Simply Calling

This week’s simple pleasure can be summed up in two simple words,

“Hi, Mom!”

I think, of all the words that come in and out of my head during the course of a week (and you know there are many…) that phrase is my very favorite.

And it comes to me through the wonders of modern technology.

When I went to college decades ago, we had land lines in the rooms. Calls home were costly, especially since dormitories were not equipped with long distance service so calls were made collect.
 (Those under 30 might need to google that…)

The minutes were precious, and every word needed to be spoken within about three minutes… preferably after 9:00PM or before 7:00AM.

I couldn’t just pick up the phone because I wanted to hear my mother’s voice (and there were so many times that I wanted to... ) Now that I’m a mother myself, I know that she felt the same way.

Not so today.

Today, through the magic of a satellite, we can pay one single price, put our daughters in a calling circle, and have unlimited access to the sound of their voices.

Isn’t it grand?

They can call me when they need to.

Even better, they can call me when they want to.

And I have the same privilege.

My nieces have always called their mother at the same basic time of the day, around 5:00 in the afternoon. I wonder if they know that she gives a little jump when she hears her cell phone singing away in her purse at that time of day. I wonder if they know that she picks it up, looks at the number, and then says their name… with a little sigh… in a way that I know all mothers reading this will understand. No matter what she’s doing, no matter where she is, she will retreat with that phone to a quiet corner to hear what her child has to say.

My girls and I have a different model. I have told them to call me “whenever”, and that I will try to be available to take the call. My calls come spontaneously, and the voice that I hear on the other end of the line is often accompanied by a little huff and puff as they chat with me as they are going...

I wonder if they know that those huffs and puffs are my favorite part of the day. 

Yesterday’s huff and puff from Miss Whimsy

 was accompanied by a

hack

and a,

“Hi, Momb”. 

 That’s how I knew, without her saying, that my girl had caught her sister's cold. Thirty years ago, my mother wouldn’t have known about a cold unless it entered the need your mother stage.

I love both calling styles, and both styles remind me of a great truth about The Father that I wouldn’t have known without being a mother. Whether I set aside special time to connect with Him, or whether I call on him as I am going, he truly delights in the sound of my voice, huff, puff, hack, and all.

Because I am His child.

And the sound of my voice is

His favorite part of the day.

I think, maybe,

it might even be His simple pleasure.

*****

Sharing this today with Dayle at

A Collection of This and That

Please join me and others for more
Simple Pleasures.