My Angel Story?

I am not all that excited about telling this story to everyone. If somebody told me that they had an experience similar to the one described, I would be looking around for a quick exit from the conversation and believing that this person was "kooky." But, as you may have seen from this site, I am a bit off the deep end already. Those people to whom I have told this story, those who didn't think I was "kooky;" have actually been inspired by it and suggested that I publish it. So, here you go. Go get inspired! :)

I used to live in a rural mountain area, and one week I attended a primitive skills gathering in an even more rural area that was about 60 miles away from my home. It was a great week. I learned how to live out on my own and at nights we sang and danced around the campfire under the shooting stars. I had such a good time. But, I was ready to go back home and use my modern plumbing and technology. In other words, I wanted to take a bath and check the e-mail.

There was one road leading out of the camp and it forked into two different directions. One eventually led to the highway. The other led to a large open field several miles away and in the middle of nowhere. Never being the directionally inclined type, I got on the wrong road.

Things were okay on the "wrong road" for awhile, but it soon got bumpy. There were rocks all over and it was rather narrow. I realized that the highway was nowhere around and looked for a place to turn, though none was to be found. The road kept winding through the woods . When I did manage to turn, I got even more lost. This getting lost thing happens to me quit often, (believe it or not) and so, I was not worried at this point. My main concern was that the car was heating up and driving over the stones in the road was rather jarring.

It didn't take long before the meter in the car was sitting on red and smoke was starting to seep from the hood. I realized that I needed to get off the road. There was not a place to turn around, only a long steep road. I later learned it was a logging road. I proceeded to drive up this little, rocky road, even though my head was hitting the roof by now from all the bumps and my car was getting switched by the nearby trees and shrubs. The road led to a big open field and I was finally able to turn around. "Yes!" I said, calculating my escape. "I will be back on the main road as soon as I turn around and find the way out of here."

But that didn't happen. The field was overgrown and I had to mow down a few human sized weeds to turn. Going back down the logging road was no easy task. The car, was still heating up and had began its death rattles. As the little hand on the meter sailed past red, I decided it was time to evacuate. I got out, but the car kept going. Even though it is a junky little car, it has served me well, and I didn't want to see it run away from me and hit a tree in the woods. I had to make myself let go as it happily careened down the mountain side. It was a good thing that I didn't hang on, because soon it hit a tree and came to rest in the tree trunk and at an odd angle. I quickly realized that I would not be able to drive it out for fear of flipping over.

Being lost in the middle of nowhere was not yet of concern. "#*&!, There went my shower," I thought to myself. I had taken some water to the camp and started to drink it. I decided I would walk back to camp. It couldn't be far, right?

An hour later, I was very hot. All week at the camp there were tall trees to shade the sun. Here it was just a rocky, dusty road. And, I didn't have all that much water. I learned about edible plants earlier that week. I started to eat some. I got hotter and hotter, and I changed my jeans to shorts. Still, I felt light headed. Maybe walking out was not such a good idea. But there was a very steep bank beside of me. Maybe it led to the top of a mountain where I could look over and call to people below for help.

By this time, I realized I was lost. I yelled for help a few times and blew the whistle on my key chain. Nobody heard, but a rooster crowed below each time I screamed. That was annoying. I thought if there was a rooster, there may be a farm in the valley. I was so afraid that I would fall on one of the big rocks and break my ankle. Not a big concern in every day life, but certainly one when a person is lost and alone in the woods. I started to pray. "Just give me a sign if I don't need to go up this mountain," and then Freaky Incident One happened. As I started up the bank, two vines were suddenly holding me by the waist. I couldn't go any farther. Seeing this as a divine sign that I was a nitwit lacking in common sense, I got back on the path.

It was the middle of the day, and I was lost. Nobody at the camp was keeping account of me after leaving. My friends and family didn't know when I was departing for home. Would they know to look for me? How long till they realized I was missing? It wasn't a happy situation! I decided to go back to the car and stay. On the way, I passed the farmhouse where the irritating rooster lived. I was dressed with beads and feathers in my hair. That and the no shower thing, were certainly enough to frighten the farmers. "I'm just lost. I only want to borrow your phone," I yelled assuringly. There were two dogs at the farmhouse. They were not happy to see me. One was barking. The other was barking and showing his teeth. "Nice, pretty puppies," I lied, as I clasped a big rock behind my back. Disclaimer- I do not believe in hitting animals. I would only have done it if one of these guys were sinking their teeth deep in my leg. Now it was time for big prayer number two, "Lord, could you do something about the dogs." Nobody came out of the house. But suddenly, the dogs chilled out a bit. One wanted to be petted. The other growling one had hidden under the porch and no longer seemed like a menace. Breathing a sigh of relief, I started to the house...where nobody was at home. Seeing as how it was very hot, I drank from their hose connected to the porch. I think I even sat down hoping they would come home. But, it didn't happen. And, I headed back for the car, petting the dogs on the way out.

Back at the car against the tree, things were glum. I was settling down for the night. I thought I could use the headlights to signal help, that is if anyone knew to look for me. I also imagined what my boss would say when they ran my picture on the front of the newspaper, feathers and all: "Local Woman Rescued after Three Fearful Nights in the Woods." The water and food, were getting lower.

I read and tried to sleep, and thought. I was reading "Deliverance," and that probably wasn't a good idea. I did some writing in the diary I had brought. At the camp, we heard a Native American story about fairy like creatures who rescued lost children from the woods. "I wish somebody would rescue me," I pouted. "But, that aint gonna happen. I'm stuck till the search party arrives."

I thought I would try one more walk out, despite the heat. I was carefully avoiding the rocks in the road, when a blond young man in a white truck drove up. Fearful of the natives, remember I was reading "Deliverance," I cringed. "So, did you hear me yelling?" I asked. The man said no, he hadn't heard me, he was a camper and going to town. The thought that there was no "town" on the road, only the open field, did not occur to me.

I told him I was lost and told him my name. But, he didn't tell me his. He wasn't sneaky about it, just kind of evasive. I still didn't feel comfortable enough to jump in the truck, even if it meant spending the night in the woods. He told me where he was from. It was the same as my original home town! "This is odd," I thought. "Maybe, if I can chat him up, he won't want to kidnap and kill me." Then he told me that his family owned land in those woods as well as in another state. My family owned land in the same state! We seemed to have a lot in common and he seemed nice enough. So, I got in the truck. He told me that the people at the farm house would have helped me, but they were not at home. He told me the logging road led to the field and then to a small graveyard.

I got a better look at my rescuer. He was handsome in a clean, plain way. I remember thinking that unlike me, he didn't look like he had came out of the woods. I told him that I didn't get into trucks with strange men. He said I could ride in the back. I said that was okay.
On the way down the terrible logging road we passed a garbage dump. "I saw lots of pretty birds up there. I was afraid of bears or cougars. Do you see cougars?" I asked. He mentioned something about hating how people destroy nature as we passed the trash heap. He seemed quit adamant about it. I looked for a wedding ring. We rode to camp.

To make a long story short.... I called my family and worried them. I called a tow truck. The camp directors gave me something to balance my aura. (They said it was for people lost in the woods, but I was sneaky and read the bottle when nobody was around. It said "Aura Balancer.) I sat and talked till the tow truck arrived. Nobody got a good look at the young man who brought me. They asked about him. I told them he was a hiker.

The tow truck driver was scary. I didn't like being alone with him in the woods. We were surveying the damage to my car, which wasn't serious, when the rescuer man appeared. This time he was wearing a back back and came seemingly out of the woods. "Just seeing if you are still here. I happened by," he said. This was not striking me as odd. I only wanted out of this situation. The tow truck driver let the other man drive for him while he turned around the car. "Hey buddy, can you drive one of these things?" he asked. That struck me as a little strange. "Oh...please don't leave me with the driver," I thought. And, the nice blond man didn't . He stayed and even drove my car back over the rocks. It didn't seem so bumpy. He said I must have hit the rocks and we laughed. He watched till I and the tow truck man were safe and out of site.

Before I left, I asked the mysterious man if I could give him some money for helping me. He said no. "My family would certainly thank you. Let me get your address, so they can contact you." "'Thank you', is all that is need," he told me.

I was so happy to be sprung from the woods. The oddness of it all didn't strike till much later. Then, I cried the rest of the way home. I started to ask questions like, how did the man know to find me, when there was nothing up there but a field? Why didn't he tell me his name? Why was he so worried about the animals? How did he know how to drive a tow truck? Why did he keep showing up at just the right time? How did he keep my car from hitting all those rocks?

You may want to stop reading here, if you are offended by Christian thought..... I don't believe in "smarmy type" angels like so many that are shown on t.v and films. And, I don't really care for collecting them or even hearing stories about them. (I can irritate people in this way.) But, maybe I had a real experience. I certainly feel that even if the man was not an angel, God had a hand in what happened. People I have told this story to have been certain that he was a true angel. I don't know. I just fell really blessed and grateful. I didn't do anything to deserve this kind of aid. I've thought about why I would be helped so richly and others are not. And yet, I made it okay through that day despite all my silly lack of common sense. I try to be kinder to people these days by following the teachings of Christ. I feel like Someone has "got my back."
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