Hi Friends! Today I’d like to share with you a short, dramatic story. I hope it will bless you and give you hope.
Sheri
My Angel
By Sheri Schofield
“We’re going to visit Auntie Pat this weekend,” Mama announced.
“Yay!” I shouted, leading the cheers among the children of our family: Mikie and Donna. Davy, who was six weeks old, couldn’t cheer yet.
Aunt Pat had four children, Brenda, Cathy, Cindy and Auggie. Brenda and I were born the same year. I was eight and she soon would be, which gave us a special bond. Cathy and Mikie were six, and Donna was five. They were a happy little team. The other three, Cindy, Auggie and Davy, were still too small to play with us, but we liked to hold them.
We climbed into Grandpa and Grandma’s car and headed south. Dad couldn’t come because he was working. It was a long drive. After a fun-filled visit, we climbed back into the car to go home.
I remember Papa praying for God to give us a safe journey home as the sun began to sink in the west. I remember the blackbirds perched on the power lines along the road. Somewhere along the way I fell asleep.
The next thing I knew, I was awaking in a white room on a white bed, with Dad’s arms folded on the blanket of my bed, his head resting as he slept.
“Daddy?”
Instantly, he was awake. “Sheri!” He called for the nurse. “She’s awake!”
“Where am I?”
“You’re in a hospital. But I’m going to take you back to the hospital in our town as soon as the doctor says it’s okay.”
I was groggy. I’d been in a coma for a few days. I vaguely remember riding in an ambulance soon afterward and being taken to a room in the familiar hospital where Mama worked. I remember a nurse taking me into a special room and washing my hair, which was coated with blood. I remember looking into a mirror and seeing a scar across my face over my nose and eyes. I don’t remember much more afterward, for a nurse gave me some medication that made me sleepy.
Next to the hospital was a church. Our house was on a hill below that church, and I loved to hear the chimes play in the evening. But it was still the middle of the day when I heard those bells ring. I knew something was up.
Dad said he needed to go somewhere, but he’d be back.
Laying there in my hospital bed, I began to feel afraid. The bells never rang during the middle of the week during the daytime…except for funerals. I hadn’t seen Mama. She should have been there.
A nurse came into my room for a moment.
“Where’s my mama?” I asked. “I want my mama!”
The nurse, a friend of Mama’s, said, “She can’t come to you right now, Sheri.” She turned quickly, but I saw her wipe a tear from her eyes as she exited my room.
Now I was truly afraid. Something was very wrong. I could feel it.
Just then, a man with short, curly black hair, and wearing a long, white robe, with a white sash appeared at the foot of my bed. He did not have wings, but I knew at once he was an angel. He told me our family had been in a car accident and Mama, Donna, and Davie were now with Jesus in Heaven. I was allowed to see them walking across the lawn in Heaven, and they were okay.
The angel read to me from a big white Bible with gold edges on the pages. This is what he said:
“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
“And he shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
“And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: For these words are true and faithful (Revelation 21:1-5, KJV).”
The angel told me, “Mikie has been hurt very badly, but he will get well. He will not have a mama to look after him. You need to take good care of him, Sheri.”
Then the angel faded away.
I remember crying, but I wasn’t afraid anymore. I knew where my Mama and sister and baby brother were now. They were with Jesus, whom I loved and trusted with all my heart.
Later, Dad came to my room. He had been attending the funeral of our family. I’d also lost Papa. But the angel hadn’t said anything about him. I do not know why, nor do I speculate.
Dad said, “Sheri, there’s been an accident. God chose to spare you and Mikie.”
Looking up into his sad face, I said, “I know.”
“How do you know?” Dad was alert and a little angry.
“An angel told me.”
Dad stood up. “I’ll be back in a minute, Sheri.” He left the room.
My Aunt Sue came into the room. She had flown out to be with the family. I told her about the angel, too.
Nobody believed I had seen an angel. Dad thought a nurse must have told me and was trying to find out who had done it. Aunt Sue didn’t know what to think.
You see, our family belonged to a church which taught that when a person dies, their soul remains inside their body until the resurrection of the dead at the return of Jesus to earth. They did not believe Christians go to heaven when they die. And the hospital I was in was owned and run by people of that denomination. Everyone there believed the same way. There was no one who would have told me my family was with Jesus in heaven.
My grandma had survived the accident as well. One afternoon later on, I heard her talking with my other grandma, wondering who among the nurses would have told me Mama and the children were in heaven, for everyone working in the hospital believed in soul-sleep.
Not one person in my family believed an angel had told me Mama and the little ones were with Jesus.
But I knew what I had seen. Once I realized nobody believed me, I stopped talking about it. But I knew the truth. Jesus had made sure I knew it, for He had sent an angel to tell me.
I never doubted the words of my angel. And I have not been afraid of death since that day, for I know what happens to Christians when their souls leave their bodies. They go to heaven go be with Jesus.
Because I do not fear death, I have not been afraid to tackle difficult, even dangerous situations when necessary. For what can man do to me, when Jesus has promised eternal life to those who believe in Him, who trust and obey Him?
God prepares us for the work he has for us in the future. For me, it was a national battle that involved the Pentagon, Congress, the Congressional Subcommittee on National Security, International Relations & Criminal Justice, Congress, and the President of the United States. It was also broadcast on ABC’s 20/20 program and carried in the newspapers via Gannett News Services.
I wrote about this in the book One Step Ahead of the Devil, by S. M. Hausen, my pen name for this book only. I had to write under a pen name to protect my family. It is available on Amazon and at www.sherischofield.com under “adult books.”