You Have the Right Number

I like numbers. So, when we got a new phone number several years ago, I didn't settle for the random phone number they generated. I flatly lied and told them my mom had Alzheimer's and that I'd like an "easy to remember" phone number. (Sorry mom!) As it always goes when we open our mouths and tell a "harmless" fib, that untruth has come back to haunt me for years. It has come back to haunt me (and my family) in the form of THE WRONG NUMBER. Our number is listed incorrectly in the phone book and other places as a doctor's office, and somehow it is tied up with the local hospital too. So, we get calls ALL THE TIME for Dr. M, for Warren Clinic, for Pediatric Cardiology, X-ray, and many other medical-related places. These calls frequently come at 7:59 in the morning as people are anxious to get their calls in early!

Yon can imagine that I've tried a whole different array of approaches.

*I answer normally "Hello?!" but when they say "I have the wrong number" I just hang up. Don't even speak.

*I answer in an annoyed voice "HELLO." So, they hang up without speaking.

*I answer and kindly offer the doctor's office real phone number. (this actually does happen occasionally)

*I tell them what a loser the phone book people are for not getting this right.

*I refuse to answer the phone.

But it wasn't until this week that I actually took this matter to God. I realized it is an area I was frustrated in, and according to Battlefield of the Mind (the book I am currently reading) when we experience negative thoughts, we can know for sure that this is not from God!

Ok, so I thought, how is God going to "solve" this problem for me? Well, he didn't fix the problem, he fixed me. He said to me... these people are calling a medical establishment because they need help. They have anxities about their health and real health issues.

Pray for them.

Ok. That was easy. Why didn't I think of that, like SEVEN years ago?

So, now I am feeling much better about those wrong numbers and actually hoping the phone will ring wrongly. (It hasn't in 5 days!) When it does, I intend to say a prayer for that person! But what can my friend who gets assaulted by tons of WRONG NUMBER calls from a very popular pizza establishment do? Pray for their eating habits? Ha! Let me know when you figure that one out, mom of 4!