Three Times Blessed
When I was 13, my cousin convinced me to play "dodge the cars" and when I tried it, I fell in front of one of the cars. When I opened my eyes, the front tire was about a half an inch from my face. The driver was in shock and kept saying, "How did the car stop in time?" The man who pulled him from the car testified that the car was in drive and his foot was on the gas pedal when he got to him. I believe my guardian angel stopped that car and let me hear what those men were saying so I would know how close I came to death.

Another incident occurred when my son was born. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck several times and we almost lost him during the birth process. When he was in the nursery, the nurse was charting on the 20-odd babies born that night, when she heard a voice say, "Look up." She did, but didn't see anything unusual, so she went back to charting. Then the voice said, "Look at the Beck baby." She walked over to my son and he had already started turning purple and was not breathing. She was able to get help to him in time to save his life, but she couldn't figure out who it was that told her to check on him, since she was alone at the nurse station at the time.

The third event was when my daughter was 16. She developed a severe throat infection complicated by mononucleosis, and nothing the doctor tried was helping. This went on for five and a half months until one day I had had enough and decided to lay hands on her and pray a prayer of faith for her healing. She joined me in the prayer, and while we were praying she looked up and saw a man kneeling beside me with one hand on my shoulder and the other stretched to heaven, praying with us. When she blinked her eyes, he was gone, and that night she started recovering. Thank you, Lord, that I still have both of my children.
- Jeruseric

Someone's Watching Over My Family
I have had several experiences with guardian angels. The first was when I was 16 years old. I totaled my 1972 Pinto at 10:00 p.m. on a lonely stretch of highway coming home from my aunt's house. I had been at the beach all day, and I guess I just fell asleep at the wheel. I still don't remember all of the accident. After crashing into a culvert in a six-foot-deep ditch, my car bounced back onto the side of the road just as if I had merely pulled over. I remember "waking up" and knowing that I had to get help. The next thing I remember is being in the middle of the road (I knew this because there was a double yellow line between my feet). I started to scream because I saw headlights coming down the road. Then someone grabbed me from behind. The person who grabbed me was an older man who lived off of the road a-ways and who had heard my crash. The car I saw coming was a state policeman (who knew my mom because she worked at the courthouse) and a town cop (boyfriend to one of my friends). They radioed for an ambulance, and just a few seconds later an ambulance from the next county stopped by. They were on their way home from another run and agreed to take me, even though they were not supposed to. I got to the hospital in less than 20 minutes after the accident. I had split my entire forehead across; my skull was exposed. I had a severe concussion and bruises all over my chest and abdomen due to the steering wheel. My sisters, who were in the car with me, suffered from minor cuts and bruises. None of us were wearing seat belts. If not for an angel watching over me that night, I would have bled to death out there on that country road. I thank God every day for his help.

Many years later (in February, 1996), my youngest son, then just over two years old, ran out into the road from behind an illegally parked car near a handicapped ramp. I was coming down the ramp with a double stroller containing my twins, and he slipped by me. Before I could get to him, I saw him run out and a car hit him. He is small for his age, so that put the point of contact with his head hitting the bumper of the car. I felt like everything was in slow motion at that moment, but I saw the back "X" of his overalls lift up. Instead of going under the car, he whipped around and fell away from the car. His face was bruised and scraped, and he suffered from a mild concussion, but he went home from the ER later on that night. The lady driving the car said that she had suddenly slowed down, but wasn't sure why. She was still a block away from her turnoff. I know that an angel kept him from being killed that day.

The next time I saw an angel in action was in the summer of 2000. I had left a store with all six of my kids and was walking to our van. I did not know that one of the twins, then three years old, had stayed on the sidewalk because she was angry with me. When I turned around, I saw her start to run across the parking lot to me at the same time that a Jeep came speeding by. I screamed. At that moment, it was as if she hit an invisible wall. Her hands went up and her head turned to the side as she stopped. She missed the Jeep by only inches. The driver of the Jeep did not even see her and had no knowledge that she was almost hit. I think my family's guardian angels have been working overtime, but I thank the Lord that they are watching over us all the time.
- Sharli B.

Shoved from Harm by Unseen Hands
My guardian angel has helped me several times in ways that saved my life. Here is one of those incidents: I was by myself at work, as usual. I had just arrived to do some work in the interior of an empty home in a nice neighborhood. The garage door was open and my vehicle was parked halfway in. The door to the laundry room was the entrance into the home from the garage. I heard a knock at the laundry room door and went to see who was there. No one should have been knocking, that is for sure! I opened the door and there stood a clean, polite man in a business suit. He asked if Arnie was there. I said, "No, Ernie is not home. He moved." I thought it was strange that this man did not know the renter's correct name. Something kept telling me to STEP INTO THE GARAGE. And yet I kept telling myself that I should not step into the garage with a stranger. I thought the doorway of this home would be safer. I continued to disobey the repeated inner voice to STEP INTO THE GARAGE! Then, all of a sudden, I felt someone take the palms of their hands and place them against the center of my back. As soon as I had this realization I felt the hands PUSH ME INTO THE GARAGE! And out I went! The "businessman" suddenly decided to leave. I talked to Ernie a few days later and he had no idea who the man was. My guardian angel knew. I believe the man came there to physically hurt me and he needed to get inside to do it. His plans were foiled once my angel pushed me into the garage and within the sight and sound of any neighbors who might see us. The garage door was open. The garage was also 90 percent empty, which would allow my voice to carry if I had to scream. And I have learned to "listen" to the still, small voice. My safety that day came by being out in the open in view of the general public, rather than behind the door of a vacant house!
- Faye P.

"I Should Have Been Dead"
I was driving to work one morning. I had to take my wife's car because my truck was needed at her work to move some furniture. I had to stop by the lumber yard to order some doors, so I went to work via a different route than I normally would have. After I left the lumber yard, I was driving on this street and passed through one intersection, and when I got to the second one it was a red light, so I started to slow down. There were some cars already there waiting for the change of the light, but the center lane was open. I looked over my shoulder and changed lanes so I could be the first one in that lane. As I approached the intersection, the Beatles were on the radio singing "Good Day Sunshine," and I thought it was going to be a nice day. As I arrived at the intersection the light turned green, so I downshifted and started to drive through. No sooner had I entered the intersection than I felt this warm feeling come over me. I also seemed to see a bright light that was kind of fuzzy or hazy. I wasn't afraid though; I actually felt very peaceful. I also noticed a vibration in the car. From that point on, I don't remember anything until after the accident.

The Healing and the Stranger
My wife Elaine and I married young. I was just 18 and she 19. Those first few years were tumultuous, as we meshed into the comforts of each other and the relationship grew into a marriage. After being married for 15 years, we had reached that point of nonchalance, or maybe it was that point of growing in different directions, and caring more for oneself than the pair. Elaine turned to another and fell in love. It's funny how that will awake you to reality, one that turns your world upside down. However, I learned from my mistakes, and prayed to God that I be given another chance. Let's just say that God did answer those prayers, and we started new. It wasn't easy, but it became a good marriage again. Now, I am not a religious zealot, but I do believe in the Great Architect of the Universe and have had too many prayers answered not to have faith. With this said, I am going to jump ahead to the story I meant to tell.

It started with a trip to the beauty shop where Elaine had been going to Tina for eight years. Tina noticed a patch of skin, where there should be hair, on the back of Elaine's neck. When she came home, she asked me to look at it. It was the size of a quarter and innocent enough - just a small patch of smooth skin. We decided to make an appointment with our doctor just the same, because it was a little inflamed. We thought nothing much more of it. A biopsy was taken and we were told to come back in a week for the results. A week later, the doctor took another biopsy, claiming the first one was too small and the results were inconclusive. So another week passed, and this time the doctor's office called and suggested we both be present to discuss the results. We went together, hand in hand, to the office to hear words that anyone fears. Cancer was diagnosed, and he was passing us on to a specialist. The form of cancer she was diagnosed with was Cutanous T-Cell Lymphoma.

We went home with shockwaves pounding our souls. I went on a hunt to find out all I could about this form of cancer. I spent hours searching the Internet for information, and what I found wasn't too promising. It is a rare incurable cancer, and treatments proved to be ineffective at best. I shared the troubling news with Elaine, and all the visions of the worst cascaded over us. We went to the specialist, and it turned out he was the only one in the area who worked with this particular disease. He explained the details, reviewed the biopsies, consulted a partner and took another biopsy, and so the trips to Spokane began weekly. We spent that time numb, shell shocked, with the rug of life being pulled out from under our feet. Elaine turned to me, I held her, and all I could do was turn to God and pray, for it was out of my power to do anything else. So pray I did, constantly, asking for help, asking for a blessing, and we continued to go to the doctor.

More biopsies were taken, weeks turned to months... until one night, in our kitchen, I felt the need to lay my hands on the spot on Elaine's neck that was affected as I prayed. My hands felt the power as it coursed up my arms and filled my body with indescribable electricity. I knew something had happened, and I had to rely on my faith that it was what I had prayed for. The next week another biopsy was taken, and another week of waiting. Now, I need to share with you that I was riding my bike to work daily. I was on the road at 5 a.m. to get to work by 6:30. The roads were always vacant, and it was a pleasant way to stay in shape. On this morning's ride, I had more than enough to shout about. You see, the last biopsy came back clean - no trace of cancer, and I knew that my prayers had been answered! Needless to say, the joy was being shouted from the soul as I rode that morning.

I was peddling along on this desolate road, lost in my own thoughts when I heard a "hello." That "hello" almost gave me a heart attack. I mean, I was alone on a bike, riding on a deserted highway. I turned my head to see a stranger riding next to me. There is no way for me to describe exactly what made him seem different; it was everything and nothing. He wore a helmet on top of a stocking cap, sweat pants, and had a short gray beard, and was riding a Huffy. I ride a hand-built custom bike, and I usually look down my nose at a Huffy, but at this moment all I could think of was that God would ride a Huffy, because he wouldn't care about prestige or anything else. It didn't matter what he rode at all. Strange thought to have at that moment, but it was there. He passed me, and for a while I was behind him. I thought his riding was effortless. He seemed to be peddling much easier than I, but there he was ahead of me. We started to climb a hill, with him in my lead, when the thought that I was now following God filled my mind, and I swear I saw a golden cross of flames on his windbreaker. As we climbed, I slowly caught up to him, closer and closer, until at the apex of the hill we were side by side. Now, if you knew my route, you would know I turn off on the dirt road there and cut off traversing a dangerous bridge before winding up on the highway and the last part of my commute. I was going to say, "It's time for me to take a different path," to him, even though we had only shared that first "hello," when I knew that wasn't the right thing to say. Instead, I just said, "See ya," and made my turn, leaving him to go on down the road.