Had a rather odd thing occur today….Quick background: I donated a kidney to my dad about 20 years ago (I’ll save that for another blog post someday). Recently the university medical center that performed the procedure contacted me about participating in a research project following living kidney donors. A gentleman from the center has been working with me over the phone and by mail. I have filled out questionnaires, submitted test results, and stuff like that. Normally he contacts me, but I have tried to return his call at least once. I entered his number from a voicemail into my phone a few months ago. Wellllllllll, apparently I managed to enter in a wrong number…but this is where it gets really really weird.
I hit the call button to contact the kidney research guy , I needed to confirm he had all the info he needed. A nice woman answered the phone. Obviously, a wrong number…but before I could excuse myself the voice on the other end of the line said, “Teri? Is that you?” SOMEHOW, I managed to enter a wrong number that just happened to be the phone number of the woman I met last year while running my first half marathon down in New Orleans!
Let that sink in a minute……….it took me a while to wrap my head around what had transpired too.
The only thing she had in common with my kidney guy was an area code….what are the chances of that!!!! I did not even have her number saved in my phone! She had entered my phone number into her phone following our race, so when I called it came up as “Teri 13.1”….she said the last time I called, I left a message about kidney stuff, but it did not make sense to her. She wondered what the deal was.
Imagine dialing a wrong long distance number and finding the person on the other end is someone you know!!! Definitely a wow, weird and wonderful happening. I might say I don’t know why it happened, but I know my God enough to know it was not the freak chance it seems to be.
It was so good to talk with Angie again. My relationship with Angie began as we trudged alongside each other to complete our 13.1 mile run. She was just a stranger amid the mass of runners but, after a short exchange of conversation, she quickly became my encourager, inspiration, and running buddy. She lives in Alabama and my only contact with her since then has been through e-mails, and sadly not even recently.
After trying to reconcile my brain to the crazy circumstance that found me talking to this distant friend, we quickly fell into comfortable conversation again. It was great catching up. We may not have a lot in common, but we have a common God. He continues to use this sweet lady to inspire me. I’m pretty sure I could not do all that she does, homeschooling, caring for her family and extended family, and working full time and dealing with the occasional health issue. I love how we kind of get each other too…when I confess that sometimes I am too lazy to go for a run…not because it is hard, but because I don’t want to have to shower again, she laughs…not because it’s funny, but because she knows what that feels like!
By the time we said goodbye I felt refreshed and inspired. To be honest she had not been on my mind in some time, yet now I find myself eager to pray for her and her family. I am also reminded of our first meeting and the half marathon we managed to complete…even though it was a life impacting event, time had already begun to thin the memory a bit, and I want to always remember that time and the lessons I learned.
Thank you God, for the wow, weird and wonderful moment today, and for the inspiration found in the faraway friend!
Tuesday With Teri 