Me: Today is the day that the Lord has given!
Prodigal: That is true for all of us.
Today we share from the book Chicken Soup for the Soul: Angels and Miracles by Amy Newmark
I was driving home from an audition to sing as a church cantor in a local Catholic church. The audition went very well and they had hired me on the spot. I felt blessed.
It wasn’t far to the highway that would take me home. I had a green arrow indicating that I could make a left turn, so I turned toward the entrance ramp. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a speeding Suburban blew through a red light and plowed into my little Neon. I saw it coming and there was nothing I could do.
Glass shattered around me, the airbags deployed and something heavy pushed against my legs. It was the car’s engine. To make matters worse, the engine was in flames. I frantically tried my door, only to find it was completely caved in. I couldn’t budge it. I’m pretty sure I was screaming by then.
The police came quite quickly and one officer put out the flames with a fire extinguisher. The car was still smoldering under the crushed hood, though, and I could smell gasoline.
When the firefighters and rescue team finally arrived, they couldn’t get the door open either. Flames began spreading out from under the hood again. I was crying now as the firemen scrambled to get something to cut me out. I could see on their faces that things looked rather grim. I kept calling for someone to help me. The adrenaline had started to wear off and I was almost certain that my left ankle was broken.
A man suddenly appeared at the side of my car. I remember he was very handsome and had a comforting smile. He said, “I’ve go you, sweetheart. Hang on.”
Before I knew it, he had opened the door effortlessly and helped me out of the burning wreck. Then he let me lean against him and he guided me to the side of the road, out of harm’s way. The front end of the car was engulfed in flames by then. The firemen rushed over with a foam spray to put out the fire, frantic to rescue me from where I was stuck–except I wasn’t there anymore.
One of the astonished firefighters walked over to where I was sitting. The man who helped me had disappeared so I assumed he had gone back to his own vehicle.
I asked the firefighter if he could thank the man for me. He shook his head, and said, “Lady there was no man. We went for the Jaws of Life to get you out of the car, only to find you sitting on the curb. Lady, we couldn’t open that door. It’s so damaged, the only way to free you was to cut you out.
I knew I had seen him. That man helped me walk to the curb. I couldn’t have done it myself because I couldn’t even put any weight on my injured foot. I argued with the firefighter: The man who had saved me had been there. I held onto him. He was real. I felt him guiding me out of the car and across the road. I leaned on him when I could not walk.
The fireman responded, “Trust me, Miss, there was no one there. I have no idea how you got out, but I can assure you there was no man.”
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
