Were Those Angels’ Wings???

It has been a super day, Lord… a super-natural day!

We are in one of our favorite places on the planet:  Pine Island, Florida.  There’s a sleepy little village at the southern end of the island.  It’s called St. James City, but there can’t be more than a few hundred living here.

A few hundred people, that is.  There are plenty more fish… and birds… and porpoises… and manatees… and stingrays… and… well, You already know, Lord.

Thanks to the loving kindness of two dear friends, we’re staying at our favorite little getaway:  The Two Fish Inn.  Only five rooms in this cozy little one-story bungalow.  Right on a canal, where our fishing boat is now happily resting after a morning of fishing.

We haven’t been here in more than a year.  We headed out early today, picking our way through mangroves off the main boat channel.  Looking for a particular place where we know the fish like to hide.

Most of the fish were still hiding.  🙂   But, no matter… I had a great time anyway.

All because of You, Lord.

You are always reminding me how what I see in the natural often reflects the spiritual.  You love to speak to me through the environment itself.  I love that, too, by the way!

We had the motor idling for the longest time, in “no wake” zones.  But I was not idle.  I was praising You the whole time, Abba… drinking in the beauty of Your creation and the pleasure of Your presence.

As we neared our destination, we passed three large pressure-treated pilings, all in a row.  Pressure-treated, to weather the elements.  My first thought:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Pressure-treated, indeed.

We rounded the last corner to “Our Spot” and I saw three huge white clouds shooting heavenward.  All in a row, just like the pilings.  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We turned off the motor and floated in absolute silence.  No other boats.  No planes.  No people.  Only the water and the wind and the bright sunlight.  The bright Son-light.

That’s when “they” came.  A flock of large white water birds.  Seven of them, flying toward us in a V formation.  Flying low.  So low, I dipped my head a little.  They were so close I heard something I had never heard before:  The rush of their wings in flight.

My immediate thought was this:  “Are there angels here, too, Lord?”

Three more such flocks flew over us in rapid succession.  All flying low, like I have never experienced before.  I closed my eyes each time, knowing I was being treated to a sound I had never heard before:  The rush of their wings.

“Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place!  I can feel His mighty power and His grace!  I can hear the rush of angels’ wings, I see glory on each face.  Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place!”

Were You just alerting my senses, Lord?  So that later in the day, when I couldn’t hear their wings, I would know You had angels there, too?

Later in the day, when a fall off a bike could have been disastrous… but wasn’t.

It happened in the best possible place — where 3-foot tall sawgrass cushioned the fall like a thick green pillow.  Where a sheriff’s deputy was driving by at the exact moment to see the whole thing.  He had already called EMS before he even bolted out of his car to help.

Thankfully, neither the deputy nor EMS were really needed… because You were already on the scene, Lord.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”  (Psalm 46:1)

But they were right there anyway, at that exact place and time, just in case.  Like the three pilings and three clouds I had seen earlier.  Reminding me of Your abiding Presence, Abba… and the angels You dispatch to guard us.

“If you say, ‘The Lord is my refuge,’ and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.  For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”  (Psalm 91:9-12)

Riding the bike back “home” to the Inn, I was thanking You and asking for Your continued protection.  I had no sooner finished that prayer when I looked down at the sidewalk… and saw a heart-shaped hole.  No bigger than an inch.

What is the “chance” I would see that particular hole in this particular sidewalk, at that particular moment?   🙂

It was not a carving, placed there by some human artist.  It was another of Your gifts today… wasn’t it, Lord?

“Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear.”  (Isaiah 65:24)

So thankful for what my eyes can see, Lord!

And for what they cannot see…

And for what my heart knows of Your Amazing Love..

Abba’s Girl

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