"Alarms in the night"

About a month ago we were all sound asleep, doors locked, alarm set and we were awakened from our precious slumber by this loud "WHWHWHWHWH" Alarm. Matt and I both jumped out of our deep sleep, jumped back into our skin and ran to check the alarm. Matt checked the alarm while I checked the children. Jacob was the only one to wake up saying "Mommy, what's that sound? That loud mommy. It ok?" I reassured him and he went back to sleep. Matt said that the alarm reported "line cut." Oh my word, they cut the line and they are on their way in the house. That was my first thought. I immediately picked up my cell phone and called Brinks and found out that line cut simply means the phone line has had an intermittent disturbance. No big deal I thought and we returned to our slumber. No big deal quickly turned into a BIG deal as over the next month these intermittent disturbances were happening every 30 minutes ALL DAY long. I could handle the day time beeping, but one of the alarm panels is in our bedroom and every time the phone line cuts out the panel beeps until the phone line returns. So every 30 minutes ALL NIGHT long we hear beeping. Can you feel my pain and understand how annoying this could be for A WHOLE MONTH! I communicated with our phone company during this month. They made 6 visits to our home replacing every wire and connector only to find it was a neighborhood problem. I must say I remained very patient and very nice during this whole process. Patience and a good attitude paid off because they resolved the problem and we received a 99 cent coupon for a pay per view movie. I confess to you that I was more aggravated than thankful when I received a whopping 99 cent movie for a month of sleepless nights. There were times when I wanted to request the number of the CEO of this phone company and call him every time the alarm sounded during the night. I knew he would get serious about resolving my problem if he were awakened as often as I was. Once I took those thoughts captive and made them obedient to Christ and realized that I did not want a restraining order brought against me, I decided to be patient and wait. I did have to question my motives for my patience when I received their generous coupon. I asked myself would I have done anything differently had I known the outcome. The conclusion, which I am ashamed to admit took longer to derive than I hoped, was NO I would not have done anything differently. God has called us to be patient. He has called us to control our speech. He has called us to be a testimony of His love and grace to this world. The individuals on the other end of my phone calls did not do anything wrong. The very helpful technicians that came to my home 6 times were doing all they knew to do. Who would have benefited from an attitude outburst from me? I would have still had sleepless nights from the guilt of knowing I was not honoring the Lord with my attitude. Not to mention, I was able to share the love of Christ with 2 different technicians and I pray that the testimony of my life and the love my family was able to share with them will encourage them to a relationship with Christ. I did get aggravated and I did get tired of hearing the alarms in the night, but I took it to my Savior and He used the last month to develop patience in our hearts and to make us sound sleepers as we learned to sleep through the beeps. I pray that my life would be characterized as one who is slow to become angry, one of patience and one whose speech honors God. The next time your alarm beeps in the night, your neighbor's dog barks at the moon, your neighbor decide that 3 am is the perfect time to have a dance party or you find yourself waiting 30 minutes in the check out line remember this verse... James 1: 19-20 "My dear brothers, take note of this; Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires."