By Barry Buzza

A friend of mine told me a story a while ago about an encounter she'd had with an angel when she was 8 years old. She'd been home with the chicken pox and a temperature of 1040, so her mom had put her to bed in the living room, close to her parent's bedroom.

Before going to sleep, mom prayed for little Autumn. "Father, please comfort her tonight." Then she tucked her in and covered her with an afghan.

As mom crawled into her own bed, she pulled a cool white sheet over her shoulders, and the thought occurred to her, "I really should have put a sheet over Autumn--the afghan may aggravate her itchy sores." (But you know how it is when we're exhausted and tightly under the covers.) "I really should cover herÉ" but then mom fell sound asleep.

She awoke in the morning with the sun peeking through her bedroom window, and remembered, "Autumn! How could I have fallen asleep before making sure she was comfortable!" Mom was feeling awful as she rushed into the living room to check on her daughter.

She leaned over Autumn, pressed her cheek over her daughter and felt her forehead. Thankfully the fever had broken. As mom pulled the afghan away from Autumn's face, a clean white sheet was covering her whole body.

Walking into the kitchen to have a cup of coffee with her husband, she hugged him and said, "Thank you honey, for covering Autumn with a sheet last night. I was worried about her."

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"I didn't cover her, I slept like a log all night," he responded.

Just then Autumn entered the kitchen, bright-eyed and with a big grin. "Hi Sweetie, did you sleep well?"

Autumn nodded. "At first I was uncomfortable--the chicken pox were itchy; but then something funny happened. A white light filled one corner of the living room. Then my skin felt cool--not itchy--and I fell asleep."

The young girl grabbed a piece of toast from the toaster and continued, "Do you think an angel came to tuck me in?"

I've heard several stories of what people believe were angelic visits. A few years ago, when my father-in-law had just died, Susan and I had to take separate cars to the funeral. After the service, she was pretty upset and in a bit of a daze as she drove home.

Without realizing what was happening, my wife's car was wandering over the line on the left side. A car was beside her but she wasn't aware of it. Just before Susan collided with the other vehicle, something strongly pulled at her steering wheel and put her back in the right lane. It was as if another person beside her had forcibly taken over just when she'd needed the help. She was very aware of the presence of an invisible angel.

The Bible admonishes that when we entertain strangers, we should be very kind, because many of us have been visited by angels when we were totally unaware of it. Next week I'll write about some of the things we know are true about angels.

Barry Buzza is president of the Foursquare Gospel Church of Canada, and pastor of Northside Church in Port Coquitlam.

February 26/2009