March 07, 2005

Apologies, Random Phone Calls, Chik-fil-a and an urgent need for prayer

Today has been a puzzle - puzzle that was solved by the end of the day. It began with an e-mail from an old friend. Well, actually it didn’t begin there but we’ll back up later. The e-mail was an apology from an old friend of mine. A friend I had not seen in several years although I did speak with him briefly a couple of months ago -more on that later as well. Along with the apology was a request for prayer. My friend is going through some major stuff in his life and asking people to pray for him and his family. As you think of it please pray for him. The apology was basically, hey sorry I was so rude to you on the phone Saturday morning. The problem was I did not talk to this friend on Saturday morning. Did he dream it? What was he talking about? About six hours later it dawned on me.

Saturday morning at SL Tour my cell phone rings. I miss the call so I call the number on my missed calls list. Looking at the number I thought it was our bus driver. It was loud in the building so I couldn’t hear much of what was said just enough to realize that whoever had called had done so mistakenly and did not intend to talk to me. I dismissed it and really didn’t give it another thought. Until today when it dawned on me that this was the call my friend was e-mailing to apologize over. He had hit the wrong button and his cell phone called mine. He had not intended to call me. I still don’t know what he said that he needed to apologize for like I said - the room was loud.

How did a friend I hadn’t talked to in years have my cell number programmed in his? Back up around two months. Its lunch time and Scott B. asks if I want to go to lunch with him and his wife Lisa. That’s a no brainer. No. Who wants to be a third wheel? This is typically a pretty easy decision. But for whatever reason I decide to tag along and join the Bonnell family outing to Chik-fil-a. While standing in line I see the brother of my friend (the one in the beginning of this lengthy blog). Now, he does not live in Tallahassee but happened to be in town on business and stopped by Chik-fil-a to get a bite for lunch. I ask him about my friend and he says, ‘I’ll dial him up and you can talk to him’. So he calls him and we talk briefly and exchange contact information.

That is how my phone number wound up programmed into his phone which led to him accidentally dialing my number which led to the apology e-mail which led to him being able to share a deep need for prayer that he is experiencing in his life. Coincidence? I don’t think so.