Angels Among Us

     When I was younger, I was the world's biggest believer in angels. I had a ceramic cross on my wall with a little angel figure kneeling at the center praying, and one of my earliest memories is my mother telling me "This is your guardian angel. If you say a prayer to her every night she'll always keep you safe." (That may or may not be an accurate memory, but I remember it that way.)
     I thought that was the coolest idea ever. I loved it. I constantly would strike up a (one-sided) conversation, literally whispering to the cross, reaching my guardian angel the best way I knew how. Any time I was in a scary situation I would picture an angel right there at my shoulder, and it was impossible to be scared. What could possibly get me that an angel from God himself couldn't stop?
     Then one day, through an unfortunate accident, I broke my cross.  I slept on the top bunk and one day when making my bed I tired of climbing up and down to retrieve each stuffed animal, so I stood on the floor and started throwing them haphazardly up to my mattress. Which was all well and good until I overshot a stuffed cat and hit the wall, sending my cross crashing to the ground where it broke into two pieces. Afraid to glue it and make it look stupid, I gave it to my mom to add to the stack of things that would get fixed "eventually."
     Everyone knows how the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind. For some reason, without that concrete reminder there to see every day, I forgot to believe in angels. (Ironic, for someone whose name literally means angel, "messenger from God"). I stopped saying the prayer and I lost that feeling of protection in scary moments. I was scared all the time. I was convinced my house was haunted, I was afraid to be in any room alone, I would panic at night at the slightest sound.
     And then the fear expanded. Not only was I afraid of being in concrete places alone, I was afraid of being without a friend, without someone who understood. And I felt like I always was. Like there was no one looking out for me, like I was always alone. All the confidence of my earlier years was gone, and I was afraid.
     That went on for so long that 2 weeks ago, I couldn't have even told you the last time I wasn't afraid of being alone. Then, out of nowhere, an amazing friend came into my life and changed the way I think about things. One of the biggest things he did was remind me that there are angels among us. Not pathetic, Cupid-esque babies with wings but mighty warriors sent by God to protect me from harm. We're constantly being watched over and protected. "For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways." - Psalm 91:11.
     How awesome is that?