Roses and Honeysuckle in the Snow
My son, Josh and I had been visiting his
older brother sometime last winter (2004) when this event took place. The
weather had started to get rather bad prior to leaving and had added several
alternate layers of ice and snow all around. This made the winding twisting and
very narrow country roads we were to travel a bit tricky, even for a 4-wheel
drive Jeep. Within moments of leaving and trying cautiously to navigate the
vehicle around one particular curve, the Jeep lost traction and started to slide
totally sideways towards a deep ditch just off the side of the road. My
immediate reaction was stated out loud, ‘God…I need you…’ The vehicle stopped
short quickly, and was in an acute leaning to the right on the passenger side
facing the ditch. Josh and I stared at each other while we sort of hovered there
for a few seconds; my foot was neither on the accelerator nor on the brake.
Then with the gentlest of motions the Jeep began moving back up onto the road,
as if something was actually pushing the right side of the car back up the
slope, sideways. It came to a rest when it was firmly situated back on the
road. Again, out loud, I repeated several times our thanks for His assistance.
Just when I put my foot on the accelerator to move forward again, the entire
inside of the Jeep was filled with the aromas of roses and honeysuckles. The
scents were so pungent that we had to roll down the windows a bit to get some
fresh air. Even the outside air was filled with the same exhilarating odors and
it poured freely in through the windows. I laughed out loud with a fascinated
awareness while Josh looked puzzling towards me and asked, “Mom, what is that
smell from? It smells like roses and jasmine or something mixed together” I
turned towards him, meeting his confused gaze, and replied, “That’s the smell of
angels, Josh.”
He grabbed my right hand and also
laughed out loud, with awe and astonishment.
I went on to tell him, while we
continued our trip back home along the lonely country road, that supposedly when
angels are around they can give off beautiful fragrances of many types. They
didn’t necessarily have to be from the ‘flower’ category either, they have been
known to emit numerous scents, including baked bread, cookies, fresh pine
needles, and such. We both shared a wonderful ride that night, smiling in
appreciation not just for the divine assistance, but also for the opportunity to
be enthralled by the knowledge that there had been angels around us and they had
allowed us to realize their presence through the power of one of our five
senses, the power of smell.
-Jan Thompson.
