Not Alone

About a month ago, I had to work from home and I started my day by checking my emails and voicemails as I usually do. One of the first voicemails that I saw was from a lady who had called a couple times and was looking for another staff member whom she had spoken to the day before. In her voicemail she mentioned that she tried calling the number on that staff member’s business card, but for some reason the number was not working. 

Now, you need to know that a couple weeks before this day I had created new business cards for all our staff members. The new cards had just come in the mail and were distributed to everyone that week. Of course, as a perfectionist, I spent hours working on these and triple checked each card to make sure I had the right numbers, emails, address, and names on each card before I sent the designs in to get printed. So, when I heard in this voicemail that the number on the business card was not working I freaked out! “OH NO! Please don’t tell me I messed the phone number up!” I quickly pulled up the business card design and sure enough there was an extra seven in front of the phone number that did not belong there! I was so frustrated with myself. 

I felt terrible that the number was wrong on the business card and because of that, this lady had called the office number multiple times. The only thing I could do now is call her back and hope that she wasn’t too upset about not being able to reach the person she was looking for so urgently. I dialed her number and called. She answered and I let her know I was calling from Family Empowerment Centers and I wanted to call her back about her voicemail. As she began to talk, she jumped from topic to topic and I quickly realized she felt scattered. She talked for about 10 minutes before even letting me say a word. She shared about getting evicted from her home, suffering from a serious injury, not being able to pay her bills, and struggling to have faith, yet still wanting to serve at church and still being thankful to God. This lady didn’t need to talk to who she said she did. She just needed to talk to someone who would listen. She needed to know someone cared and wanted to listen to her. She needed to know she was not alone. 

I may have made an annoying and frustrating mistake when I typed up that phone number wrong on that business card, but that mistake was not a waste. It was a blessing not only for her, but for me as well. I definitely did not expect my silly mistake to be a sign of how God is moving, but he is and he is moving in ways we aren’t evening thinking about or planning! 

I ended up staying on the call for about 20-25 minutes and although she did not let me pray for her over the phone, I know God cares for her because that morning he really wanted me to listen to her. I am thankful for the ways God cares and listens to us. I am thankful for those he moves to pray for us even when we don’t know they are praying for us. I am thankful for how God uses anything and anyone to remind us that we are not alone. 

-Shayla Manke 

Administrative Assistant & Social Media Coordinator