THE ENCOURAGER
Title: Close Encounter Of The Angel Kind
by Harvey L. Gardner
Close Encounter Of The Angel Kind
We had Christmas Eve reservations at a bed & breakfast inn
near Fredricksburg. Our trip was going well.
We congratulated ourselves
for making a route change, missing a sudden paralyzing snow and ice storm
that closed roads and knocked out electricity in Tennessee, Georgia, North
Carolina, and most of Virginia. We would make it in time for dinner.
We pulled off I-81 at Lexington, Virginia, for a rest stop and a cup of
coffee. We were two hours from a crackling wood fire and a quiet Christmas
in the Virginia countryside.
We buckled our seat belts and took a sip of hot coffee, rolling slowly down
the driveway toward the road. Suddenly the car jerked and stopped, our reverie
broken by awful grinding metal sounds.
"It's the transmission," I muttered.
All the auto dealers and car rental places were closed for Christmas. So
at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve I handed the phone book back to the woman behind
the counter, feeling
helpless and hopeless.
"It looks like I'm out of
luck," I said, "unless you rent cars."
"No," she said, "I don't rent
cars, but you can take my car."
"Well, I would want to pay you," I said,
dumbfounded. But she dismissed my offer.
"No. It's Christmas," she said
smiling, looking embarrassed.
This woman insisted we take her car to finish
our trip, so our Christmas wouldn't be ruined. She handed her car keys
over to two strangers she'd never seen until 15 minutes earlier.
Her car was loaded down with Christmas presents, but she cheerfully stacked
them over in a corner of the convenience store. She called her sister to
pick her up later, and to make sure she could get to and from work the next
day, Christmas Day.
She still wouldn't hear a word of my offer to pay
her. Incredulous, I thanked her, and gave her my business card, promising
to bring her car back the day after Christmas.
We loaded our things into
her car and drove away. We arrived at our inn on schedule, having driven
the last 140 miles in a stranger's silver Cadillac DeVille.
I knew her
name was Lorraine because I read it on her nametag. But, I was so surprised
by what happened that I didn't ask for her full name or phone number. I
can't remember if I told her where we were staying, but I don't think I
did. Later I found a magazine in the trunk of her car and read her name,
Lorraine DeFino.
We rented a car the day after Christmas and returned Lorraine's car to her.
Again, she refused my offer to pay her.
"It's Christmas," she said, again
embarrassed to talk about it, acting as if it were something anybody would
do. But this is not something just anybody would do.
I wonder, was this
a random act of kindness? I've been thinking about this incident for nearly
two years, and I've concluded it was no random act.
When I was pushing my car to the corner of the parking lot out of the way
of traffic, I man came from nowhere and began pushing beside me. He had
his young son with him. He was a trucker, he said, and had just arrived
home for Christmas.
He gave me the name of a towing service and told me to see Lorraine inside,
that she would take care of me. That's what he said: "She'll take care
of you." Then he was gone.
I have a lot of questions about that Christmas Eve. Where did that man
come from, and where did he go so quickly? How did he know Lorraine would
take care of me?
The most haunting question keeps popping into my mind.
If the situation were reversed, and I were the assistant manager of a convenience
store, would I lend my car to a stranger, no questions asked, unconditionally?
I'm ashamed of my answer.
Who were these people?
Our car could have
broken down at any point along the 700-mile trip from Tennessee to Virginia.
But it broke down at Rennies 612 CITGO Station at the intersection of I-81
and U.S. 11 in Lexington, Virginia, where Lorraine happened to be the assistant
manager, and where a mysterious man in the parking lot knew that Lorraine
would take care of me.
If you ask me, they were Christmas Angels.
****************
"His angel guards those who honor the Lord and rescues them from danger."
Psalms 34:7
"What are the angels, then? They are spirits who serve God and are sent
by Him to help those who are to receive salvation." Hebrews 1:14
"He lay down under the tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched
him and said, 'Wake up and eat.' He looked around and saw a loaf of bread
a jar of water near his head. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The
Lord's angel returned and woke him up a second time, saying, 'Get up and
eat, or the trip will too much for you.' Elijah go up, ate and drank, and
the food gave him enough strength to walk forty days to Sinai, the holy
mountain." I Kings 19:5-8
HLG
Copyright 2001, Harvey L. Gardner
VIEW PAST ARTICLES
|
|
