“Do you know who that was?” 

Story by: Scotty Gray.

On a relatively warm (for Wisconsin) sunny day back in December of 1992, I drove my wife Laura, to the Milwaukee airport so she could fly down to visit her family in Florida.  We had our two preteen foster children with us, and after getting Laura to her gate, the three of us went back to the car.  In those days (before 9/11) you could temporarily park a car in front of the terminal, throw on the warning flashers and go inside.  When we got back to the car about 15 minutes later, I unlocked the door (with a key – no remotes back then), put the key in the ignition and turned the key…nothing but a fast ticking noise.  The battery was drained so low that it didn’t have enough energy to turn the starter.  I had AAA Roadside Assistance so I went to a payphone (pre-cellphone days) and called to have them come and “give me a jump.”  I had popped the hood, made sure the battery connections were solid, etc., got back in the car, and waited.  A couple of minutes later, I noticed an old dusty gray, 1950’s taxicab-style car parked directly in front of me.  A somewhat scruffy looking younger man in jeans and a blue work shirt (common attire for the “blue collar” worker) got out, came up to me and asked what was wrong.  I told him about the battery.  “I can help” he said.  “That’s OK” I replied, “I’ve got AAA coming.”  Back then, we were tight on funds, ATMs were still pretty rare (even if I had money in our account) and I didn’t want to have to dish out the $20 – $50 he was probably going to demand.  As though he didn’t hear me, he walked back to his car, popped the trunk and grabbed the jumper cables he had permanently wired to a spare battery.  He hooked them up and told me to “give ‘er a try.”  I did, and the engine fired right up.  He then disconnected the cables, put them back in his trunk, closed my hood and drove off.  Somewhat stunned, I asked the kids, “Do you know who that was?”  “Santa Clause” came the questioning reply? It was December, after all.  “No,” I replied, “that was an angel.” 

Hebrews 13, verse 2 tells us, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”