Who Are We Going to Call?
February 2025
When my children were teenagers we encountered the perennial parental worry of how to get them home safely, if for any reason they felt uncomfortable where they were or who they were with. We understood that sometimes calling mom or dad in front of their friends could be embarrassing.
The solution was to give each of them our Yellow Cab account number (and put their names on the account) and tell them that if they needed a safe quick way home they could call a cab. (This was 25 years before Uber or Lyft.)
We also told them that if they did so, we promised several things: First, we would pay the bill, no questions asked. Second, we would never ask why they decided to use the cab. The reasons they called could be myriad: the party was getting out of control, a particular person was making them uncomfortable, the driver they had come with was now intoxicated, or they saw a friend who needed to leave and they took the friend with them in the cab. We might never know but it did not matter to us.
Our goal as parents was to have them safely home; everything else was bonus. Our child we loved and wanted to protect needed our help. This offer lasted throughout the teenage high school years and even when they drove cars themselves.
It is so much easier to solve problems for others, particularly for those in our care. As adults, we will have many different worries or fears that we cannot solve alone. So whom do we call? Hopefully, like a loving parent, it is someone who loves us and will help without being judgemental.
Two resources for all of us are: God and those who follow him; God and those who know Him and know you.
The Scriptures remind us of God’s availability: “When I am in distress, I call you, because you answer me.” (Psalm 86:7)
And for us who follow this loving God we are further reminded that we too have a responsibility to help: “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.” (Proverbs 3:27)
These are priceless teachings that I encourage us to draw on and bring into our lives as we face an unknown future and often feel alone.
Blessings,
Tom