Hold the Phone...

So along the lines of rejoicing my poverty (as a decision), I'll write once again about my telephone anxiety.

Recently there have been a couple of things that the Lord has impressed on me to pursue, and I'm just now saying ah, naruhodo, there's a lesson in humility here for me. One of these things has required me to call this certain priest several times now. For the most part, our phone exchanges have consisted in me leaving him a message to call me back. Well, yesterday my cell phone rang in my purse, and as I fumbled to find it and yank it out, in the last fading milliseconds of the ring I saw his phone number, and then it stopped. I frantically pulled out what I needed to talk with him about, while negotiating a cookie argument between my children, and called him back, (amidst the somewhat loud aftermath of the cookie issue).

After the phone rang for what seemed like forever, he answered, and I stumbled into unprepared conversation. And he then explained that he had actually called me by accident; he had a minor household mishap, was out of town, and was trying to reach his neighbor; he'd have to call me back another day.

No problem. Talk to you later. Bye.

As a telephonophobic, there is probably nothing worse than calling someone to the phone who then says "You're not the one I need to talk to right now; goodbye." I didn't take offense. That's not the point. The point is to have someone actually directly verbalize my worst nightmare: I need to be doing something else more important than talking to you.

But it's a gift. It's a gift because I know it is God who put this into my heart to pursue, and the nightmare will not be the last word.

Maybe an hour later I was still feeling the angst stirred up in me by this exchange and was reverbalizing it to my husband. Just then the phone rang; it was Joe from the choir. He's involved in another matter that the Lord put on my heart recently. It is getting to the point where one could write a comedy sketch about how our phone exchanges tend to proceed. But after the choir business we discussed he made another statement about this benefit concert endeavor we are pursuing that sort of threw me by its unexpectedness. The conversation eventually proceeded something like this:

Me: "Um..."
Joe: "What was that?"
Me: "I said 'um'. Um... Now I said it again. Um... Now I've said it a third time! I'm really on a roll, here. Um... Oh, I'll figure out what I wanted to say by tomorrow."

At least he realizes how much I dislike phones. I made polite goodbyes, slammed down the phone, and stayed just slightly jittery all night.

Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Cor.12:8-10