The Storm

Since her husband’s death Sarah had wanted to move her three young children from the family farm into town. She delayed because the farm had meant so much to her husband.

A near tragedy changed her mind. With the spring rains came torrential floods. One storm in particular lasted 3 days. The winds threatened to blow the old house down.

The firewood was running out so Sarah sent her oldest son, Daniel to fetch more. She warned him as he donned his rain slicker to be very careful.

She watched from the front porch as Daniel made his way to the woodpile. He was trudging back to the house when a large branch from a dead sycamore tree snapped.

She screamed a warning but it was too late, this branch struck Daniel’s head knocking him off his feet. She ran to his side picked him up and carried him back to the house all the time calling his name—she received no response.

Daniel’s head was bleeding profusely and his face was pale. Sarah knew she must get help, but how? The farm was ten miles from the nearest town and high water had washed the bridge out.

Finding no solution, Sarah became frantic. The sounds of the wind outside were joined by a distinct knock on the front door. At first Sarah thought it was her imagination but as the knocks became more persistent she cautiously opened the door.

Two rain-soaked men stood in front of her. One was chubby and short the other was tall and lanky. Sarah managed to stutter that her son was injured and could they bring help.

The taller of the two quickly moved passed her and took off his hat. She recognized him as a visiting doctor by the name of Tucker who had been the guest of the local doctor three years before.

Relieved she quickly led him to where Daniel lay. He examined her son and concluded he needed an operation to save his life. His friend handed him a large black bag Sarah had not seen when they stood on the dark porch.

Dr. Tucker took Sarah’s arm gently and suggested she take the smaller children into the next room and get some rest. Sarah reluctantly complied and was surprised she was able to doze off.

When she awoke the operation was over. Doctor Tucker assured her there was nothing to worry about Daniel would be fine. Relieved, Sarah thanked him and invited the two men to dinner.

She went to the kitchen to see what she could prepare, when she returned the two men were gone.

After the storm had passed, Sarah went into town. She ran into the local doctor and told him how grateful that Doctor Tucker had happened by her farm.

Dr. Jones listened to her story with a puzzled expression. He hesitated and then told her she must be mistaken for Doctor Tucker had been killed in a train accident the year before.

This story has been told in many different forms—it is another gem that Ruth Ann Musick collected for her book Coffin Hollow.

An Angel’s Sign

They come to you or me,

In our darkest hours.

I believe there are

Angels among us.

This is a compelling first person account of a teenagers encounter with a Guardian Angel.

These days when I encounter someone who is skeptical about the idea that Guardian Angels exist I just smile and don’t argue.

As a teen I experienced more than the usual angst that is associated with this time in one’s life. I was depressed most of the time and was good at hiding this fact from my family and friends.

Afterwards I was diagnosed with clinical depression and received professional help but at the time I just thought my feelings were normal.

At the age of 17 my thoughts dangerously turned toward suicide. At the time I did not realize how serious my problem was. I spend a lot of time reading alone in my room.

I didn’t realize how isolated I had become from others during this time-I realize now that this was not a healthy choice.

One evening reading in my room thoughts of hopelessness swept over me--one thought persisted--there was a way I could end my pain.

A darkness then took hold of me. Feeling I had no other way out I calmly decided to end my life.

Mindlessly I went through the motions of my normal routine, I placed my homework in my backpack and then picked up a book and lay on my bed.

I turned my radio on expecting to hear my favorite station but instead all I heard was a loud blast of static. I always kept it tuned to my favorite station so this startled me.

I turned the knob in search of a station but there was only static.

I then heard a female voice singing “Don’t give up.” I had never heard this song before. I then heard this same voice state my name over and over again.

The next morning I realized that what I heard had kept me from following through with my dark plan.

The next time I turned my radio on my favorite station began to play.

Shortly after this, I sought help and was able to see my life from a different perspective.

I believe what I heard on my radio was not a coincidence. It was a Guardian Angel sent to help me.

I have spent my life canceling others and I often hear similar stories to my own.

Angel signs come in all shapes and sizes.

They don’t always appear sometimes they are just a sound.

A Persistent Voice

Graigavon, Northern Ireland

I was in a hospital in Ireland just having given birth to my fourth child. My husband and a friend were visiting my room the evening after the delivery when a nurse came in.

I mentioned I was losing more blood than with my other deliveries and she told me I looked pale. She suggested my husband and friend should return in the morning after I had a chance to get a good night’s sleep.

Soon after my visitors left I felt tired and dizzy. At one point I thought I was going to pass out. But I was not worried for my pregnancy had been normal without any complications.

I fell asleep quickly. Around 2:00 a.m. the following morning I heard a voice. It was stating repeatedly, “Wake up, wake up.” I tried to ignore it but it persisted.

I kept my eyes closed hoping it would stop saying, “Wake up.” But the voice kept calmly stating that I needed to wake up.

It then told me that I must press the “alarm” button. I remember wondering what an alarm button was. I felt around and found a cord by my arm and pressed a button.

A nurse entered my room and turned on the light over my bed. I was lying in a pool of blood.

Still confused and half asleep, I noticed that now three nurses and a doctor were standing next to my bed. I remember mumbling to whoever would listen that a voice had woken me up.

I was wheeled down the hall into an operating theater. They did emergency surgery and I was given a blood transfusion.

In recovery, I kept stating, “A voice woke me up.”

I was informed later that a large part of the placenta was still in my uterus--it was contracting and still pumping out blood. So I was hemorrhaging. I also most likely was unconscious and not just asleep.

The next morning the doctor told me I was one lucky patient. If I had lost any more blood I would not have survived.

I told him that a persistent voice had woken me up. He then responded that it must have been my guardian angel.

It has been eleven years since this happened. I still do not know if this voice was male or female but I do know the doctor was right it was my guardian angel.

This determined voice not only saved my life, it also changed my life.

I learned that my life has value. I now have six children and these days I focus more on them and less on my materialistic needs.

A Mysterious Stranger

Here is a classic Guardian Angel story from Great Britain.

It was late in the afternoon and she was preoccupied as she drove through a rural hilly area.

Alice was heartbroken for she had lost her young daughter to an incurable disease just a few short weeks before.

She came out of her daze as she heard a loud pop. As her car started to bump along and veer to the left she realized one of her tires had blow out.

Alice managed to stop her car and climbed out. As she looked around it dawned on her she was in the middle of no-where.

Wondering how she was going to escape her predicament she prayed to God. Within moments she saw a dark figure crest a hill rolling a tire by his side.

Alice watched as this black man approached where she stood.

He said, “Hello, I have been sent to help you.”

She did not ponder why someone would just turn up out of the blue and know she needed a tire. Instead a feeling of relief washed over her.

The mysterious stranger calmly changed her tire. He then looked in her car’s boot--trunk--and said she best get another spare for hers was flat.

Alice thanked him for his help and then he just walked off but he stopped about 10 yards up the hill and turned around.

In a raised voice he said, “Jenny is alright, you do not need to worry about her.”

This announcement rendered her speechless.

She had her spare tire checked the next day and was informed it was not repairable.

When Alice had time to think about her unusual encounter on the hill she wondered how the man knew her deceased daughter’s name was Jenny.

The only conclusion she could draw was the kind man who helped her was an angel.

The I-35 Bridge and A Miracle

The I-35W Mississippi River Bridge, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was an 8-lane, steel truss arch bridge that carried Interstate traffic across Saint Anthony Falls at the Mississippi River.

During afternoon rush hour on August 1, 2007 this bridge suddenly collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring 145 more.

This bridge was Minnesota’s fifth busiest bridge, carrying 140,000 vehicles daily.

Ninety-three people were recued from the bridge after the collapse including a school bus with 50 children on board. This bus miraculously rode the concrete on the way down without tipping. No one on board was injured.

At the time of the collapse construction was underway on I-35, this slowed traffic down which resulted in many cars being on the bridge at the same time.

This extra weight and a flaw in the bridge’s initial design are cited for being the cause of this catastrophe.

Mathew’s Miracle

Mathew on Aug. 1st was headed toward the I-35 bridge to pick up a friend that lived on the other side. Because of the construction he was caught in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Mathew had been going through some hard times recently and being a man of faith he took the slowed traffic as an opportunity to pray for help.

Within seconds of his prayer he saw a “vision.” In it he saw the bridge shaking and then it collapsed. Confused he spoke out loud, “What is this? You need to talk to me.”

Then he heard a loud “STOP!”

At this point he was 100 feet away from the bridge. The voice told him, “You need to stop right here.”

Mathew recalls he resisted for there was an endless line of cars behind him. But he gave in and stopped. Several people behind started to honk their horns repeatedly.

The voice reassured him that everything was okay, that he needed to remain where he was. Then he heard the voice say, “Look.”

Several cars behind him moved to go around him when they came within 20 feet of the bridge it snapped and then collapsed. Mathew saw 2 cars go off the edge.

In shock, he got out of his car and walked over to look down. Several people approached him and said, “Thank you.”

It took several days for Mathew to comprehend what had actually happened for he was traumatized by what he had seen.

He realized that if he had not listened to the voice he would have been on the bridge when it collapsed--not to mention many of the cars that were stopped behind him.

He now often gives a silent prayer of thanks.

My Uncle’s Ghost

The following is part ghost story, and part guardian angel story, that was shared several years ago.

That night I had my one and only encounter with the paranormal. I have rarely spoken about it even years later. Being shy, I have no desire for the notoriety that claiming a meeting with a ghost would bring.

At the age of 10, my parents were killed in a car accident. My Uncle Charles, a childless confirmed bachelor, found himself, my guardian.

He proved to be a loving, wise, and very protective guardian. Sadly, he was diagnosed with inoperable cancer and didn’t live to see my 18^th birthday.

Before he died, he assured me that he would always be with me even in spirit form.

He left me financially well off and I continued to seek his advice feeling his warm presence and wise counsel even in death.

One early winter evening I was driving from Boulder Falls back to Boulder where I was a student at the University of Colorado. A light snow was falling, and a mist blocked the moon and stars overhead.

As I approached a bend in the road a ghostly figure suddenly appeared in the middle of my path.

This figure was wearing a white shirt, and the headlights from my car reflected off this form. I then recognized the man before me as being my Uncle Charles.

He was holding his hands up palms outstretched as if he was beseeching me to stop. His facial expression revealed alarm.

I took my foot off the gas and slowly pumped the brake just as he had taught me to avoid a skid on wet pavement.

As my car came to a complete stop on this sharp curve, I was horrified to see a large tanker truck had jackknifed on the slippery road.

The truck had hit the guardrail demolishing it and then turned over on its side. Some sort of liquid was spilling out and congealing on the road’s surface.

If I had not heeded my uncle’s warning, my car would have hit this slippery surface and then headed over the edge of the steep drop that was beneath the missing guardrail.

My uncle’s spirit had saved my life.

The Stranger

This story was told to a priest by one of his older female parishioners in the early 20^th century.

It was the late 1800s and Edith was a newlywed. She had been born and raised in a city in Upper Michigan so it was a shock to move to her husband’s rural farm.

This farm was isolated, being the last mailbox on the lane. It was a lonely, harsh life, but Edith was happy in her marriage, and she and Lou her husband were lucky for they didn’t want for life’s necessities.

One early summer morning Lou had gone out to a field to mow hay. As Edith stood at the kitchen window, she saw a stranger ride into the farmyard.

He hitched his horse to the post but Edith was surprised to see him head toward the barn instead of approaching the house.

She watched with concern as he entered the barn, he then came out and inspected their shed. As she watched him wander around the yard, seeming to look for something, she became anxious.

He finally headed for the house. By the time his knock sounded on the door, Edith was frightened.

She hesitated, not wanting to answer, but she became afraid the stranger would break down the door. She opened it just a crack.

The words caught in her throat as she said, “Yes, what do you want?”

The stranger peered at her and said in a toneless voice, “Are you alone?”

Edith terrified now, and not wanting to be alone with the stranger blurted out, “No!” “My husband is in the attic.” To convince him, she then turned and called out, “Hey Lou.”

A voice that of her husband responded immediately, “Yea, what is it? I’ll be right down.”

Edith turned back to the stranger to see him transformed. His face became animated with anger as he backed down the porch steps. He then jumped on his horse and quickly rode away.

Edith’s shut the door and sought a chair before her knees gave out. She wondered why Lou was in the attic, she had not heard him return from the field.

She went upstairs to see what he was doing, but no one was in the attic.

A half-hour later, Lou returned from mowing hay for lunch. He had not seen the strange man.

The priest mentioned above, after retelling this story asked his parishioners, “Whose Guardian Angel do you think that was, Edith’s or Lou’s?”

A young woman gave a surprising but thoughtful reply. “I’d like to think it was the rider’s Guardian Angel keeping him out of trouble.”

A Miraculous Shove

While in High School during my senior year I tried out for one of the lead roles in a play. It was a comedy written by Neil Simon entitled Fools. *

I was given the part of Sophia, which was the character I wanted. I was exited to perform in this play about a curse that is placed on a small village in the Ukraine in the 1890s.

As my fellow actors and I rehearsed we realized just how funny this story truly was. The curse on the village made everyone stupid especially my character Sophia.

A new teacher, Leon comes to the village and falls in love with Sophia--he finds he must teach her something within 24 hours or he as well will fall under the curse.

In one scene Sophia is standing on a balcony and asks Leon to climb up a trellis to reach her. But as his character does this Sophia really dense runs down to meet him. He then tells her to wait for him but she races back up.

The play was a great success in the community and many returned to watch it several times.

The balcony scene elicited the most laughter but for me it was a challenge to maneuver physically. After saying my lines I had to rush backstage to enter the balcony and then I had to rush back onstage meeting cues both ways.

During this sprint I had to jump over a small gap between the balcony set and the stage. I had not told anyone I was afraid of heights and I was terrified that I would trip.

For the first few performances everything went fine but one night a high heel on one boot I wore as part of my costume caught the narrow edge on the platform were the gap was located.

I lost my balance and started to fall backward. I realized that my head was going to hit the metal supports below. I was terrified I was going to be badly injured or even killed.

I tried to catch myself by waving my arms but I continued to fall.

Suddenly, an unseen force shoved against the center of my back. It propelled me forward 3 to 4 feet. I landed right in front of the curtain that led to my balcony cue.

I turned to see who had helped me but no one was there. My adrenaline pumping I managed to finish the balcony scene.

Afterwards I checked with the cast and crew but no one had come to my rescue. My teachers and fellow students were amazed at my story--several were skeptical it had actually happened.

For the rest of the performances a teacher was placed at the gap to assist me across.

My only explanation for that shove was that an angel was sent to save me. Today--years later--I still feel humbled.

* The original play of Fools lasted on Broadway only 40 performances. The story goes Neil Simon who was divorcing his wife had promised her the profits from his next play.

Angels, Miracles, and Heavenly Encounters, compiled by James Stuart Bell