WHERE ANGELS WALK

Lou and his young wife Edith lived on a small farm in upper Michigan, the last mail box on the line. It was a lonely tough life on the farm, but the newlyweds were happy---they had one another and their daily bread. One morning in early summer after Lou had gone out to the farthest field, a stranger rode into the farm yard. He hitched his horse to the post as most visitors did, but failed to come directly to the house. Instead he checked out the barn, the shed and all around the property first.

Edith had watched him through the window with growing anxiety. Farm families were usually very generous with those who came by, asking for help. But this stranger seemed ominous, up to no good. By the time she heard the knock, she was very frightened. She thought of not answering, but he had looked around and probably saw signs that the house was occupied. Now as he knocked again, she opened the door just a little. “Yes, what do you want?” she asked.

The stranger peered at her. “Are you alone?” he asked.

Edith’s heart sank. He was strong, this man, and he could easily break down the door. In her fright she blurted out, “No! My husband’s in the attic.” To add force to the lie, she turned and called out, “Lou! Could you come downstairs, please?” The voice of her husband responded immediately. “I’ll be right down!”

With that, the stranger turned and hurried to his horse. Mounting, he galloped out of the yard. Edith was stunned. She had thought Lou was working way out in the field. What luck that he had come in at the very moment she needed him most!

Eager to tell him, Edith clambered up to the attic. But the attic, as always, was full of undisturbed dust. No one had been up there for a very long time. And as he reported to her when he came in, Lou had been in the field all morning.

Whose guardian angel responded to Edith’s call? Maybe it was the stranger’s, hoping to keep him out of trouble!

…..Copyright 2011 by Joan Wester Anderson. Published by Joan Wester Anderson, P.O. Box 127, Prospect Heights, IL 60070 (http://www.joanwanderson.com) by way of “Christian Voices” (www.ChristianVoicesWorldwide.net)