I Got A Phone Call At 2 AM

It was about 2:00 AM. I was very asleep. And my phone started ringing.

When I opened my eyes, it took me a second to register what was going on. I squinted at my phone and recognized the name on the screen.

We had moved to Boston a couple of years earlier, but I still had close friends in North Carolina. The name on the screen was one of them. I knew I had to answer, but honestly, I half expected it to be an accident. Who calls someone at 2:00 AM?

I cleared my throat and, with a croaky, half-asleep voice, weakly squeaked out, “Hello?”

For a moment, there was silence on the other end. Then I heard sobbing.

Suddenly, I wasn’t tired anymore. “What’s wrong?”

Through tears and broken sentences, I finally heard him say, “Ivey, my dad just died.”

My heart broke. His dad had just been taken from the house. The EMS had barely left, and one of the first things my friend did was pick up the phone and call me.

So, I listened. We talked. Then we prayed. The whole call probably lasted about 20 minutes. Over the next few days, I stayed in touch, checking in and praying for him.

As hard as that phone call was to receive, I’ve always considered it a privilege that, at one of the worst moments of his life, I was someone he could call at 2:00 AM.

So let me ask you a question: Who could you call at 2:00 AM?

If your world suddenly fell apart, who could you call without worrying that you were bothering them? And maybe the harder question is: Are you someone’s someone? Who knows they could call you at 2:00 AM?

Tomorrow, we’re going to talk about Christian friendship and community. Because the kind of relationships described in the Bible go much deeper than shaking hands on Sunday morning and asking, “How was your week?”

Christian community means knowing and being known. It means having people who celebrate with you when life is good, weep with you when life falls apart, and love you enough that a 2:00 AM phone call isn’t a bother.

We’re going to open Romans 12 and ask a simple question: Who knows you?

If you’re longing for deeper friendships, wrestling with loneliness, new to Arborway, or simply wondering what genuine Christian community could look like in your life, I really hope you’ll join us tomorrow morning.

Maybe the first step toward having someone you can call at 2:00 AM is making room in your life for people who can become family.