Angels among us

After her stroke, Mom was blind, and stroke-related dementia began to take away her thought process. Often, she was non-verbal. However, there were those days when God would clear her mind and give her a voice to speak. I remember one day when clarity was on our side.
She was in her wheelchair, her feet propped and her back slightly inclined. Pillows were placed around her for comfort as she sat by the living room window. Stepping through the front door of her home, I saw the sunlight pouring in on her soft white and silver hair. She glimmered.
She looked like an angel as she greeted me with the familiar “Hello, CherylAnn.” I was excited to hear her greeting because I knew this would be a good day. At first, we sat sipping on fresh coffee (hers through a straw) and enjoying each other’s company. Then she began to talk. She said, “CherylAnn, sometimes I see a man.” (Remember, she was blind.)
I was taken aback by her words and asked her to describe him. She told me he was a huge man wearing a medal shield on his chest and leather wrappings around his legs. Covered in armor he looked like a warrior. She continued to tell me that the man mainly came when she felt alone, and he always stood beside her. She also said she felt a sense of peace and security around him. She also mentioned that some did not believe her. She asked if I believed her. “Yes, Mom, I do.”
Was she hallucinating, or was there a presence only seen by her? I believed her. Taking her Bible, I opened Psalm 91 and read about the Father giving angels charge over His children. I read about the angels lifting her up so she does not even “dash her foot against a stone.” I came across the story about Jesus in the wilderness, how the angels came to Him (Matthew 4:11), and how He triumphed as Satan fled. I read about the ministering angels who were sent to serve those who inherit the salvation of the Lord (Hebrews 1:14). We spoke of the “little ones” that belong to God, how their angels in Heaven were always before the Father, interceding on their behalf (Matthew 18:10).
As we spoke of entertaining Angels without knowing it (Hebrews 13:2), she asked if the man in armor was her angel: “Yes, Mom, He is your angel.” For all the times she prayed for us as we traveled, asking God to put angels at our wheels and a hedge of protection around us. For the times she knelt, praying for her children and our sick animals. For the time spent on the church prayer chain praying for the well-being of others, God sent her a personal angel to care for her in her most vulnerable state.
Mom had hidden the Word of God in her heart, and the Word was her comfort in her later days. I do not know where you have been in life, but the Word of God is alive and well and desires to live in you. Maybe it is time to blow the dust from your Bible and absorb the truth of the Heavenly Father. A truth that says He cares for you. He knows your pain and your joy. A truth that says: “In your most vulnerable moments, an angel is waiting to bring you the comfort of the Kingdom of God.”
Psalm 34:7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who love him, and he delivers them.

Cheryl Mixon-Cruce is Pastor of Ochlockonee Bay United Methodist Church and Sopchoppy United Methodist Church.