Do WHAT?

I sat out on the porch this afternoon. It was nice to have Sarah out running and barking at every little thing that moved. Any time someone walked by Sarah had to "talk" with them a bit. She's my own personal Good Will Ambassador.

As I visited with one friend who stopped by my phone rang. I automatically put my phone on speaker as I hear better that way. So I answer this phone call and immediately a stranger starts spewing forth a litany of hatred and foul language. My friend and I look at each other, eyes wide and mouths hanging open.

I didn't recognize the number so I interrupted the caller. I let him know I thought he must have a wrong number.

OH MY the words that really rang out then.

He told me I had no right to tell him he dialed the wrong (blankety blank blank blanking blank) number. He had every (blanking blank blank ... blank blank blank blank blank) right to call my number if he (blanking) wanted to.

I've never been so stunned in all my life. I asked him if he even knew me.

Turns out he was just free-dialing numbers and letting whomever answered have it. Lucky me.

So I continued talking with him. I had to get to the bottom of this. I asked him, "What has made you so angry that you are calling complete strangers?"

He let me know he had been (blanking blank blanking blank blank) fired from his job ... something about someone complained that he had a "short fuse". (Go figure ...)

I told him how sorry I was to hear of his being fired and it was obvious he was really hurting over it.

Silence

I told him I was happy to listen if he wanted to talk about it -- one exception: I commented on his flavorful language but would appreciate him leaving it out for the rest of our conversation.

Silence

I asked if he was still there.

I heard a sniffle. He told me he hadn't bothered calling anyone he knew because he knew they would hang up on him so he had started dialing numbers out of the blue. I was the first one who did not yell back, cuss him out or hang up on him. He asked me why.

I told him it seemed the right thing to do. And then he snarled "Oh, you're one of THEM, aren't you?" (At least there was none of his flavorful words!) I asked whom who "THEM" are. "Jesus-freaks, God lovers, go ahead, go ahead and preach at me."

I told him I actually am a "Jesus freak" but I don't preach AT people. I shared with him my love of Christ is what causes me to respond the way I do. I said, "Listen, this is who I am. I don't apologize for it. I didn't just you, how about you affording me the same courtesy?"

That threw him.

He told me he was really sorry he had been so disrespectful.

I told him I appreciated that and encouraged him to talk. We went on to talk for thirty minutes and had a really nice conversation. In the end he realized it isn't the end of the world. He also admitted he had been allowing his anger to get the best of him lately. We talked about other possibilities -- other ways he could respond.

I was surprised when he asked me to pray for him. I did and it was a sacred moment.

We never know when an opportunity to be our best encourages another to bring out the best in themselves.

As a believer I have the great privilege of getting to serve others. My prayer is that tomorrow is another good day for me to be my best so I might bring out the best in another. And I pray that is the same the next day and the next. I know that won't always be the case. I am human and I do a great job of being grouchy at times. And for that I'm sorry -- especially when it means I share that grouchiness with another.

I mean -- we never know ...

Next time the phone rings, stop and take a breath before you answer.
You never know ...

Enjoying the Journey,

Debra

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