…and why am I getting her phone calls?
Just before moving to Danville, Sandy and I decided to get some cheap “To Go” cellular phones, where you prepay for minutes. We thought we could use these for a brief period during our transition from Florida to Virginia, buying some more permanent cell phones after we arrived here.
When I bought my phone, I was assigned a phone number at random. But when I started making calls to people, something strange began happening. I noticed that the people that I called sounded rather reticent when they answered the phone, as if they were uncertain and even a little bit leery about who was calling them. Only later did I discover that when I was calling people the name “Latoya Gipson” was showing up on their caller I.D. The story doesn’t end there. Then, I started receiving recorded phone calls from a middle school in the Orlando area telling me that “my son”—whose name I couldn’t pronounce—was absent from school without excuse again today. On top of that, some people I didn’t know started calling me on my cell phone asking for a “Mr. Smith”. Mmm. Then, when my son and daughter-in-law tried to call me, they said they kept getting a voice mail greeting in Spanish. Mmm, again. This is quite a mystery!
So, needless to say, Latoya Gipson, a woman I’ve never met, has become part of my life in the past month. Some people—who now know the scoop on this—answer my calls to them from my cell phone with the greeting, “Hi, Latoya!” I suppose that Latoya Gipson’s name will forever live as part of my legacy. (By the way, if you haven’t gotten a “Lotoya” call from me, you probably won’t at this point. I’m going to get rid of this phone very soon.)
Since Latoya’s name has become so familiar to me, I’ve tried to assess what I know about her. She once had a phone, but now she doesn’t. She doesn’t encourage her kids in their school attendance. She may or may not speak Spanish. She may or may not have a friend named “Mr. Smith.” Maybe she’s the kind of person that moves around a lot. Maybe she skipped town without telling anyone, especially the school system. Anyway, it’s interesting what you can piece together about a person from just a little bit of information.
What can people piece together about you? What insights into your character and your lifestyle can they glean from the snapshot experiences they have of your life? Do people perceive you as a reliable, honest person? A good neighbor? A kind, thoughtful person? A compassionate, caring individual? A positive, patient human being not easily given to irritation or negativity? An authentic follower of Jesus embodying the values that Christ taught and exemplified?
When you call someone and they see your name on the caller I.D., what’s the first thing they think about you? Are they encouraged by the thought of your call…or do they say “Oh, no! It’s old what’s-his-name again”?
What we are in our daily lives makes an impression on others. I don’t know if the original Latoya ever thought about that, but I hope you do.
God bless you! Have a great day!
Pastor “Latoya”
Just before moving to Danville, Sandy and I decided to get some cheap “To Go” cellular phones, where you prepay for minutes. We thought we could use these for a brief period during our transition from Florida to Virginia, buying some more permanent cell phones after we arrived here.
When I bought my phone, I was assigned a phone number at random. But when I started making calls to people, something strange began happening. I noticed that the people that I called sounded rather reticent when they answered the phone, as if they were uncertain and even a little bit leery about who was calling them. Only later did I discover that when I was calling people the name “Latoya Gipson” was showing up on their caller I.D. The story doesn’t end there. Then, I started receiving recorded phone calls from a middle school in the Orlando area telling me that “my son”—whose name I couldn’t pronounce—was absent from school without excuse again today. On top of that, some people I didn’t know started calling me on my cell phone asking for a “Mr. Smith”. Mmm. Then, when my son and daughter-in-law tried to call me, they said they kept getting a voice mail greeting in Spanish. Mmm, again. This is quite a mystery!
So, needless to say, Latoya Gipson, a woman I’ve never met, has become part of my life in the past month. Some people—who now know the scoop on this—answer my calls to them from my cell phone with the greeting, “Hi, Latoya!” I suppose that Latoya Gipson’s name will forever live as part of my legacy. (By the way, if you haven’t gotten a “Lotoya” call from me, you probably won’t at this point. I’m going to get rid of this phone very soon.)
Since Latoya’s name has become so familiar to me, I’ve tried to assess what I know about her. She once had a phone, but now she doesn’t. She doesn’t encourage her kids in their school attendance. She may or may not speak Spanish. She may or may not have a friend named “Mr. Smith.” Maybe she’s the kind of person that moves around a lot. Maybe she skipped town without telling anyone, especially the school system. Anyway, it’s interesting what you can piece together about a person from just a little bit of information.
What can people piece together about you? What insights into your character and your lifestyle can they glean from the snapshot experiences they have of your life? Do people perceive you as a reliable, honest person? A good neighbor? A kind, thoughtful person? A compassionate, caring individual? A positive, patient human being not easily given to irritation or negativity? An authentic follower of Jesus embodying the values that Christ taught and exemplified?
When you call someone and they see your name on the caller I.D., what’s the first thing they think about you? Are they encouraged by the thought of your call…or do they say “Oh, no! It’s old what’s-his-name again”?
What we are in our daily lives makes an impression on others. I don’t know if the original Latoya ever thought about that, but I hope you do.
God bless you! Have a great day!
Pastor “Latoya”
