(In Life, Stranger than Fiction…)

It was April of 1997. Mobile phones weren’t everyday items, cars were not so reliable, and we were a young couple, travelling from Spring Harvest (Minehead) to my husband’s father’s house in Devon.  I wasn’t especially well – I had M.E., a chronic fatigue illness, and was looking forward to having a proper lie down.  But just a few miles from our destination, our little red Metro ran into trouble.  Lights flashed on the dashboard and the car lost power.  Hazards on, we limped to the side of the road and stopped.

     ‘There’s no phone for miles around,’ we discussed.  ‘What are we going to do?’

     ‘I could walk,’ said Rupert.  ‘But I’d rather not leave you here alone.’

     I’m sure I said a prayer – I can’t remember – but the next moment a minibus was pulling up behind us, and Rupert went over to talk to them.

     ‘What appears to be the matter?’ said the driver. 

     The explanation was given. 

     ‘Hop in, the pair of you.  There’s a garage with a phone not far away.  We’re just going there.’

     We were inclined to trust them.  What else could we do?  And anyway, what were the chances of that?

     They opened the sliding door for us and in we climbed.

     The garage soon appeared, we thanked the couple and phoned Rupert’s dad.  The couple then returned us to our car, where we were collected by his step mum.

     ‘See you again soon,’ the kind man and his wife said to us when we parted.

     Strange words, we decided later… We had never met them before, they knew we lived on the other side of the country, and we were unlikely to see them ever again.  Angels in disguise?  A part of me liked to wonder.  Once we’d settled in with family I looked up their minibus company and its location in the then chunky Yellow Pages.  They were not listed.  No chance to follow up with a bunch of flowers or chocolates then, but I like to think they’ll be rewarded.

     This week I shared my tale in one of my writing groups – our theme was ‘In Life, Stranger than Fiction’ so it seemed apt.  A lady present then told me of a similar tale.  She and her first husband had broken down decades ago, with their then two young girls. It was a dangerous road for a breakdown and darkness had fallen.  She prayed and her husband went out for help.  Soon after a chap came to their aid.  He happened to have a spare car battery that he’d fit for them, and a flask of homemade soup was provided for all the family.

     ‘That reminds me of a similar experience,’ said another member of the group.  She and her husband broke down just near Stonehenge, with no means of rescue.  (Again, we’re in the decades of unreliable cars and no mobile phones).  ‘A car pulled up to let their dog out and give him a drink,’ she said.  ‘Our car needed water – they gave us the bottle and we topped it up.  The radiator was sorted and off we went.’

     In these days of bleak news stories, I wonder if you have some tale of rescue? Please do share.

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For an uplifting (and Biblically sound) book of testimonies on heavenly intervention, read Angels by Hope Price. Modern day appearances of angels in both human and angelic form, angels in history, on the roads, in wartime and more!