Gulf Coast Family

by Joy and Jerry Lancaster

Have there been times in your life when you felt like there might be “angels among us?” This has certainly been true in my life on many occasions. Several years ago, we took Joy’s dad (known as “Poppy” to his grandkids) with us on a family vacation to Daytona Beach. He decided to go for a walk, and took off without telling anyone. He was missing for several hours, and the temperature was over 96 degrees.

We summoned the help of several families staying in our hotel and expanded our search for Poppy. After what seemed like an eternity, we heard a shout of “Here he is!” There he was, just standing in the parking lot of our hotel, although just seconds before, several people had looked for him there. He was soaked with perspiration, and was very confused.

After getting cooled off and rehydrating himself, he said that he had walked down the street and taken a wrong turn. He began knocking on doors trying to find someone to help him, but he was turned away. He said, “Then this guy pulled up in a pick up truck, and said, ‘Sir, you look like you are in trouble, can I help you?’ and he brought me right back here.” Poppy was upset because he never got to say “thank you”. He said he turned around to thank the man, but he was gone—an angel perhaps?

And now, we want to say a special THANK YOU to two “angels” who came into our lives recently. On the eve of July 4th, our dog, Harley, apparently got spooked by the fireworks and jumped our fence. To anyone who has loved a dog, you can imagine how we felt when he didn’t come when we called. We had our family, friends, and neighbors praying for his safe return. So we say a HUGE thanks to our new friends, Dana and Howie, who found Harley roaming their street during the night. They took him into their home, traced his dog tag the next morning, and called us. The funny thing is that they asked us if Harley sleeps with us at night. When we said, “No,” they replied, “Well, he walked right into our bedroom and jumped up on the bed, so we let him sleep with us.” Now we’re worried that Harley might want to run back there again!

Both of these incidents, and many others like them, challenge us to be someone else’s angel when we see someone in need.