Sister Cho

She tried calling me 25 times a week ago Friday. I was too busy to pick up. I finally did pick up 4 times, but each time there was no one there. I wrote down in my planner "Call Sis. Cho". I didn't get to it Monday, so I wrote it on Tuesday's "to-do" list. Didn't get it done Tuesday. Wednesday. Didn't happen. She tried calling again, but I couldn't answer. Again she called. Then Saturday came. I was at the race about to go out. She called once more. I finally listened to the message on Monday. "Please," she said in a weak voice, " I have tried to call you so many times. Please call me. This is an emergency." I called her twice later that day, but no one picked up. Today a friend told me she had passed away. They assume she had died Saturday or Sunday.

And now I am thinking to myself, why didn't I call? In my head I answer, "Because I was too busy. Because I was trying to take care of my kids. Because I was working. Because I knew it would be a long phone call that would take conscious listening because her accent is hard to understand." But my heart retorts, "I had a lot of time." Or maybe I should have had a lot of time. I pray every day to be prompted to know who can use my help that day and to do something about it. I think I had received enough promptings, but did nothing about it. The hand was knocking, but I wasn't answering, and now I wish things were different.