I had an experience several months back that still comes to mind many times a week, so I thought I'd record it here and see what kinds of phenomenon other people are running into around the world...
One rainy morning, very early (about 4:00 a.m.), I was sitting in my living room, reading. Suddenly, there was a knock at my front door. I was startled and went to the peep hole to see who it was. I saw a man, in uniform, and a sheriff car parked behind him. I opened the door and was afraid of the news he might carry. Was one of my grown children in trouble (or worse)? Had one of my animals escaped and caused havoc on the highway? Was there an intruder loose in the neighborhood? It's amazing all the questions that can process through your mind within seconds. I opened the door and the man said, "Did you call 911?"
What an odd question. Not because of it's nature, but because it was no where in the realm of thoughts speeding through my head at the time. His question totally caught me off guard. My answer was "No", but then I wondered about my husband who was still asleep in the bedroom. Was he, in fact, asleep or was he experiencing a heart attack and could only use his cell phone to get help? Before the series of unthinkable possibilities could begin to play in my brain, I thought I'd better get them under control and check out his condition myself.
"Would you like to come in?" I asked the officer. It was pouring rain, by this time, and something about him felt safe. He came in and stood on our rock entry while I went to check on Jeff. Odd, I thought, why doesn't he search around the house in case I was actually being held by some monster and had to lie about calling 911 myself?
Jeff was groggy, but alive and well, tucked safely in his warm bed. I didn't check on Tiffany, because I knew she wasn't capable of dialing 911 herself. "Everything seems to be fine," I told the man standing in my living room. He explained to me that sometimes phone lines have a weak place in their connection and it can cause a 911 message to be sent out to officials. Hmmm. I had never heard of such a thing.
The man seemed satisfied that I was safe and now informed. He left with no further conversation or advice. I sat down to process what had just happened and noticed some peculiarities that still stand out in my mind today.
1) The man standing in the rain had beautiful dark hair. He seemed Hispanic and his hair was full and nicely coiffed. I realized he had not been wearing a hat. Did I mention that it had been pouring rain at the time of his visit?
2) I don't recall having any Hispanic sheriffs in our small town.
3) The man's uniform was clearly visible because he wore no jacket. Who stands in the rain with no jacket?
4) The man stood on my rock entry for several minutes while I checked the house. There was no puddle where he had stood. No wet footprints to mop up. Nothing that indicated that I had just had a visitor on a very rainy morning.
5) Our buzzer that notifies me of someone is driving down our road never sounded. Not when he came, and not when he left.
I had a strange feeling that my visitor may have been something more than a sheriff. If he was, in fact, some kind of supernatural being sent to give me a message, then maybe I'd better check out what he said. When Jeff work up, I told him about the possible broken line and sure enough, there was a place that needed repair. I went online to read further about phone lines randomly dialing 911 messages when they were damaged and found nothing.
So, what does this all mean? Was I in some kind of danger that needed an angelic presence at that moment? Was he some kind of messenger that just wanted to alert us to household repairs that needed attending to? Was there an important call coming soon that I shouldn't miss? Was God just being a good Daddy and showing me that he sees me and my needs? I don't know, but I am convinced that this wasn't any run-of-the-mill sheriff's visit.
