Oops, Wrong Number!
Today I was doing some chores around the house when the phone rang. It was my Google Voice account alerting me that someone was trying to reach me. For those who don’t know what Google Voice is, it allows you to have one number which can ring to all your phones, has voicemail, and call screening. I don’t actually use it that much yet, though, so when I didn’t recognize the number or the name that was on the call screening, I hung up and let it go to voicemail.
The caller left a voicemail, and asked if I was the person who worked on her company’s phones, and to please call her back. I could have ignored the call, but on the one hand, I didn’t want her to wonder why whomever she was trying to contact wasn’t returning her call, and on the other hand, I wanted to find out why my number was being handed out by a third party.
I called her back, explained that my number was a Google Voice number which perhaps used to belong to the person she was trying to reach, and that I was an Orthodox Christian priest, not a phone technician. At that point, she mentioned that she might call me back asking for prayers some time, and I referred her to our website and told her about our Orthodox mission work in both Raleigh and Greenville. After mutual pleasantries, the phone call ended.
I’ve come to learn that we can never know why things happen or what might result from the actions we take, and to not take any interaction for granted. I plan to send the lady a follow-up letter and invite her to services. Something may happen, or nothing may come of it, but either way, I had a chance to pray for the woman and tell her about the Orthodox Church. For this, I am thankful. There are many stories of people coming to faith from the most unlikely ways.
