Years ago, some handmade cardboard signs began to pop up around the train station in San Juan Capistrano. They very simply said, “Stephen, please call your mom.” No one knew who Stephen was, none of us had any idea about his age or the circumstances that estranged him from his mom.

But there was a ton of conversation about his mother’s heart. She obviously missed him. She was ready and wanting to move past whatever caused the split between them. She seemed ready to help, to comfort, to restore the relationship. She just wanted him to call.

Thinking about those signs, I can’t help but think about the father’s attitude in the Biblical story of the Prodigal Son. That boy took his inheritance and ended up “languishing in a distant country.” Maybe his father traveled there and put up some homemade signs of his own.

I can’t prove that those signs were posted, but we can see the initiative of the father. He is definitely combing the horizon for a glimpse of his son and can’t wait to bless him.

My favorite part of the narrative occurs in Luke 15:20 as the boy has come to his senses and is returning home. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and filled with compassion for him, he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”

Similarly, it is possible that there are some cardboard signs hanging all around our neighborhoods. They are invisible to most. But penned by our heavenly father, they carry a personal message. They might say, “Hey Fred, quit struggling with that addiction, call your father. I can and will help.”

Or another might read, “Mary, I know you are dying inside. Stop faking it and give me a call.”

Or still another might say, “Sam, the gulf fixed between us isn’t too wide. I can carry you over it, call me.”

This week if you find yourself just going through the motions of life and feeling a bit lost, take a good look around you for your own personal set of signs. They may not be made of cardboard or duct taped to a dirty wall, but they are there. His love reaches out into all our neighborhoods. And His message is the same, “Call me!”

“Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

Let’s make the call.