Story of the Week, September 3 2010, Man on the Hill

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September 3, 2010

John White had moved west to Kingman, Arizona, where he was the general sales manager at a Ford dealership. “Sometimes I drove trade-ins home at night to see if we wanted to keep them for resale,” John says. He lived in Bullhead City, and not only had to travel a rather dangerous stretch on a mountain pass, but also watch out for unsavory characters known to also travel the road.

One night John had just reached the top of that treacherous mountain pass, when the used car went dead. “No lights, no power brakes or steering…” John recalls. Somehow he guided it through the winding curves, pulled it off the highway and came to a stop in pitch darkness.

Relief overwhelmed him. But he had no lights. How could he attract help? And what if he attracted a criminal instead of a “good guy?” It would be hours until the sunrise…

Awhile later, a police car came by, traveling somewhat slowly. John waved with all his might, and somehow the officer saw him. “I’m heading for a conference in Laughlin, Nevada,” the officer told John as he sized up the situation. “I can give you a ride to Bullhead City.”

What a relief! John couldn’t believe his luck. As the two men talked, John discovered that his rescuer used to be an FBI agent, and now worked for the Flagstaff Police Department. Even better, when they got to Bullhead, the officer volunteered to drive John to his door. “It’s not that far out of my way,” he said, and a few moments later, John was getting out of the car and turning to shake the man’s hand.

The police car pulled away just as John’s wife opened the front door. “I saw the police officer,” she said to John. “Is anything wrong?”

“Everything is fine,” John assured her, and told her of his luck in being rescued by a police officer.

“I hope you said thank you,” his wife nudged.

“I did, but I never got his name. Maybe I should write him a note.”
The following morning, John called the Flagstaff Police department. He was surprised to learn that no one matched the description of his rescuer and further, none of their officers were former FBI agents. They sent John to the highway patrol, who sent him to the sheriff’s department, with the same results. Had he misunderstood? No, he remembered that conversation, almost word for word. “If it hadnt been for my wife, who also saw me getting out of the police car, I might have thought I was losing my mind,” John says. But now, there was nothing left to do.

About six months later, it dawned on John that the man could have been a guardian angel. “Maybe I would have been killed on that mountain road, by a car or a group of robbers, but God had other things for me to do,” he says today. John has become a Christian, trying to bring others to the joy that he now knows. As for the police officer, he did say that he “worked” for the police department. Let’s hope many angels do.