Advent by Angel-light

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. – Luke 1:35

Each year, to launch the Advent season, our church holds an "Advent by Candelight" event for the ladies of the congregation and special guests. Several women host a table by elegantly decorating it for 8 place settings, including candles, of course. I sat at my friend Chris' table, which was beautiful!

Typically, we enjoy some hors d'oeuvres to start off and then sit at the pretty tables for dessert and music. This year, though, we had a speaker set the tone for the evening. To tie into the theme from the passage of Luke, Bruce Van Natta shared his experience with angels.

In 2006, while working as a diesel mechanic, Bruce was crushed under a semi-truck and essentially died. While hovering that fine line between life and death, he had an out-of-body experience and saw two angels the Lord had sent to save his life. He was in so much pain, he said it would have been easier to let go and be gone for good. However, the paramedic working on him kept him returning to consciousness, telling him to fight for what mattered. When he remembered he had a wife and 4 children, he fought. And stayed alive. And had a brutal rehabilitation, learning how to walk and talk and everything in between.

Bruce lives in the Wisconsin Rapids area and now shares his testimony around the country, giving hope to those who doubt God's love or His plan for them. It was an inspiring story – and far more detailed than I shared here.

And it hit home for me.

Funny how a date sticks in your mind, but it was 17 years ago today that God saved my life, too. No, there wasn't a major accident or angel sighting. He just put a major roadblock in my life so I would stop going down the path I was on. It was not easy to change directions, but I wouldn't be around today if I hadn't. Like Bruce, I had to be reminded that there were special people to fight for.

And those two angels make it worth it every day.