Lana Burns' Angel

It was the evening after Christmas, 1998. The people in the foothills
of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia had had a white Christmas,
which was an unusual occurrence there. Lana Burns was on her way
home from visiting a friend. She had basically "stopped going to church
except for special occasions," she says, and wasn’t thinking about
much of anything as she drove.

Despite the snow, the roads were absolutely clear and dry. But as
Lana went around one of the many curves, the bright lights of an
oncoming truck seemed to come out of nowhere, headed right toward her.
"My instinct was to go to my right, and get out of the way of certain
death," she says, "but as I swerved, my right fender grazed a small
tree. When I felt the "hit" on the right, I jerked the car left."
The sudden motion caused Lana’s car to roll onto its side. The
vehicle slid in the snow, then flipped upside down in a field, several
yards from the highway.

Lana had been conscious throughout, and had found herself praying that
no other vehicle would be approaching, so she would not be the cause
of someone else being hurt. God had obviously answered her prayer,
she realized now, as she looked around. But she couldn’t get out of
the car. She was too far away from the road to be seen in the dark.
"And I was suddenly terrified that the car would catch on fire."

Lana tried to calm herself. She listened for traffic but the silence
was terrible. No sounds of a car, no footsteps crunching the
snow..how would she ever get out? "God, please send help," she
whispered. Suddenly, a man's hand appeared through the broken
passenger window. "Take my hand," Lana heard him say. "Everything
will be all right."

Where had he come from? Lana wasn’t going to ask questions. Instead,
she grasped his hand and an overwhelming joy encompassed her. "I
couldn’t see him, but his hand was warm and strong, and I knew
I was safe," she says.

Within a few moments, Lana heard the sound of people yelling to her,
and asking if she was okay. The first people on the scene turned out
to be a doctor and a nurse. The nurse climbed in the car through the
window and stayed with Lana until the paramedics arrived. Somehow,
in all the confusion, Lana lost hold of the man’s hand.

But she hadn’t forgotten him. "Where is the first man, the one that
was holding my hand when you arrived?" she asked the nurse, as she
was bundled into the ambulance.

"There was no one with you," the nurse assured Lana. "My husband
and I were the first ones on the scene."

"No," Lana insisted. "A wonderful man was there. He held my hand
and kept me calm. I want to thank him."

"Honey," the nurse told her, "there couldn’t have been anyone
here before us. There were no footprints anywhere near you."

Lana was confused, and on the way to the hospital, she tried to make
sense of the mystery. WHERE had the man gone? Why hadn’t anyone
seen him? How could he have known she would be all right if he hadn’t
even looked inside the car? "Why didn't he man ask my name?" she
wondered "Why didn't he call an ambulance or volunteer to phone my
family?" So many questions, all unanswered.

Then, just as before, the wonderful warm feeling of peace and comfort
filled Lana. And she knew. God had sent an angel to watch over her.

To the amazement of the doctors, Lana had no serious injuries, and
although her car was totaled, she went home the next day, safe and
sound, just as the man had promised. "Yes, there are angels," she
says, "and a God in heaven who loves us all." Even when we forget
Him, He will never forget us.

Copyrighted 2004 by Joan Wester Anderson.
For more of Joan's book excerpts, check her website here!

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