"I was just with God's angels and they let me come back."
That is what I told my attending nurse at a small community hospital in Utah shortly after regaining consciousness following a multiple roll-over wreck in the spring of 1994. To this day I have never remembered what prompted me to say those words. I believe God dispatched my guardian angel to watch over and protect me and my family from harm in answer to a simple prayer for protection while we traveled. Unaware then, this was just the first of my many adventures with Charles.
We never made it to our vacation destination, but we all were quite amazingly alive to see a new day. I was certain it was not only our seatbelts used to help save our lives that day. Every new day granted since, I've continued to deeply ponder what truly transpired during that time my mind cannot remember. I still find myself completely enthralled by the mercy and mystery of God though an explanation has never and may never come.
Shortly after what I will never call an accident, I was driving our new-used vehicle that had replaced the one lost in the wreck. I sensed that gentle inner voice urging me to turn on the radio that had never yet worked. That day it worked only long enough for me to listen to a song by artist Amy Grant, "Angels Watching Over Me". A couple of weeks following the radio incident I received two very timely money orders for the combined sum of five hundred dollars. The envelope had no return address and the handwriting on both the envelope and money orders was written as with an unsteady aged hand; the Christian fish symbol, all that was written on the signature lines. I never discovered who the anonymous giver was, but when recounting the experience to a friend at work, it was suggested that either the giver was disguising their handwriting ... or, maybe, it was a 20,000 year old angel. Hmmm. I was aware of a presence next to me during a Sunday worship service in the Fall of that year that my human eyes could not see but I knew without a doubt was there nevertheless. It drew me to my knees where we bowed and worshipped before our God - together. Awesome! There are no words to express the unspeakable joy that welled up within my heart at this amazing experience. I wholeheartedly believed this presence to be my guardian angel and additional evidence that God was and would forever be with me wherever I go as He gave His angel charge over me. 1994 is indeed a year I will never, ever forget.
I found very little surprised me after the whirlwind experiences of 1994. I did, however, question whether I was tottering on the brink of insanity or whether I actually can know the God who created me as promised in His Word when you search with all your heart to find Him. Either way, life had become an adventurous journey and I was living it with abundant joy. The fashionable white coat and softly padded cell may yet be my future, but maybe, as long as I still question my sanity, I still have possession of it. Time will tell all things.
I sensed my guardian angel's presence next to me during a drive to work in early 1995, just as I had in the worship service the previous year. I was beginning to learn how to just go with the flow with these wild experiences, so I audibly asked, "What is your name?" There was no fear when to my heart he simply replied, "Charles". Every image I ever imagined of him was of an angel gentle, yet broad and strong; one who could easily guard and protect. I looked up the meaning of the name 'Charles' in a name book that evening and found its literal meaning to be: STRONG; MANLY, with the suggested lifetime Scripture verse Joshua 1:9 - "Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Just as the wreck was no accident this surely was no coincidence. I was introduced to my guardian angel and his name is Charles.
The chaotic nature of my life in 1998, as wife, mother of two young tweens and business partner to my husband, found me driving through for fast - albeit less-than-healthy - food, a lot. My history in the fast-food lane tended to repeat itself, so I had pulled over to check my bag-o-dinner making sure the food order was complete when a man came up to my window. He was dirty, unkempt and frantic looking. He explained that he was nearly blind and after walking around for three hours looking for the people supposed to pick him up, had never found them. That gentle inner voice I now believed to be the Lord's, prompted me to not fear and give this man a ride. In obedience, I did. I got out of the two-door SUV to let the stranger into the back seat and buckled back in, as was now my unfailing habit to do, asking him to do the same. By way of introduction my guest put his hand forward between the front bucket seats to shake my hand. He said, "Hi. My name is Charles." My heart was thumping so hard I thought it might burst out of my chest like the alien in that movie. I was overcome. After introductions were made he proceeded to chat all the way downtown. He asked me if I was a Christian and if I read the Bible. After answering in the affirmative he excitedly professed, or maybe confessed, that although he'd been wayward for a time, he was again reading the Bible and had found renewed faith in God. I admit this conversation was not what I had anticipated from the man who had approached me in the fast-food parking lot, though it did put me more at ease. I dropped Charles off where he indicated on the side-street behind the library and watched as he turned to walk away. Once back in my seat I turned to look again ... and he was ... gone. Hebrews 13:2 was immediately brought to mind, "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it." I firmly believe that day I was in the physical presence of my guardian angel who had first been dispatched as my halo of protection in the wreck and later when asked, had introduced himself to me as 'Charles'.
Our consumption of fast-food has dropped dramatically over these many years, but I have in other places and in special ways been reminded that Charles still watches over me. Remembering 9-11, it's anyone's guess what tomorrow holds. Still, I'm confident by God's command I am safely guarded in this life. This confidence has freed me to fearlessly live, love and serve on this side of Heaven knowing all is eternally well with my soul.