by Louise Wulfe

Created on: July 07, 2009

When you grow up in a Christian home, you have the chance to hear stories about angels of past helping those in need. Yet it will not hit home until you are in a situation of needing their help. It is at those times that you come to realize that angels are truly among us.

Many experiences from my life come to mind when I think of angels, but there is one that stands out above the others. Most of the odd experiences in my life that I attribute to angels or miracles occurred with strange feelings or actions. Yet the following experience seemed to require a corporeal presence.

I used to travel across the United States with my husband while he worked as a truck driver. Living in a big rig is an interesting experience, especially when things go awry. It was summertime, and we were travelling through the southeast part of the country on a two lane highway. The truck had been breaking down on a regular basis. We had already spent the majority of our extra cash buying parts for the trailer and could not wait for the next payday, still a few days off, when it happened.

While turning left from a parking lot of a small store that had barely enough parking for a couple trucks, the airline to the trailer brakes snapped unexpectedly. The truck lurched to a halt and would not move. Worse yet, we were blocking the entire highway. The highway was not busy, and the few cars that came along were easily guided around us on the shoulder. My husband tried everything he could think of to get the truck to move, rocking it back and forth, trying to force the engine to work extra long enough to get the 80 foot blockage out of the road. Nothing would work.

I prayed for help. That was when we noticed a man, dark haired and dark skinned, wearing a long coat and walking toward us. Heat vapors rose in waves from the pavement surrounding him, causing a shimmering perception of reality. My first thought was clear, "Is that an angel?"

I kept my thoughts to myself as my husband climbed down out of our truck and walked toward the man. They spoke for a few moments before walking to a truck in the very parking lot we had just left, a truck I had not noticed there before. I watched from afar as the man opened a storage compartment on his truck and emerged a moment later with a long piece of airline hosing. He gave the hose to my husband, and they nodded farewell. After that, it did not take long after that for my husband to fix the truck.

When we were back on the road, my husband asked if I had noticed the man before he left the truck. He admitted that he had not even noticed the truck sitting next to us in the parking lot, no less the driver. I told him about praying just before as well as my first thought. He still agrees with me when we talk about the experience that it was not luck or coincidence at work that day; we were visited by an angel.

When I was little, I wondered if angels were real. Now there is no question in my mind. I have met more than my fair share, and I know they watch over me. It is amazing when you think about it really. Angels are out there, waiting and wanting to help. They are not hard to find if you just believe and keep an open mind, and they will often work in ways that just can't be explained. They are those strangers that show up when we need help the most and provide us with miracles.

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