it's just a simple "Hey I'm on my way home", but because I don't recognize the number, and their name isn't popping up on my little flat screen I text back to let them know they may have reached the wrong person. Now and again the person ignores my response and either texts back to say they can't text because they're driving, or they ask me what I want from the store before they get home. LOL...I always answer that one. In my best sweet text style possible I add "Oh you know, my favorite candy and maybe you'll get something sweet after dinner." Then I smile to myself, knowing I've possibly helped a poor soul in their stagnant relationship.
This afternoon a person texted me from an area code very close to my own. When that happens I know they were trying to reach the person with my actual number, but with another area code probably. I typically let them know, but again, as mentioned before, the person ignored my response that could have let them off the hook - - I said hook again -- and they began texting rapidly asking questions about dinner and whether or not my new DVD set of Game of Thrones had arrived. I answered in the negative regarding the GOT as I was never really a fan anyway, my kids love the show, but it's far too bloody and gory for my tastes. Because I could, and because I had already crossed the line with my GOT answer, I decided to let my new texting friend know that dinner would be a la carte, we could go through the fridge and try to find things to piece together. She/He wasn't having it and insisted on ordering Chinese food. OK, texted back that it sounded fantastic, and they knew what I liked. (I assumed the knew what I l liked)
Nearly 18 minutes into our conversation the man/woman on the other end asked me what I had been doing all day. I decided to tell the truth. "Oh, (I said) my Scottish New Testament came in and I've been reading it. I'm just blown over that John the Baptist et locust and bumbee hinnie!" There was silence. No more texting. I assumed that my new friend had finally figured it out and that he/she would either bow out graciously or say something like "Why did you let me go on this long?" Neither of these two things happened. Instead the person texted again saying "Bumbee hinnie? Is that the same as bumblebee honey?" I rolled over laughing.
I answered my friend in the affirmative, then began rolling off one-line passages that I felt were just too hilarious in the Scots language to pass up. I wrote out a line and to my ultimate surprise my texter wrote back what he/she thought it said or meant. Often times the person truly inspired me to find more challenging passages - - I felt a pang of guilt having developed a new relationship that was never mine to begin with. I decided to tell the truth. I said and I quote myself now, "Friend, I have to be honest with you, this is not who you think it is. My name is Jude, I live in Oklahoma City, not Atlanta. I think you mistakenly typed the 405 rather than the 404 area code. I have had fun however and I hope you have a safe drive home." Again there was silence.
About 11 minutes later I received another text from the same number. It read (and I should post the actual photo of it from my phone, but I don't want to give away their identity) "New friend, I think I am the one who should apologize to you. I knew in the first minutes you were not my dad, but I let you go on to see how long you would. I really think I want to go to Barnes and Noble and buy a Scottish bible." My answer was simple "Do it". I have no idea if my texter will call back, if we'll ever find out who each other really are, but one thing is for sure, you can never know who is on the other side of the wire even if you felt you dialed the right number and realized you did not. There's a world of people out there who may just need someone to listen to, to talk to, to share with, to be a good friend. DO IT. (I double-dog dare ye!)
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