And the Lessons Continue

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

- Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

March must be the month of learning for me. Well, every month, every day in fact, is an opportunity for me to learn something. Tonight I learned that walking by faith is a minute-by-minute choice. And there are some minutes when things can get a bit hairy.

Without revealing too much detail about my sisters who read (or I at least hope read) my blog, I'll share the basics of lesson-filled evening. While I was meditating, I received a phone call from my older sister asking if I had heard from the younger one. I hadn't, which isn't that unusual—we're over 21; we're over 31 even (and I'll stop there)—so we don't feel the need to check in with each other everyday. Well, my older sister was extremely concerned as several phone calls to the younger one had gone unanswered and unreturned, and it was getting pretty late.

My first instinct… I'm sure she's okay. She's either turned her phone off, or the battery has run down, or she's not somewhere she can immediately answer it. There are any number of reasonable explanations. Right? Absolutely! I offer to call her house phone to double check. She doesn't answer. Now, here's where my faith test began.

I decide to just drive by her house—we practically live next door. I do this partly because I'm a bit concerned and partly because I want to ease my older sister's fears by personally confirming the younger one is safe. She isn't home. Not a huge deal, yet. It is very late, but she is over 21.

Enter the parents, who insisted that my younger sister had left their house very early evening and was headed straight home. My older sister is pretty frantic; I can feel my heart in my throat. One minute I'm certain she's just hanging out (it was a nice evening for it), the next… "Let not your heart be troubled. Let not your heart be troubled. Let not your heart…"

What to do? What. To. Do. Police? They need 24 hours. Hospitals? Okay, but which ones. From woman of faith to overprotective and anxious big sister mode in 60 seconds? "Let not your heart… Let not your heart… Let not…." I leave her a note: Call when you get in.

Adding fuel to my anxiety were three back-to-back phone calls I received around 7ish on my home phone (which almost no one calls except telemarketers, mis-dialers and people I generally don't want to talk to anyway). With Caller ID broken and voice mail full, I have no idea who the calls came from and my mind begins to go places it really shouldn't. And why didn't I just answer the phone, you ask. Because I was (a) in the middle of something and (b) see what's written in the parenthesis above.

My older sister calls back; my parents call, multiple times. Have I tracked her down yet? "Not yet," trying to stay calm. "Let not your heart…" "Let not…" Could you go over there? "Okay." No need to mention I've already done this. "I'm sure she's okay. Her angel is on guard."

To my sister's house I go, again. Before I can even knock on the door, she opens it just a bit exasperated. (No, she isn't psychic—the motion sensor called me out.) Seems she did get all the phone calls from my sister, from me and even from my parents. I am immensely happy and relieved to see her, albeit deeply embarrassed. I give her a hug and apologize profusely. I maybe even promised her dinner for showing up at her front door unannounced in the middle of the night. We talk for a bit; I head home.

"Let not your heart be troubled." "Let not your heart be troubled.'' "Let not…" The learning continues. So does the transformation—minute by minute by minute by minute.

I really should get a new house phone with a functioning Caller ID.