Travelling on Angel's Wings

Submitted by lella on Thu, 11/13/2008 - 00:11.

My family loves to travel to foreign destinations. Or, to put it correctly, my father and I love to travel, my sons, when they were small, can be lured with promises of toys and amusement parks and my mother has to be coaxed into it. Of all of us, it’s my father who has been bitten by the travel bug the most. The problem is we are not rich enough to go globe-trotting. But we always found a way somehow. The most important part of our preparations for these trips is intensive prayers. Papa has a very strong faith the Lord will provide for all our needs and even bless us with our heart’s desires. He has been able to travel the world through God’s grace. Mama and I were even able to tag along in one of those hard-to-imagine-this-will-happen trips.
In the early 90’s, Papa and I wished the whole family can visit Australia. We have relatives and friends there who will gladly welcome us. That took care of the accommodations but the plane fare and the pocket money for my parents, my two boys and myself was another matter. Mama, ever the practical one, would not hear of it because there really was no extra money for the trip. Besides, the whole family had just been to Singapore the year before. But Papa told her that we will pray as a family and ask the Lord to make a way for us to travel. She agreed on the condition that he will have our lanai fixed first. It was badly in need of repairs.
Without a single cent in our travelling funds, we began preparing for the trip. At that time I was still working freelance for a travel agency so I booked our flight to Sydney. I got travel magazines for Australia and made our itinerary that included visits to all the tourist spots in Sydney (which was going to be our home base for this trip), Melbourne and the Gold Coast. We also called my cousins and Papa’s friend in Sydney who invited us to stay with them. We scouted for places to stay in Melbourne and the Gold Coast.
Out of the blue, an American lawyer called Papa, who is a lawyer himself. Papa was asked to arrange the travel documents for someone here in the Philippines who was needed as a witness for one of the cases he was handling. He was willing to pay the rate quoted with no questions asked. We wondered where the American lawyer got Papa’s name. It could have been from a roster in the U.S. Embassy but Papa had not been listed for a very long time. And there were other Filipino lawyers currently in that list. Even the lawyer was vague about where he got our telephone number.
So Papa contacted the potential witness and worked on all the documentations that were needed. He was able to finish everything that he had to do right about the time my boys were getting out of school for summer vacation. He got paid for the job and there was enough for the trip to Sydney and for fixing our lanai. There was not enough, however, for Melbourne and the Gold Coast. But that was alright because we did say we just wanted to go to Australia and Sydney was Australia enough for us.
We had a grand time seeing all the sights in Sydney. We even got to see Canberra and stay in a very nice hotel. Papa’s friend took us there and paid for the accommodations.
To this day we never found out about that American lawyer. But he called just when we were praying for the means to travel. It was like travelling on angel’s wings – spirit-led and free.

Bookmark/Search this post with:

lella's blog
Login or register to post comments

Comments

On angel's wings

Lella, great example on faith! I love to travel, so I felt your excitement every step of the way.

It is said that our guardian angels are so eager to do things for us that all we have to do is ask and believe.

Galing!

Submitted by Mica K on Wed, 11/19/2008 - 19:56.

Friends and angels

Maan and Lella, both your stories are so touching and shows that God indeed works in mysterious ways.

It reminded me of this quote I once read, "Friends are angels sent down to earth to make good days and help us find our way" .

Submitted by amgreen on Thu, 11/13/2008 - 19:33.

A Cherub's wing

When I read this blog I suddenly remembered one unforgettable trip I had with my mom. Dad organized a group tour to the Holy Land and Europe. As I didnt have too much vacation leaves then at the bank and I wanted to spend some time in my favorite city, Paris, I requested to just meet the group in Europe.

Mom who was originally supposed to join them in Holy Land decided to go with me since it was only during Good Friday that the Crown of Thorns of Jesus kept at Notre Dame, is shown to the public for veneration.

When mom and I were about to check in, the counter personnel noticed that the validity of Mom's visa to france was only going to start a day after we arrive in Paris.

We all forgot that her passport followed the original timetable which would have started in the Holy Land.

We tried to reach the GM of air france as we cant afford to rebook a day later or we will not be able to meet dad and the group in France. They will be using the motorcoach from then on to go around the various countries.

I cannot remember all the details but it took us a long time for a decision to be made as the embassy was already closed by that time. I think they tried to reach French immigration in Paris to give Mom a one day pass.

It was a risk the airline took. We had been long time clients of Air France but I was scared then as I cannot leave my mom. She was no longer that strong to travel alone and in fact uses the wheelchair in airports so as not to tire her much.

During the long haul flight, I must have prayed a dozen rosaries. There was a strong danger we will not be allowed inside by immigration as I wasnt holding any official request. At the time we boarded they have not yet contacted Charles de Gaulle.

Before we reached Paris, as I was about to prepare for landing, I saw a tiny white feather-like object on my lap. It looks like the photo below.

White was an understatement. I can't describe the actualy color as it exuded a different aura. I then remembered my guardian angel. Maybe she showed her wing to let us know that all will be alright.

We descended the tube at around 430 am, an ugodly hour. I went straight to immigration and asked if they got a note from Air France Manila. I actually cannot remember the answer but what I recalled was that he may not have any knowlede but when I showed mom's passport he just scribbled a note and stamped it saying he is granting a one day visa. That easy!

I then shed a tear and remembered our guardian angel who I think is still a cherub then because the wing was really tiny. I will never never forget that incident so each day I leave the house, I never forget to pray to my angel.

Submitted by maan on Thu, 11/13/2008 - 05:49.

'Friends are God's way of taking care of us.'

Maan, I got goose bumps reading your story. I'm sure that feather was from your guardian angel.

I just got this email from Tina Abuel, my grade school classmate. It's another angel story or rather it's a story that shows friends are angels without the wings.

This was written by a Metro Denver Hospice Physician:

I was driving home from a meeting this evening about 5, stuck in traffic on Colorado Blvd., and the car started to choke and splutter and die - I barely managed to coast, cursing, into a gas station, glad only that I would not be blocking traffic and would have a somewhat warm spot to wait for the tow truck. It wouldn't even turn over. Before I could make the call, I saw a woman walking out of the 'quickie mart ' building, and it looked like she slipped on some ice and fell into a gas pump, so I got out to see if she was okay.

When I got there, it looked more like she had been overcome by sobs than that she had fallen; she was a young woman who looked really haggard with dark circles under her eyes. She dropped something as I helped her up, and I picked it up to give it to her.. It was a nickel.
At that moment, everything came into focus for me: the crying woman, the ancient Suburban crammed full of stuff with 3 kids in the back (1 in a car seat), and the gas pump reading $4.95.

I asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept saying 'don't want my kids to see me crying,' so we stood on the other side of the pump from her car. She said she was driving to California and that things were very hard for her right now. So I asked, 'And you were praying?' That made her back away from me a little, but I assured her I was not a crazy person and said, 'He heard you, and He sent me.'

I took out my card and swiped it through the card reader on the pump so she could fill up her car completely, and while it was fuelling, walked to the next door McDonald's and bought 2 big bags of food, some gift certificates for more, and a big cup of coffee. She gave the food to the kids in the car, who attacked it like wolves, and we stood by the pump eating fries and talking a little. She told me her name, and that she lived in Kansas City . Her boyfriend left 2 months ago and she had not been able to make ends meet. She knew she wouldn't have money to pay rent Jan 1st, and finally in desperation had finally called her parents, with whom she had not spoken in about 5 years. They lived in California and said she could come live with them and try to get on her feet there.

So she packed up everything she owned in the car. She told the kids they were going to California for Christmas, but not that they were going to live there. I gave her my gloves, a little hug and said a quick prayer with her for safety on the road.. As I was walking over to my car, she said, 'So, are you like an angel or something?' This definitely made me cry. I said, 'Sweetie, at this time of year angels are really busy, so sometimes God uses regular people.' It was so incredible to be a part of someone else's miracle. And of course, you guessed it, when I got in my car it started right away and got me home with no problem. I'll put it in the shop tomorrow to check, but I suspect the mechanic won't find anything wrong. Sometimes the angels fly close enough to you that you can hear the flutter of their wings...

Psalms 55:22 'Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.'

Submitted by lella on Thu, 11/13/2008 - 19:00.