Of course I would have never heard it if my husband hadn’t woke me as he was looking out our upstairs bedroom window.  Now that I think of it I am not sure how noisy he could have been just looking out a window.  Anyway, I did wake up and with barely a voice asked, “What.. are…you …doing?”.  He replies he is trying to figure out where the sound is coming from. I hear a very familiar sound and inform him that he is just hearing a train. “Not that… the beeping”.  ughh… no…WHY did he have to tell me there is a beeping.  He should know from our years together that if I EVER here a beep or a drip or a distant unfamiliar sound in our home we have to hunt until I find it and shut…it…down, or at least plan to fix or repair whatever it is and put ear plugs for the remainder of a night just so that I can sleep.

ok. Well, there it was “beep….beep…beep” and the more I focused on it the louder it seemingly got. Before I knew it my husband was fast asleep again and I was not.   I tried to put in my ear plugs but I could still faintly pick up the sound, not like a work truck backing up, faster and I could not take it any longer. I had to find the source of the beep.

Yep, I got dressed and started walking…down the hall…down the stairs through my foyer…living room…listening and turning my head to keep me walking in the right direction.  Well, it was obviously clear it was somewhere in our neighborhood or our small downtown area.  I am now through our kitchen and know that I am going to walk outside, in the night-time, 2:30 in the morning. I unlock our door and out I go, down the steps and took a left towards downtown (it’s only half a block away so don’t worry too much). I did have a moment when I realized, “SuAnne, you don’t even have  your glasses on, you don’t even have your phone with you if something happens and you need to call for help”, did that stop me? Nah, I kept on walking.  I had a brief moment where I felt a bit psychotic following a beep and was hoping that in a matter of seconds I would not face a hundred other night walking people being lured towards  this sound. But then I quickly acknowledged to myself that ONLY happens in movies so I kept walking in a town that was totally quiet, no cars, no voices, only the constant beep… and then I saw the location from where it came.  Just an upstairs apartment or business storage; lights on in every window.  I stood on the street looking up and proud of myself in finding the source of the annoying beeping sound.

I turned and went home and quickly decided to call the local police, not the 911 but the NON emergency number.  I tried to sound as polite as I could and not too odd as I am obviously reporting a ‘beeping sound’ and can’t imagine that it would be  high on their priorities at 2:40 in the morning but I did plant the thought that it could very well be a burglar alarm AND all the lights were on in the building. I was thanked for my call and they assured me they were sending the police “right over”.

As I was returning to bed I recalled a memory from almost 18 years earlier. We lived in a country home and my boys were about 5, 8 and12. It was a summer day and they were allowed to ride their bikes on the country road in front of our property.  At one point I realized that the two youngest were no longer in my view and the 12 year old was sent on a mission to locate the two youngest; not too worried but knew they were beyond their boundaries.  It wasn’t too long and the 5 year old came wheeling up the stone driveway and he saw my face of unhappiness and he quickly said, “He heard something, he said he heard something!”.  Of course he was referring to his older brother-the impulsive and adventurous middle son.  Another minute later the oldest returns on his bike saying, “I guess he heard frogs and had to follow it until he found them down the road-he’s coming”.   Hmmm. My son heard a sound and HAD to follow it, who… does….that???

As I climbed into bed and put my earplugs in I knew that eventually the beeping would stop and I also realized my son received that impulsive inquisitive genetic response from his mother and not sure that I am totally proud of this reality.

It wasn’t but a few seconds later that this experience quickly became a spiritual lesson for me.  How quickly and obedient am I to the voice of God when He is calling me to go in a specific direction? Do I at times put in my spiritual ear plugs and pretend I am not really hearing what I think I am hearing? Do I start to go down the path God has placed before me just to stop at the door and say, “Oh, I’m not really ready… I don’t even have my glasses or my phone in case something could go wrong?” and then turn around.

As I faintly heard the beeping I quietly prayed that I would be so willing to follow God’s lead wherever He takes me and that I wouldn’t waver in my faith and that I be ready everyday to hear His voice and be obedient to His calling. It was a lesson for only me that night as apparently NO one in our neighborhood or town cared about the incessant beep that called me out of bed and down a street in the middle of the night.

It was about an hour later that the beeping did end and was SO grateful but more grateful that God allowed it to teach me an important lesson in obedience and faith.