Angels around us

For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
Luke 4:10

My wife and I enjoy going to the Illinois Indian Powwow held annually in a nearby park. Last year our granddaughter joined us. She and Grandma spent over an hour at the craft tent creating a beautiful beaded hair clip with a feather on the end.

One Saturday not too long ago my wife and I made plans to take our grandaughter birthday shopping. So we picked up B from her parents and off we went with B wearing her beaded hair clip.

After looking at toys, clothes and more it was time to check out. My wife took our purchases to the checkout line while B and I went to get a frozen drink. We met beside the store’s northern exit after Grandma had paid for the presents  and walked outside with B carrying her drink, my wife carrying B and me carrying our purchases.

“Where is my hair clip?” asked B.

My wife asked her if she remembered where she had left it.

“I hung it on the cart” replied B.

“Oh I’m sorry”, my wife said, “lets go see if we can find it”.

So we went back into the store, searched all the carts but the beaded hair clip was nowhere to be found. We promised our granddaughter we would go to the Powwow again this year and she could make another hairclip. A little sadder than before we left the store, again by the north exit and started walking back to our car.

We were just steps from the southern entrance when I noticed a shopping cart someone had left beside the door. Suddenly a gust of wind pushed the shopping cart past us, towards the roadway and into the incoming traffic. Instinctively I jumped out, grabbed the cart and pulled it back on the sidewalk.

Not wanting to leave the cart on the sidewalk I pushed it inside the large double doors to where the carts are normally stored. My wife looked around and exclaimed, “I don’t know what I was thinking, I didn’t leave the cart at the other entrance, I left it here”. Once again we searched the shopping carts for B’s hair clip. And again we didn’t find it.

As we were preparing to leave a store employee asked, “Are you looking for a beaded hair clip with a feather on the end?”

For the second time in the last five minutes an angel had spoken to us.

“Oh yes”, said my wife, “Have you seen it?”

“It was hanging on the side of a cart”, the angel replied. “It looked too nice to just leave there so I took it to the lost and found”. We thanked her and went to retrieve B’s beaded hair clip from the lost and found. On the way B turned to Grandma and said. “I think an angel pushed that cart in front of Grandpa so we would come in here and find my hair clip”.

“I agree”, Grandma replied. “Angels look after us in all things”.

Both my granddaughter and my wife have a much stronger faith than I. B’s faith is that of the simple innocence of a child, my wife is grounded in the years experiencing His grace. It seems most of my life is spent going through the motions waiting for a grand gesture from God. I fear there are many like me; we keep looking for God to sweep us off our feet and miss His gentle tap on our shoulder.

I know the old saying goes, ‘the devil is in the details’ but I believe God is in the details. It’s not always the big things; God may not cure cancer despite our fervent prayers, countries still go to war and people continue to hurt themselves and others. More often than we realize, however, God will touch our lives in small yet very significant ways.

Perhaps it is a shopping cart blown into our path leading us to a store employee  angel who directs us to where we can find a lost object so a child can point us to the truth – Angels look after us in all things. A sequence of events that helps us realize God does work in our lives. We just need to listen.

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:

And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
I Kings 19:11-12