Angels Are Not Just Heard on High

Proverbs 4:18
The path of the just is as the shining light, that shines more and more unto a perfect day.

It is the day after Christmas.  My husband, Danny, and I are scheduled to drive the long stretch to my mother's house to spend the day with her.  Danny has had problems with an implant which, after a remarkably healthy run of five years, becomes infected.  Dr. T., his oral surgeon, gives it everything he has to save it previously in the month, but this ornery tooth decides to come loose at the most inconvenient of times.

"Martha, call your mom," Danny calls to me from the hallway as I'm sipping coffee and checking my e-mail.  "We can't make it today."

"What's wrong, honey?"  I ask in alarm.

"It's the tooth.  I can feel it wobbling.  It hurts to swallow.  I've got to see about this today."

"But, Danny, it's the day after Christmas!  Won't the office be closed?"

"They should have an emergency answering service.  I'm calling as soon as I'm out of the shower."

Danny places the call and waits.  After two hours, there's still no response.  What was supposed to be a shining and perfect day is fast deteriorating into one of doom and gloom.  In desperation, Danny scrolls through his most recent calls on his I-phone, praying that he hasn't deleted his surgeon's cell phone number from the list.

Miracles of miracles!  Danny finds it!  Promptly he calls and leaves a message explaining the situation.  Within ten minutes, Dr. T. returns the call and sets Danny up with an appointment at 2:30 that afternoon even though his office is officially closed for the holidays.  He has no dental technicians available, but his wife, who is a pediatric dentist, agrees to assist in the procedure.

We arrive at the office early; Dr. T. and his wife arrive on the dot.  We have no idea what holiday plans they have scrapped to be the angels we need in this moment, but they greet us with sincere smiles and Merry Christmas wishes.  The procedure takes less than thirty minutes.  Danny is relieved from his nagging discomfort, and we are free, all of us, to enjoy the remainder of this blessed holiday in uneventful bliss.

And we realize:  Angels are not just heard on high.  They live and dwell right here among us.  We know Dr. T. and his wife are devout Christians, but on this day, we also know that they walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

Danny sends them a heartfelt thank you note the next day.  We are both so grateful for their sacrifice of time, for showing extraordinary love and care for a patient, for going above and beyond the call of duty.

They are the just, shining their light full force.

They turned our not-so-good-horrible-miserable day into one of perfection.

Isn't that what God promises He will do for us when we ask?

~

Have you experienced a time when someone's sacrifice in love and caring for you made all the difference?

Prayer:  Father, we thank You for those angels in our lives; those who rise above the moment to tend to the needs of others without any expectation of reward in return.  They show, by being just and merciful, the light You wish us to shine unto a perfect day, the day in which Your light is perfected in each and every one of us.  In Jesus' name, we pray.  Amen.