Is reaching the end of the line the same thing as being at the end of your proverbial rope? Out of options. Out of rope. Out of hope. I think the end of the line originally referred to train travel which was much more prevalent back in the day. When there were no more train tracks ahead, you had arrived at the end of the line. For awhile now I have believed that I am the last in a long but now virtually extinct line. This would be the line of land line owners, which began its demise with the advent of the cell phone. So at this point, I confess – I still have a land line in my home. There, I have admitted to it out loud! My secret is revealed.

So you can imagine my surprise and delight when this morning I discovered, quite by chance, that I am not the sole surviving land line owner! I am not the last of the line. There is at least one other possessor of a land line out there and she is none other than my intrepid friend, the all-weather walker! Who knew? And perhaps there are others of you out there as well? If so, together we are the last of the line in a previously long line of land line owners.

Now, full disclosure – I do have a cell phone. But I have not yet been willing to part with my land line. So this morning’s discovery was unexpected and exciting. It comforts me to know that I am not the sole land line owner in a cell phone world. In addition to my intrepid friend, there may also be others out there still in possession of a land line. Perhaps we should ban together and form a society for the protection of land lines, much as endangered animal species each have their own societies protecting them, lest they become extinct and vanish from the face of the earth. I don’t want my land line to become extinct. I do not want this to be the end of the line for land lines.

Someone, somewhere said, “all good things must come to an end.” But I’m hoping this isn’t the case where my land line is concerned. When cell service isn’t working for whatever reason, I’ll still have my land line. Although, at this moment it occurs to me, that I will have no one to talk to via phone except my lone land line possessing friend and any of you out there who are undercover land line owners and operators. Still, I consider my land line, my life line to the outside world should cell service go down or my cell phone be lost or dead because I forgot to charge it.

This got me to thinking, though. In times of trouble or crisis what is my true life line? My land line? Hardly. It is that connection to my Heavenly Father through prayer. Thankfully, I am never out of range for this connection or out of battery. It is never after hours and service never goes down. When I come to the end of the line, or to the end of my rope, or to the end of myself, I can cry out and my Heavenly Father is there waiting for me, waiting at the end of the line – when all else has failed, when there is no where else to go – precisely because it is – the end of the line.

And He is always at the other end of the line, patiently waiting to hear my pleas and petitions. When I come to the end of the line, I can know that my Heavenly Father waits on the other end of the line to take my call, allowing me to cast all my cares upon Him.

“He will not let your foot slip – He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm – He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” (Psalm 121:3-8)

“Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3)

“but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me!” (Psalm 66:19-20)

sincerely, Grace Day