A Country Angel

I was 16 years old and my father was an associate pastor at one of those “country” churches. You know the kind. The kind that sits among the corn fields with the narrow country roads where you seem to be able to see for miles as long as the corn hasn’t grown too much yet. This little church was a lone building out there. It was summer and the corn hadn’t reached its mid July height yet. Nice and hot. Just another ordinary Indiana Sunday morning.

My cousin, Lisa and I were sitting in the back pews as most teenagers do. Lisa was boy crazy to say the least. I was the shyer one. We were all asked to stand for prayer by the pastor. We did. Lisa and I stood there quietly listening but like most teens; not paying much attention.

We had stood there for only a couple of minutes, if that. I had my eyes closed and Lisa was scoping out the church for her latest romance. There was a young couple sitting in the pew in front of us. They had a little baby girl about six months old. The baby lay there sleeping peacefully on the padded pew. All was peaceful in this little country church.

A young man walked in from the foyer. He came in as if he were on a mission. I later found this to be true. He walked straight for the pew we were in, it seemed. Lisa grabbed my hand and as she squeezed it, I opened my eyes to find the young man coming toward us. She looked at me and raised her eyebrows up and down in that “hubba hubba” way she always did when she spotted a good looking young guy.

The young man looked like he was in his early to mid twenties. He was clean but had a light beard. It looked like five o’clock shadow to me. He wore a light yellow button down shirt with brown corduroy jeans. His hair was a bit long but it was in style for the time of disco. At this point, I really didn’t pay him much attention. That was until he walked over to the pew where the baby lay and picked her up.

With the baby cradled gently in his arms, he walked out into the foyer. Both Lisa and I were shocked. The parents of this baby were devastated. The father rushed out to the foyer where the stranger held his only little baby girl. The father asked him where he was going with his beloved daughter. The stranger looked at the baby’s father and mother, who, by this time were crying. The stranger said, “I’ve only come to get what I was sent for.” We were all shocked and a bit scared.

By this time, the pastor, my dad, and practically the whole church were standing in that small foyer. Everyone was speechless it seemed. It was so quiet.

The first person to speak other than the young stranger and the baby’s father was my own dad. He asked the man what he was going to do with the baby and pleaded with the stranger to give the baby back to her father.

As the young stranger handed the baby back to her daddy, he said, “Soon, she will be with me.”

The baby’s father took the baby and handed her over to his wife. She held that little one in her arms with all the love and desperation of a mother who just had the scare of her life.

The young man walked out the door. He never turned around. He did not say good-bye. Not even a wave. The men of the church along with the baby’s father ran after this stranger who seemingly came from nowhere. They went to the parking lot. There was no dust in the parking lot as if this stranger came by automobile. There was no one walking down the road. Two of them jumped into their cars to drive both ways down the old dusty country roads. It seemed that the whole church was standing, either in the gravel parking lot or in the foyer. I remember, standing there with my hands in the pocket of my jumper. I was shaking so bad and didn’t want anyone to see my hands.

The frenzy of people seemed to slow down as people were going to leave and go to their cars. It seemed to me, according to my memory that the Sunday meeting had just come to a complete stop when this all went down.

We all went to our cars. I got in the backseat with my cousin. Even she, as boy crazy as she was, was shaking and kept completely silent. This must have been difficult for her because she sure liked to talk. We rode home in silence.

As Lisa and I set the table for our usual Sunday dinner, Dad spoke in his usual joking way. He said, “Ya know? I think that may have been an angel there at the church today. I mean, well, the guy didn’t say much and he just disappeared in front of our eyes really. But I just wonder why he came in there.”

Well, I have to say that within the next few days, Dad got a phone call. It was the pastor of the church. He told Dad to come down to the hospital as fast as he could. He explained that the baby was in the pediatric intensive care unit at the hospital. We all piled in the car. It was just Mom, Dad, me, and my little brother. We headed there in silence. Dad never did drive particularly fast, but for some strange reason, today was an exception.

We arrived at the hospital and went up to the Pediatric floor. The dad was standing in the hall with the pastor and my dad hurried to join them. My mom went straight were any mother would be; to the bedside to be with the baby’s mother. I stood there, scared. My little brother didn’t seem to be old enough to know what was going on. I didn’t either, really.

It turns out that this beautiful little gift from Heaven had something very wrong with her pituitary gland or something of that nature. All that I really know for sure is that she was growing in weight but not in height. Everyone prayed for this little angel.

It wasn’t but a few days later that this lovely gift from God passed over. Everyone, including me was so very sad that words can’t really express it to this day. Dad conducted the funeral because the parents wanted it that way. He said the most beautiful and uplifting words.

Now, I’m not sure who that stranger was that day or what he was there for exactly, but I’m sure that it was a message to the parents of this little baby girl. I think, personally, that God did, in fact, send an angel here to show the parents that their little girl will always be ok. I think the stranger was an angel and he was preparing the parents for what was to come.

I’ve never forgotten this time in my life and doubt I ever will. It left an indelible mark on my memory that will last my lifetime. It has given me the ability to have faith when it seems my faith is totally gone. When I have those times and situations in my life where it seems like I have hit the bottom, I remember that God sometimes sends his Angel here to comfort us.

Isn't it wonderful to know that we are loved unconditionally? Isn't it wonderful to have the feeling that someone watches over us? I think so. It's what keeps me going in this world of uncertainties. I'm so thankful that I am never alone. You are never alone either.

I reckon it all goes back to when my daddy would quote the bible and say, "Well, you just never know if you are entertaining Angels."