Unlikely midnight messages

Last night was REALLY strange. My bearded spouse and I were sound asleep when the phone rang about 12:45 (a.m.!!!) We both were startled awake. I flailed around, trying to find the phone (which, being cordless, was not in our bedroom!) He kept trying to turn off the alarm (which sounds nothing like the phone's ringer, but that's another story...) By the time I staggered over to find it and answered it, there was no one there. But the caller ID said "Alaska" with a 907 number.

Strange. The only family we know had just emailed us about a ministry opportunity they were looking forward to doing, and that they might need a reference from us. But why were they calling us so late?? I slept with the phone all night, waiting for a return call. We figured if it was urgent, they would call back.

But in the morning, it was stranger still. There was a message on our answering machine, but we couldn't understand it. It was garbled. It sounded like someone was bowling underwater. Occasionally we could hear a voice, and two or three clear words. It was definitely our friends' voices... But why did they call us so late? We had our theories. Maybe they had just gotten off of the phone with other East Coasters, and just decided to call us next... and then said, "OOPS!! FOUR HOUR TIME DIFFERENCE!" and hung up too late.

Well, anyway, we prayed for them as we started our day, and I waited until it was a sane hour their time and called back in the late morning. To say they were confused is an understatement. It was actually funny. They had looked up our phone number for an application because it was stored on their cell phone. They put the phone back in a pocket and at some point, the right amount of pressure in the right place caused the phone to dial us... In the middle of the night!

The good news is - they are fine. And we prayed a little extra for them today.
The bad news is - we lost a little sleep.

Now THAT'S an unlikely midnight message -- but I'll take it compared to what it could have been!

From our home to yours...



Deb