During the holidays I was visiting my family in New Jersey and got stuck there four extra days due to a blizzard. The day after the storm my hubby and I discovered that a snow plow had indeed been through the parking lot of the hotel, but of course it had plowed everyone into their parking spaces :-( I went to the front desk to see if they had a shovel or even a brush to clean the windows off, and amazingly enough, they said no. Hard to believe, because of course it snows there every winter, but they had no supplies for their guests. Granted some people at the hotel may have actually been from New Jersey or other northeastern states, so they may have had a brush or ice scraper in the car, but I would say it’s rare that anyone would be carrying the much-needed shovel with them.

Luckily my brother who lived about a mile away ventured out to bring me one of his extra shovels, and also a brush with a large handle, so we were able to dig our rental vehicle out. Afterwards, my hubby wasn’t feeling well so he took some pain meds, although by mistake he took the nighttime ones so he was out like a light. I decided that since no one else had a shovel, maybe I should be loaning it out to help the other guests—it just didn’t seem right to keep it all to myself :-) So I went out to the lobby and did just that. People were happy to see me, that’s for sure… Sometimes I would go outside with the person to keep them company (and keep an eye on the shovel, since it was a hot commodity, and I didn’t want to lose it!) The snow had stopped, but with forty-mile-an-hour-winds, it looked like it was still snowing since everything was getting blown back up into the air, forming very high snow drifts, and the wind was brutally cold.

After a while I went back to the room because I had to warm up. I had lost my gloves, and it was no fun being out in that frigid weather. Almost immediately after I sat down, my inner being prompted me to go back outside. I said, “Really? No way! I’m freezing!” But it was repeated….I needed to go right away. “Ugh, I don’t want to do this”, I thought, but I did. Resistance was there, but I moved through it.

As soon as I got out into the hallway, I saw immediately why I had been prompted to go outside. At the end of the hallway was the glass exit door, and I could see an elderly man digging his car out with his hands. Okay, so now I was smiling, not at his dilemma, but that I had listened to my inner guidance.  I know my inner being was smiling too.  :-)  

When I got outside I just stood there with the shovel in one hand and the brush in the other, smiling at him. When he turned around he sort of blinked and asked me, “Are you an angel from heaven?” And I said, “I think so!” He said, “Because I just said, ‘God, please send me someone with a shovel’” And I said, “Well I must have heard your call then, and here I am!” I just love when that happens :-) It was priceless. Perfect timing, to be sure.

The next half hour was a time we will both never forget. It turns out the man was a Christian minister, and we were able to share so much in that time about spiritual things—not always agreeing with one another, but listening to what the other had to say with mutual friendship and respect. He was such a wonderful man. I was blessed to meet him.

When he was done, we parted ways with a hug, and I went on to loan my shovel out to some other people. After that half hour I was on an energy high from the experience I had just had, so I didn’t mind the cold anymore! Finally I got back to the room and retired the shovel for the day. Mind you, my hubby had been asleep the whole time and had no idea where I’d been or what I had been up to, but by that time, he was awake.

He said, “Some man came to the door and woke me up, and I think I scared the heck out of him”, he said, chuckling a little. I said, “Why?” And he said, “Well, he said that he wanted to thank the lady again who had let him use her shovel, and I said ‘Oh, was she doing that angel stuff again?‘” I asked him, “Why did you say that about the angel stuff?” and he said, “Heck if I know…it just sort of rolled off my tongue…” He said the minister’s eyes got real wide and he said, something like, “Okay, thanks again!” and went running down the hall. I think he may have wondered if I was some ethereal other-worldly being at that point, but of course I was just playing the role of a flesh-and-blood human angel, with my cool sunglasses, leather jacket and (now-ruined) black suede boots. :-)

I’ve shared this story with a lot of people since then, mostly because it’s such a great illustration of the beautiful things that happen when we listen to those inner promptings. When we do, we find ourselves in the right place at the right time in order to create beautiful, timeless, unforgettable moments…

Fun! View/Download the wordle I’ve created that corresponds to this blog:

Resources:
HelpOthers.org
Random Acts of Kindness Foundation
Kindness Printables


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