You never know when you will be touched by an angel. Scripture assures us that ‘God will put His angels in charge of you’ (Matthew 4:6). His guardian angels often surprise us by coming to our aid in the most unexpected and timely ways.

Following is a story by Alexandra McAdam of her miraculous encounter with a guardian angel.

“Working as I did in Greenwich Village I had frequent encounters with panhandlers. One evening, I was standing outside my office building on Twelfth Street and Broadway, waiting for my husband to pick me up by car. ‘Please, ma’am, can you spare some change?’ The voice, soft and entreating, broke into my thoughts. Before me stood a man in tattered clothes, his manner mild, apologetic, his eyes kind and sweet. Despite the harshness of his life, his face was radiant. There was a certain aura about him that made me feel safe. I knew instantly I had to help him so I dug into my pocketbook and began to pull out a dollar bill. It was nestled close to a five. I began to feel the tension of a conflict between the two, but I gave him the five. His mouth crinkled into a large grin, and his eyes lit up.

‘Oh thank you, ma’am!’ he said effusively. ‘You don’t know how much this means to me. I haven’t eaten a decent meal for days.’

“I nodded my head in acknowledgement and he began to walk away. A minute later, he made a U-turn and wheeled back to my side. ‘I want to thank you again and shake your hand,’ he announced magnanimously, extending his arm in an almost chivalrous way. ‘What’s your name?’ he asked softly. I trusted this man and for some strange reason I still can’t fathom, I told him that my name was Alexandra. ‘Alexandra,’ he mused. ‘I’ll never forget you, Alexandra. My name is James. I’m sure we’ll meet again one day.’

“Two years later, deeply engrossed in my thoughts, I stepped off a curb at a busy intersection at Broadway and Forty-second Street. A horn blared as I stepped right into the path of an oncoming car. Suddenly, I felt a strong hand pull me away and back up to the curb. The car whizzed by, just inches from where I had stood a second earlier. I turned around to face my wonderful benefactor.

“It was James.

“I gazed at James in disbelief, stricken to the core of my being. He didn’t seem to share my surprise at all. “I told you we would meet again,” he smiled sweetly. He stretched out his hand once again – the hand into which I had tentatively dropped the five-dollar bill, the hand that I had shaken with such unease, the hand that had saved my life. We shook hands once again.

And then, James, my guardian angel, melted into the crowd.”