I received a voicemail from a very dear friend the other day. “Howey, need an update, call me.”

He was doing what he does best, checking up on the people he loves.  Without question he has been a better friend to me than I have been to him.

Whenever we talk, it’s about family, friends, and our personal well-being. The important things in life. So, when I returned his call, I knew that was going to be the gist of our conversation.

We talked about the holidays and spending time with grandkids, and how blessed we both were to still be around. We also laughed about how glad we were that 2023 was over because neither one of us felt we had a particularly good year.

Although I had experienced some phenomenal moments.  Attending each of my grandkid’s birthdays and watching my son marry the love of his life in a moviesque style wedding made me feel beyond grateful. In no way am I complaining.

I was sharing a few setbacks I experienced in 2023 and what he said made perfect sense. He said, “I know what you mean Howey, sometimes it feels like God places your life on hold.”

Hearing that, I immediately thought of phones back in the 70’s with all the plastic buttons along the bottom. There were usually three or four buttons clear in color and one red. 

Each white button represents a phone line, and when you were put on hold, the operator would push in the red button, and it would flash to remind the operator that you were still on the line waiting. I know that type of phone is hard for anyone under the age of fifty to comprehend a device like that; so, I’m inserting a picture.

That was technology at its finest at one time.

One of the scariest moments in life is when I finally got through to a human being on the customer service line and the first question asked was if I could be placed on hold.

Nobody wants to be placed on hold, and the elevator music does not help. To make things worse, when a voice does come back on the line, it’s a recording telling you that they are experiencing a high volume of calls at this time, and they appreciate your patience, and a customer service representative will be with you shortly. Have you been there? I have scared my dog Cash to death from yelling at a recorded voice.

But my friend is right. At times, at least for me, it does feel like my life has been placed on hold in certain areas. 

I am not sure how God works, but I gotta believe anything I try to do does not catch Him off guard.

There are times in life when doors don’t open no matter how many you knock on. Your options are to knock harder; or to pivot your life and find another neighborhood on which to knock on doors.

I just keep knocking and hoping that the right one will open up for me. Unfortunately, that takes faith and a great deal of patience, two things I lack, but am learning as I continue to be placed on hold. 

Oftentimes after dealing with a company representative over the phone, they will ask you to do a quick customer survey to share your experience. I wish God worked like that. I’d like to offer a few pointers on how He could better serve me. Not sure it works that way though.

My friend and I wrapped up our conversation by agreeing that 2024 was going to be a year of blessings beyond our wildest imagination. I am going to cling to that as the red-light flashes on God’s phone reminding Him that I am still waiting to get through.

Until He answers my call, I’ll remain patient, diligent, and hopeful in knowing that He will answer my call on His time, sooner or later.

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Todd Howey is a columnist for BrownwoodNews.com whose articles appear on Fridays. Email comments to [email protected].