by Nelson Ray
Hi. My name is Nelson Ray. I'm twenty-three years old now, but the story I'm about to tell you happened when I was fourteen or fifteen. I hope this story encourages you and reminds you that God is always watching out for his children.
It was a rather warm day, and Sara and I were out walking in the woods up behind her uncle's house. Uncle Gaylon was Sara's real uncle, but I called him Unk, because he and his wife, Aunt Janice, were practically family. Sara had said that there was a real neat waterfall on up in the woods that had once served as a pig pen.
This was beautiful country: there were tall trees everywhere and the sound of a stream running beside us. When we got to that waterfall, it was so awesome that all I did for a few moments was just look at it. It was about thirty or forty feet high. It had a good amount of water falling from it, but that wasn't the neat part.
The neat part was the pig pen that was behind the waterfall. People had actually taken rock out of the cliff and made a pen for pigs behind the waterfall.
After I had gazed forever at it, we walked on up to the top of the fall. I wanted to look down from the top of the cliff.
We stopped to catch our breath; it was a strenuous little walk to the top. When we got to the top we looked around a little bit. Curiosity was killing me to look over the edge of the fall. So I walked over and got a safe distance from the end, so I wouldn't fall off, but still I didn't have a good look. So I edged a little closer and started to get a good look at the bottom. I could see the actual pen really well now.
The view of the cliff was great; everything was great. I could hear and see the water rolling off the fall and hitting the bottom.
Nothing could spoil this moment ... so I thought.
My feet slipped.
In that moment fear overwhelmed me. All I knew was that I was on a thirty foot cliff with a rock bottom at the end of it. I thought I was going to die!
You see the rock was as slick as ice because water had been running over it for years. It made the rock really smooth and really slick. It all happened so fast, and as fast as it started it ended. From behind, Sara grabbed my collar, pulled me back, and kept me from meeting certain death.
I turned around to look at her and to thank her for rescuing me. She was standing about five feet away from me. I said, "You saved my life!"
Sara just looked at me sort of funny, and then she said something I will never forget! She said, "Nelson I didn't touch you!"
I said, "I just felt you grab my collar and pull me back."
She shook her head indicating that she didn't.
I was numb. Someone pulled my shirt. It was my guardian angel, sent from God to protect me from certain harm.
I think about this often and the impact that it has had on my faith and life. I thank God for that angel. But more than the Angel, I thank God for his grace and mercy. He could have let me die, but he decided to save me. God sent that Angel to help out his child, and for that I will always be grateful!
Nelson