Thursday, September 15, 2011

angels in New York?



I finally emptied my summer purse this afternoon and a name and e-mail address fell out.With so many things going on lately,I had forgotten that an angel showed up on the New York Thruway this Summer.

On August 8,my husband and I left Long island in his ten year old Ram truck and headed for the Thruway and upstate New York.Traffic was brutal on every highway we took and my blood pressure was soaring.We had just taken a flight from Atlanta with standby passes and you know how stressful that can be.

It was pouring rain when we arrived at the Sloatsburg Travel Plaza for coffee.We started to relax because we had finally left the city.When we got back in the truck,it wouldn't start.Arghhh!!!!It had sat on Long island for a month and the battery had given all it's juice to the New York sky.What to do with this unexpected "gift"?

The space in front of our truck was empty and just then a young slender man with close cropped hair pulled in and I saw him glance our way.He looked away and then turned and came towards us.For more than a hour, he tried everything to start our truck.As his car was trying to charge our battery ,he went inside to get coffee,the only reason he had stopped.He finally suggested we call the HELP truck that services the thruway and went on his way home from work.That truck got us started and off we went only to stall at the next exit where we got off the thruway to get a new battery.

A huge tow truck came for us and the burly driver was just wonderful.He took me to a motel and my husband to a engine shop and the next day we finally left for the mountains.

My husband was curious about my calm demeanor through the whole ordeal.I guess that I am known to go off the deep end under stress.Mea culpa.I pondered his words and I realized that after the first wonderful offer of help ,I just rested in the thought that we were in "Good Hands".

So, to the two Steves,one with an Island accent who would accept no payment for his help and one with a Celtic cross tattoo on his leg,fluff your wings and take a bow.The Kingdom of God is made of people like you.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a fantastic report--and bless you for seeing the hand of God in these two diverse men! They were truly God's messengers--as we all should be through acts of kindness to each other ((Ephesians).

When my Dad died, we made a disorganized dash from Texas to Florida with little time to prepare. A kind friend ran our hardware store for us in our abvsences; another took care of our 2 dogs and 3 cats (the 72 cows were on their own!); still others taught our Bible classes on Sunday. In the deep of night with four children asleep in the back of the wagon, a rear tire blew out. We were just 100 miles from our destination. My husband changed the tire and off we went again. Not 10 miles down the road another tire blew--and no more spares. We sat beside the pitch black roadway and prayed what to do. This was before cellphones and no highway emergency phones on this stretsh of desolate road. In a little while, lights shone from the darkness behind us and a patrol car pulled in. The kindest, most generously caring man called AAA, called my brother in law who said he'd come get us, and stayed with us for over an hour until help arrived. During this time of new-found friendship the patrol man asked discreetly if we were 'believers' and told us that he was. We proceeded to have a time of praise together there on the blackened highway after midnight. What an Angel! My brother in law arrived in the dead of night to gather us up and drive us to his home. The next day he drove my husband back to pick up the car from where it was towed. Another angel! This world would be such a better place if we all gathered our 'wings' and "went around doing good."

Missy said...

We had a highway rescue one time too and I didn't even get the guy's name, but still tell the story of him often. Also, the HERO trucks here in Georgia have fixed flat tires for Paul twice now...I love them! Finally a good use of our tax dollar.