WHEN ANGELS ARE REALLY BUSY

I was driving home from a meeting, stuck in traffic about 5 PM and the car started to choke and splutter and die.  I barely managed to coast, cursing, into a gas station.  I tried to start the car and it wouldn't even turn over.  Before I could call a tow truck, I saw a woman walking out of the quickie mart, and it looked like she slipped on some ice and fell into a gas pump, so I got out to see if she was okay.

When I got there, it looked more like she had been overcome by sobs than that she had fallen.  She was a young woman who looked really haggard with dark circles under her eyes.  She dropped something as I helped her up, and I picked it up to give to her -- it was a nickel.

At that moment, everything came into focus for me:  the crying woman, the ancient Suburban crammed full of stuff with 3 kids in the back (1 in a car seat) and the gas pump reading $4.95.  I asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept saying, "I don't want my kids to see me crying."  Abandoned by her husband and their father she was headed to California to live with her parents until she could get on her feet.

So I asked, "And you were praying?  Well, He heard you and He sent me."

I took out my card, swiped it through the card reader on the pump so she could fill up her car completely, and while it was fueling, walked to the McDonald's next door, bought food enough for all, plus some gift certificates, and gave her my gloves, a little hug and said a quick prayer with her for safety on the road.  As I was walking over to my car, she said, "So, are you like an angel or something?"  This definitely made me cry.  I said, "Sweetie, at this time of year angels are really busy, so sometimes God uses regular people."

As you might guess, when I went to my car, it started right away.

(written by a Metro Denver Hospice Physician)