A woman in our church had one of her worst fears play itself out on a bitter cold evening last week. She received a horrifying cell-phone call from her daughter who was four hours away in a blizzard and she was weeping hysterically and said her care was broken down. She was on an interstate highway near a major city in Ohio.
“Do you have blankets?”
“Yes, they are right here on the seat beside me.” She was on the way home from college with all of her possessions in her car.
“Cover up and wait. We will be there as fast as we can. Is your car off the road far enough to be safe?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Roll up your window and don’t get out of the car until we get there. Try to stay warm.”
Mom began to pray that no one with evil intent would stop to try to do her harm. She began to pray that God would send someone to help. They got the needed things and got in the car and started for Ohio. Soon the cell phone rang.
“Mom a stranger has stopped to offer help.”
It was a man. He could see she was cold. It was windy and bitter cold. She was wrapped in blankets drawn from her things. He gave her his business card and encouraged her to get into his car to get warm. She is a bright girl. She had just finished the requirements for her baccalaureate degree at a rigorous college. She informed him that she had called her parents and that they were on their way. She thanked the stranger and stayed in her cold car.
He said, “Would you like me to take a look and see if I can tell what’s wrong?” She thanked him. He looked under the engine hood and informed her that she had a bad alternator. She said, “Thanks” and told him she would wait for her parents. The man wised her well and then went on his way. In a few minutes he was back.
“I’m sorry; I just can’t leave you sitting here. It is not safe. Will you let me take your alternator out and try to replace it?”
She agreed. He removed the alternator and drove away. Soon he was back. She called her parents and informed them the she would be out of the car holding the flashlight for the man for a while. She would call them if she was able to get back on the road.
They got in the car and started for Ohio as fast as they could legally and safely drive. About an hour and fifteen minutes from home, on the south side of Grand Rapids the cell phone rang.
“Mom, Dad, I’m on my way. The man was able to fix the care and the battery is charging. I’m getting warm. I’m all right and I should be home in a few hours. I’ll call you if anything happens.”
When she was finally home and warm she was able to fill her parents in on some of the details. The man who helped her in Ohio was a father of six children himself. Every day we hear new stories of men with evil intent but the man in Ohio was an honorable man. He was a Buckeye, and people from Michigan tend to be a little leery of Buckeyes, but he was a good nut.
The angels that you see in pictures are usually pure white, maybe even with wings. My friend is deeply convinced this man was sent from God but he did not have wings. His skill with a wrench, however, more than compensated for his lack of wings. With a twinkle in her eye my friend recounted the goodness of God in protecting her daughter and then added, “I know someone who is very suspicious of people whose skin pigmentation is different than his. I’m looking forward to telling him that the man God sent to help my daughter was not at all white.”
