The shrill ring sounded in my ear for the seventh time. "I guess they don't have an answering machine or it would have picked up by now," I said aloud into the phone receiver. It was the second day I had attempted, unsuccessfully, to RSVP for an in-home demonstration party hosted by my friend Kristin Green.

A few days later, I was standing at the kitchen counter pouring a glass of milk when I suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to call Kristin again. Glancing at the clock, I hesitated, mentally ticking off the list of things I needed to do before ushering my two preschoolers to bed.

Then I remembered what I had been reading during my devotional time. I was working through a study guide on the Holy Spirit written by Charles Stanley. The well-known author/pastor emphasized that being obedient to God meant submitting to the Holy Spirit's sudden promptings of what to do or say.

I quickly punched in Kristin's number. Her husband, Paul, cheerfully answered. I rattled off my message for Kristin. Then I heard myself asking " ? and how are you, Paul?" even though I didn't know him well.

He laughed as he told me a bee had stung him on the hand earlier that day.

"Ouch!" I said empathetically, cringing inside. Since my family suffered from myriad allergies, bees were among my least favorite of God's creatures.

"Are you allergic to bee stings?"

I asked, trying to discover why he would bother to mention such a thing.

"No," he said, "but, you know, my tongue is feeling a little funny."

Stay calm, think quickly A tingle of fear raced down my spine. I knew some people are extremely allergic to bee stings. The poison can cause their tongue to swell and block their airway, possibly leading to suffocation.

Paul seemed fine on the phone. His voice is animated and his speech sounds normal, so surely his tongue couldn't be swollen, I thought. But I drew a shaky breath, and decided to err on the side of safety.

"Paul," I blurted out, "you could be in a life-threatening situation. Do you have any Benadryl in the house?"

He wasn't sure. I instructed him to scour the medicine cabinet and, if he found some, to take a dose immediately. Then I hung up, promising to call back shortly.

Oh, Lord, I prayed, what should I do for Paul? He's alone with three little boys, and he might be getting sick. I knew from our conversation that the baby was safe in his crib. But the other two, ages two and three-and-a-half, were not in bed yet.

I contemplated calling 911, explaining that someone ten miles away from me might be having a severe reaction to a bee sting. Instead, I dialed a friend who lived less than a mile from Paul. She could get to him faster than an ambulance, plus she was a registered nurse. But no one answered.

I called Paul back. He had not found any Benadryl. His conversation was quite pleasant and articulate.

I kept asking questions. Finally, Paul admitted that his hand was feeling funny, too. Realizing someone should check on him immediately, I asked Paul for phone numbers of his closest neighbors. He joked about not being good with phone numbers, but was able to give me the first and last names of a few neighbors, even spelling their last names. I hung up and snatched my phone book from the drawer.

I flipped through it as fast as my trembling fingers could turn the pages, looking for numbers. At the first house an answering machine clicked on.

My pulse racing, I scrambled to locate the second number. When a woman answered, her voice was like salve on my anxious heart. I poured out the story, and she agreed to run over to Paul's house right away. Thank you, Lord, I prayed silently. And please let Paul be okay. Those boys need their daddy.

Just to be sure help had arrived, I called Paul's house again a few minutes later. The neighbor I had contacted was there with another neighbor who was a nurse. The nurse brought some Benadryl from her house and coaxed Paul into swallowing it, while an ambulance was on its way. Less than ten minutes elapsed between the time Paul told me about the bee sting and the time the neighbor administered the Benadryl.