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When Thanksgiving comes around, many of us are grateful for families
gathering, good health and happiness. But there are many people that celebrate
gifts we take for granted. One of these is Ysaac Lourdes Guerrero of Central
Falls, Rhode Island. She is originally from Venezuela, is single and lives by
herself. And last November she had to buy a new pair of prescription glasses
in order to renew her driver’s license. “Despite the fact that I chose the
cheapest pair I could find,” Ysaac says, “they still cost about $260.”
About two months before the purchase, Ysaac’s car stereo had been stolen,
leaving a big hole in the dashboard. Now Ysaac got in the habit of putting her
new glasses into that space, since she only needed them for driving. “One day
my glasses disappeared from my car,” Ysaac says. “I racked my brain trying to
remember where they could be. I put my apartment upside down looking for them.
I stuck my arm inside the dashboard hole and touched the bottom. I even used a
stick to check better, but nothing was there.”
Every day Ysaac performed the same routine; checking the hole in the dashboard
without success. Sometimes she awakened in the middle of the night, and asked
God for help to find the glasses. “Lord,” she would plead, “You know how much
they cost, and how hard it was for me to pay for them. Could it be possible
that I will never find them again?” At one point Ysaac decided that it was
just better to forget about the glasses. But she still put her arm in the
stereo hole frequently, just in case. Once she looked under the car seat and
once in the trunk but she was only going through the motions. She knew the
glasses weren’t there, because the only place she ever put them was in the
stereo hole. To make matters worse, a new data entry program began at her
workplace, and although the glasses had only been meant for driving, Ysaac was
finding it difficult to see her computer screen.
One evening several months after the glasses had gotten lost, Ysaac awakened
at 1 a.m. The police were ringing doorbells and calling to people, telling
them to move any cars parked on the street because a big snowstorm was coming,
and the snowplows would have to be out. Ysaac obligingly moved her car to a
parking lot about a block away. As she walked back home, she realized that the
snow was indeed falling. Ysaac suddenly remembered something she had read long
ago: “When the snow is falling, angels are playing.” They must be especially
close to her now, she thought, picturing these holy beings dancing in the
snow. “Angels, Archangels, Cherubim and Seraphim….” She heard herself praying
as the snow brushed her cheeks, “please help me to find my glasses!” She kept
praying as she went into her apartment, and got into bed, not stopping until
she fell asleep.
The next morning, Ysaac cleaned the newly fallen snow off her car, and got in
it to go to work. As she reached to turn on the heat, she noticed something
sticking out of the stereo hole. It couldn’t be, but it was. Her glasses,
right where she had left them three months before.
This is a mystery, isn’t it? How could the glasses reappear? Even more
puzzling, if God was going to give her back her glasses, why hadn’t He done so
right away, instead of making Ysaac wait? Does He make us wait sometimes,
maybe to teach us patience or faith? We’ll probably never know. But Scripture
tells us to pray always, and Yssac certainly did that. I am sure she will be
praying this year as she enjoys the best Thanksgiving ever. Happy Thanksgiving
to all of you too.
© 2007 Joan Wester Anderson
For more stories of God’s
love, check the Where Angels Walk website at
www.joanwanderson.com.
Look at the Archives page too!
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About the Author: |
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Author and lecturer Joan Wester Anderson was born in Evanston, Illinois. She began her writing career in 1973 with a series of family humor articles for local newspapers and Catholic publications, and was a monthly columnist for two national magazines during the 1980s. She has published more than one thousand articles and short stories in a variety of publications, including Woman's Day, Modern Bride, Virtue, Reader’s Digest, and the New York Times Syndicate.
Her 15 books include WHERE ANGELS WALK, TRUE STORIES OF HEAVENLY VISITORS, which was on the New York Times best-seller list for over a year, has sold almost two million copies and been translated into fourteen languages. Published in fall, 1994, were the sequel to ANGELS, titled WHERE MIRACLES HAPPEN, and for children, AN ANGEL TO WATCH OVER ME. Both books were written in response to suggestions from readers, and were followed in rapid succession by three more in this series. FOREVER YOUNG (Thomas More Publishers), the life story of actress Loretta Young, was published in November, 2000. The actress had read the angel series, and requested Anderson as her biographer. The two became close friends. Anderson’s most recent book, IN THE ARMS OF ANGELS (Loyola Press) covers angelic activity primarily during the past decade, including stories of hope from the 9/11 and Columbine School tragedies.
Anderson has appeared on national television programs including "Good Morning America," "Oprah," "20/20,” “NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw" and "Mother Angelica Live," and was featured in such documentaries as "Angels--Beyond the Light" (NBC), “Angel Stories” and "Stories of Miracles” (The Learning Channel), and many videos. She was a story consultant for the television series, IT’S A MIRACLE, lectures in cities across the country, and has been interviewed on hundreds of radio talk shows.
Anderson is a graduate of Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and a former adjunct professor at Harper Community College in Palatine, Illinois. She and her husband live in suburban Chicago, and have five grown children and three grandchildren. |
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