It is my conviction that we live in the presence of God and angels, and that we are never unnoticed.

Many years ago I was dispatched in an 18-wheeler to a booming oil town in Wyoming. It was late at night when I finally arrived and got unloaded. Now, strangely I felt something that night in that town, something I have only felt once before in my life. It was like a heightened sense of unease of – of tension. Something didn’t feel right, yet for all intents and purposes everything was as normal as any other summer night in southern Wyoming.

It was particularly dark that night, I remember. There was no moon as I started out of town. I made my way along through outskirts of the town on the quiet residential streets at the posted speed limit. All was calm, except inexplicably inside of me! I was as tense as a bowstring. All my senses were on high alert, telling me to watch out! And you know, there was not the least reason for it.

Then, all of a sudden, a small car – a Gremlin I think it was – came out of nowhere, darted out from a tree-lined side street directly in front of my truck. To this day, my reaction at that moment remains a marvel. Because I was so tense, I had expected this very thing. In one fluid instantaneous motion, I slammed the brake and spun the wheel. The truck slewed sideways. Now, we were too close to miss each other. I felt the impact! I hit him, but couldn’t tell where he was. The end result of my reactions was that I did not hit the car broadside, I didn’t T-bone him, nor he me. But instead, we hit side to side and he bounced off of me. Now, there’s quite a – a weight ratio, an eighteen wheeler and a compact car! I crumpled the whole side of his car and blew out the back window, but the car was otherwise unaffected.

I jarred to a stop, kicked open my car and jumped out; ran around to the passenger side. You can imagine my surprise as I watched that Gremlin speeding off into the darkness. Well, as it turned out, a guy in a pickup witnessed the accident and chased them down. He brought the car back. It turned out, it was a car full of teenagers – all drunk! They were packed inside that car like sardines. And – gratefully none of them were injured. The car was a mess, but they were unharmed. Thank the Almighty they were okay.

Their fate that night would have been radically different if I had hit them broadside. And if not for the inexplicable feeling of warning, I surely would have hit them!

Now, that was more than 30 years ago. I have reflected on that mysterious night many times over the years wondering where that feeling came from. And I have come to conclude after many years of thinking that Heaven was very close that night, and that warning was a gift.

My friends, I don’t know a lot of things, but I do believe we dwell in the presence of God and angels. He sees us everywhere, even in Wyoming, and loves us always.