Do You Believe in Angels?

Do you believe in angels? I do. I’ve heard many stories through the years about unexplainable events, otherwise known as miracles. Several of these miraculous events happened in my own family. This morning, I’d like to share one of these stories with you. The year (as best as I can remember) was 1983. At about four p.m. one afternoon, my mom received a phone call from my sister, Patty. Patty was spending several days at a friend’s house because her parents were out of town. This girl, May, was afraid to stay alone. At mom’s suggestion, Patty invited May to stay at my family’s house because she wasn’t too thrilled with having two sixteen-year-olds staying alone in a trailer located thirty minutes from town, but May would have nothing of it. She didn’t want to impose on my family, and her refusal nearly cost my sister her life.

The first day, everything went as expected, but the second afternoon when Patty arrived at May’s house, she felt a bit uneasy. She had personally run back inside earlier that morning to turn off the lights, yet several of them were on, ones she specifically remembered switching off. As she stood in the living room, trying to figure out what was going on, she heard her friend’s poodle scratch on the front door. That’s what their dog did to let the family know she wanted inside.

My sister walked over and put her hand on the doorknob with every intention of opening it, but right when she was about to turn the knob, the dog jumped up on her leg—from inside the trailer. It was all too weird since she had personally put the poodle out before they left that morning. She immediately locked the door and stepped back.

At the very moment Patty turned the lock, someone tried opening the front door. When the person couldn’t get the knob to turn, he started kicking his foot against the door. He demanded that Patty open it. When she refused, he began throwing his body against it in an effort to knock it open.

About a minute later, everything suddenly became silent. That’s when Patty remembered the kitchen door. She turned and ran through the trailer, reaching it just before the man did. When he tried the door and discovered it was locked too, he was furious. He immediately began banging and kicking against it. He continued going back and forth between the two doors for at least twenty minutes.

My sister was a very confident, level-headed girl. She didn’t panic at the blink of an eye. Yet that day, when she called mom, she was hysterical. It took over a minute to calm her enough to figure out what was wrong, and then, mom wasn’t sure what to do. If she hung up and called the police, she lost connection with Patty. Also, she knew the police would never make it to May’s house in time. She told Patty to get a knife or anything she could find to protect herself. She hoped that if the man knew she would fight, he might decide it was too dangerous and just leave.

As soon as Patty found a knife, my brother ran inside our house. Mom sent him to the neighbor’s house to call the police so she could stay on the phone. She hoped the man would be less likely to do anything if he knew Patty had connections to the outside world.

Mom could hear the man banging and kicking against the doors as he went from one to the other, and his fury continued to grow. He knew it was possible to break into the trailer because he had already broken in once that day, yet nothing he tried worked.

Mom said she could hear his blood-curdling screams and filthy words, words expressing his intents, coming through the phone. She said the horror of his voice and threats put Hollywood actors to shame. He was a wretched man. Each time he kicked the door, mom said her heart jumped into her throat. She could hear everything but was physically helpless. There was nothing she could do but pray. She prayed that God would send his angels to hold the doors fast so the man could not get inside the trailer.

After about twenty minutes, everything fell silent. Patty looked out the window and saw dust rising from the dirt road in the distance. All we can guess is that the man saw the dust rising and thought it was someone coming to help. It wasn’t, it was May, but he didn’t know that. After all, he knew that Patty had been on the phone with someone, and he probably assumed that someone to be the sheriff’s department. To this day, we don’t know who he was.

What is supernatural about this true story? When the sheriff did arrive, he listened to Patty’s story and spoke with mom via phone, but he didn’t believe either of their stories. Why? He took Patty to the front door and lightly banged his palm against it. The door flew open. Then he took her to the back door and did the same thing. It too banged open. You see, that trailer was as old as the hills. All it took was a minuscule amount of force against either door, and they knocked open. A seven-year-old child could have broken in without much effort. Yet that man, kicking with all his might, even throwing his body against it, had failed to gain entrance.

This event, along with several others that involved my family members or me, events that were physically impossible, is part of the reason that I do believe in angels.

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