Let it never be said that I don’t need my Dad, no matter how old or (seemingly) independent I get.
I visited a friend this evening to help her pick out an interview outfit. There was laundry, there was an amazing dinner (with a delicious despite incredibly salty homemade au jus), there was trying on outfits, there was laughter, there were serious discussions, there were simply good times. We had a grand night. (I’ll be hurting tomorrow due to lack of sleep because I repeatedly lost track of the time, but tonight was fabulous.)
We were wrapping up the evening, and we made a run to my vehicle to drop off the non-selected interview-potential outfits. We toss everything in when I realize I don’t have my phone. No big deal – we’ll go inside and do a quick sweep. … It’s nowhere to be found.
The escalation is easy – my friend tries to call it. It’s when she holds her phone up to her ear and says to me, “It’s ringing,” that I realize that it isn’t: my phone automatically goes into Do Not Disturb (DND) mode each night. Okay…
Next stop is also fairly standard – I log into my Google account from her phone and tell my phone to ring. And I tried to. The problem with this method is that Google didn’t recognize her phone, and to verify my identity, I had to input a code it was sending to my phone which I didn’t have and was trying to use Google to locate. Ahhh!
I explain to my friend that DND mode means my phone won’t ring or notify me of any texts or other messages via sound or vibration; to know I’m receiving a message, I need to be looking at my phone. Unless… I shake my head. I set my phone to bypass DND mode for my parents: if either of them called from their cell phones, my phone would ring. … But that’d be kinda (or totally) rude to wake up my parents this late (after 10 pm) to ask them to call my lost phone. And they might not even answer because my friend’s phone was unknown to them.
I purse my lips, but they form a smile anyway. Dad wouldn’t mind…
My friend is surprised I know his phone number by heart. (Everything is programmed these days, she points out.) My father has had the same number for as long as I remember – probably since cell phones had become a common thing sometime in the ’90s. So, I called my Dad to ask him to help me find my phone and save the day.
One ring… Two rings… Three rings… Oh, no: I’ve never known him to wait this long to answer. Four rings… What if he’s not answering because he doesn’t recognize the number? Five rings…
“Hello?” A very confused and somewhat skeptical voice filters through the speaker.
“Dad?”
“Hello?” His tone changes as he recognizes me with the first syllable even though he clearly didn’t hear what I said.
“Dad, can you hear me?”
“Yeah. Yeah.”
I explain the situation to him, my friend watching my facial expressions as I talk to my Dad. Her face curls into an awkward smirk as though she discovered a secret of mine. I give her a look, but it only grows the expression. Am I acting funny? Doesn’t every princess love her father?
He’s happy to help (that’s my Dad!); we hang up and he immediately starts calling my phone. My friend and I search for several minutes longer to no avail; I give up hope for the night and text him a thank you for trying, but I was going to have to try again after getting some sleep. I hug my friend bye, we chat a minute longer, and then I go out to the car. I hop in, and just as I was about to turn the key, I hear it ring from the trunk.
He kept calling.
I quickly retrieved it and answered. “You finally found it,” he responds to my greeting.
I was so ecstatic that he kept trying to help me even after I’d given up. I felt guilty intruding on his sleep time, but he was perfectly happy to wake up to help his little girl. I am so blessed to have a father so good to me. (And this doesn’t even compare to the Suburban rollover incident!) I am so grateful for having such an amazing Dad.
Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
– Luke 11:9-10
I sought, and I found! My Dad helped me to find my phone, and all I had to do was ask. What a reminder to ask our Heavenly Father for help as well!
If you then… know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
– Luke 11:13
Whom do you turn to when something goes awry? Is there anyone who can call your phone when it’s on do not disturb who will ring through? What are you grateful for today?
This post is a shout out to all the marvelous fathers. Thank you for loving your children fully and wholeheartedly. You are more important than you know, so thank you again for all that you do to help your children grow … and find their missing cell phones.
