~Angels Among Us~

August 1, 2008. A brand new month with a clean slate. To borrow a phrase from my Catholic grade school catechism in describing a new soul: clean, pure and new. Now, the big question: What will I do with it? How do I keep it pure, yet productive. How can I spend hours in the studio, yet have time for others? Time to do the things I was put on this earth to do?

I once sat at a wholesale show in Atlanta, on a melancholy Sunday morning. I had sent my sweet DIL, Jackie, home early, as there was not much need for her to stay for the remaining two days. Business was bleak. They had put artisans from the “Hand-Made” section in with the mass-produced Taiwan booths. Not good. Many of us were in the same boat. We couldn’t compete with their prices, their volume, their turn-around time.

I had arrived early. I needed some direction; some guidance. So I sat, eyes closed, head bowed. And I prayed. "What do I do now, Lord?” Sensing that I was not alone, I looked up to see Surrender, a 6’5” eastern Indian man who was set up in the booth next to me. No worldy description of his regality could do him justice. He stood with his feet firmly planted on the ground, dark three-piece suit, starched white mandarin-collared shirt, full beard, turban…….handsome beyond the heavens. Hands clasped behind his back, looking down at me with a fondness you seldom see in strangers, he said, “Carol, God knows what you need, and He will give it to you”. And as quietly as he had appeared, he left.

There are a handful of times in life when another soul says something profound. For me, this was one of those times. I have carried those words with me for 15 years now. There aren’t too many days when I don’t think of them and that kind stranger I met for a brief moment.

So I begin this clean, pure month with some questions, some fears, and the knowledge that God knows what I need. I am listening with an open heart.

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Hebrews 13:2.