Having all of these recent things happen in my life, I have been very reflective on where God has led me. That made me think of all the people he has put in front of me to lead me in the correct way. Also, there are things that have happened to me that has made me think that there are actual angels out there, like a Guardian Angel.

People joke about having a Guardian Angel, but I have found that I have one. In my late teens/early twenties, I had a really bad car accident. Three friends were also in the car when I lost control on a country back road. I still can bring up the image of the telephone pole directly in front of the car. I turned the wheel, and the back part of the car hit the pole. (For you car people, I “drifted” into the pole) My car happened to be a 1970 Chevrolet Impala, and it was a tank. I know that if I had hit that telephone pole straight on, we would all be dead. The reasoning behind that statement is when the car hit the telephone pole (at 45-50 mph) it bent the frame of the car 11 inches. That is a lot of bend for a car “built like a tank”. Bottom line is that all four of us walked out of that car. We had bumps and bruises, but we were alive. After the accident some of the local residents came out and looked over the accident scene. One gentleman was walking, looking at the skid marks when I approached him. He asked whether I was the driver and when I said I was he said (I’ll quote him as much as I’m able after all these years), “Girl, you had an angel sitting on your shoulder to drive like that.”

Sometimes angels come in human form. I when I was in high school, I was invited to sing with a local Christian group that met at a church in our town. This group was all teenagers from ages 13 to 20. This group was led by a man called Darwin. His nickname was Doc. We would meet during the week for practice and over the weekend we might have a church to sing at. The group went on several tours, through Pennsylvania Virginia and one tour went up to Maine and back. This group that I joined was a life-giving activity for me. I grew up in an alcoholic home and even though my father had stopped drinking there were still problems. I was beginning to go down the wrong road when I was invited to join. I loved singing so it was a no brainer for me, and while I sang about the love of Jesus, I also experienced it. I know that if I had never been in this group, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I think I would have killed myself at a young age. I look back now, and I wonder how in the world Doc managed up to 20+ teenagers at a time. Doc and the group were such a blessing for me and a wonderful memory. I’m still in touch with some of the people who were in that group.

I know I’ve been talking about angels a lot, but I’ve seen too much in this world not to think that God has his hand in everything we do. The writer of Hebrews says, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” (13:2) I think if angels can show up at your door, they could be anywhere.

All of us have had these kinds of events in our lives. Take the time to think about them and then thank the God who brought you through. Even the events that have a lot of pain and sorrow have the hand of the Lord in it. Sometimes you can’t see it until you look back and reflect.