Our “Angel Joe”
Many years ago, when our children were small, I would take them for walks in the subdivision behind our house. As best as I can remember, when we had around 7 young ones at the time (baby to 10 years), I took them for our usual stroll with our older boys riding their bikes. They called a large incline the “Lion Hill” due to cement lions outside one of the houses at the hill. While speeding down, my 8-year-old son lost control and took a bad spill off his bike. He was screaming uncontrollably with pitiful tears spilling out of his eyes. As I was trying to juggle everything and feeling overwhelmed, I cried out to the LORD for help. A kindly-looking man seemed to appear out of nowhere with a shirt that had big letters:
J-E-S-U-S
across the front. He came to my aid and helped calm my son down, cleaned up his bleeding wounds, and set us back on our way. When I finished getting our baby settled into the stroller and looked up to thank him, he was gone! From that day forward, we always referred to him as our “Angel.” Although we had walked the subdivision for years leading up to that day and for years following, we never saw him….until about 3 years ago and 20 years after the incident.
Walking into an assisted-living facility nearby where our family has ministered for over 25 years, I immediately recognized a new resident—our “Angel” Joe! 😊 (We learned that he had lived behind the subdivision on the other side). We thank God for sending him back into our lives. He is truly one of the most kind and gentle men we have ever known. He has since moved to another facility closer to our farm, and every week Peter plays the piano or accordion, holds a devotional and prayer time, and visits with the residents there. Sometimes we join him. Our family had the honor of being invited to Joe’s 88th birthday party, and while we were there, the girls were asked to sing. May God continue to bless our “Angel Joe”, as we’ll never forget his act of kindness so long ago.
–KariJoy
