One phone call can change everything. One choice can have a domino effect that goes on and on.

Sunday, I was reflecting on how to hear the whisper through the noise of life- not to eliminate the noise but to listen through it to discover what really mattered or what was important…

in that reflection was the realization that the noise was always going to be there (as long as I have breath anyways!) so I needed to work with what I had – and that is a NOISY life!

The kindness I choose to show myself for my efforts and choices to live as abundantly as possible was a key message in the whisper.

The pause happened as I felt the whisper of Truth wash over me… and peace came.

Then my phone rang.

“Amy, can you pray….my dad is being taken to the hospital in an ambulance and I don’t know what is wrong” comes the text from a teenager down the road.

We became afraid her family’s lives were about to change and all who knew her dad were going to be gravely affected by that earthquake.

What choice do I make in that moment?

Pray for her request?

Could I do something more?

Could I go to that kid who was terrified for her father’s life??

A second teenager texts me later that same night while we were comforting this precious girl and her sweet sister-waiting to hear the news of what was happening to their dad.

He informs me of his cousins death from a probable overdose…that young man was 24 years old. The teenager texting is already angry at the world, confused over who God really is to him, and has struggles with feeling alone in his depression.

What choice do I make in that moment- when I was already “preoccupied”?

Should I keep the dialogue going with him for days after this? Is that being too intrusive?

In another moment, a bomb goes off at a teeny-bopper rock concert killing children.

Next, the word comes that an “aging” grunge rock legend from the band Soundgarden commits suicide.

What is happening in our world?

The NOISE is back with a vengeance.

Just when you think you have things somewhat settled or are seemingly handling the crisis at hand, the world falls apart.

In a blink of an eye, in one moment, your healthy friend perforates his esophagus while eating and is being flown from one health care system to a more specialized one for treatment of the diagnosis. His daughters look at you for reassurance that their daddy will be ok…and that is not a promise that I can make.

Overdoses, suicides, depression, terror attacks, illnesses…all every day media blips anymore-until they “blip” into YOU.

Baseball games, homework, even a good solid 8 hours of sleep suddenly seem frivolous because there are hurting people at your fingertips.

Grilled cheese sandwiches and lemonade surfaces as the new priority of the evening.

Divide and conquer my own parenting becomes essential so one parent (dad) can be the “driver” for a neighbor kid to the baseball game who needed a ride (even though we barely know him and are put into a position to meet an urgent need for his family as well) while the other (me/mom) gets to the bedside of their friend to hug his wife and hold his girls as they look on him getting his every breath from a ventilator.

Praying becomes as necessary as breathing.

In a moment, what really matters needs to be realized:

Faith in the Lord to be ON HIS THRONE IN THE MIDST OF ALL THIS CHAOS is all that there is to lean on.

I was jogged out of my fatigue. I was splashed in the face with cold water to wake up and look around to see the Lord’s children that needed to see HIM, in their pain, working for their good.

I came alive in my spirit even though my flesh begged for a reprieve.

I begged for sleep to be sufficient in quality if quantity is NOT going to happen and it was provided.

I begged for discernment to explain the medical aspect to my friend as she tried to understand what was happening to her husband and the words were given.

I begged for time to be able to get to the hospital to see my friend and a ride was suddenly offered to take me so I didn’t have to park my large truck in a small parking ramp!

In a blink of an eye, life changed…and sometimes we can see that the change can be for the better in certain ways if we choose to look hard enough at the situation:

an awareness of who you can count on becomes clear;

how time spent in relationship with someone matters -even if it seems like they aren’t responding to the efforts;

there is a real working power of prayer~ teenagers know they NEED it and that they can rely on it when trouble strikes;

how much we need each other in general.

My friend is still in the 72 hour “critical” zone but he is alive and talking (quietly and minimally) with his family.

The door has been opened for continued conversation and encouragement with not 1, not 2, but 3 teenagers.

The Lord will certainly use ANYTHING that was planned for evil for HIS good- I am grateful for the reality check to wake up to what really matters. I would rather live like that.