Angels Among the Bean Dip

It was ten years ago this summer that I had an encounter with an angel. I'm not talking about a good looking woman; I'm talking about a honest to God angel -- in a 7-11, of all places. It's a long story, but here is the Readers Digest version.

I had been unemployed for some time and had just received some terrible news about a possible job. I made it three rounds deep into the interview process and the signals I was getting from the company were all very positive. When the call came telling me that I lost out to another person, I was devastated. I can remember sitting there in a park wondering how I was going to get through the day. Our savings were quickly running out, all my good job leads had been exhausted and I had nothing on the horizon.

I walked to a local 7-11 to buy a Coke and was standing in a long long of customers awaiting my turn to pay. I spotted this little old lady coming into the store, She was very small, had an explosion of curly gray hair sticking out from under a hat, was dressed in very worn clothes but seemed to glow with happiness. Her eyes just seemed to shine. That's the only way I can describe her. There was just an amazing positive aura about her.

She came into the store, walked directly up to me and pressed a card into my hand. She said "you look like you could use this today" and turned and walked out of the store. I stared at her as she walked away and then read the card she had given me. It said: "Help me to remember, Lord, that nothing's going to happen today that you and I can't handle together."

I can't tell you the impact that this encounter had on my life. I am convinced to this day that she was a real angel and it changed my life. Several weeks later I received a call from a company with which I had interviewed months earlier. I was offered the job and I remain employed there today. It is, without a doubt, the best company I've ever worked for.

As I saw all those doors close before me, as I lost out on job after job, I never dreamed that God had a very special place in mind for me, but He did. And, it took that angel to deliver a message of hope to me in the aisles of a 7-11.