My grandfather had gone hunting one day before the sun came up because a bobcat had been attacking his livestock. After following that cat's trail all day, it had led him quite a distance from home.
He noticed a storm moving in but didn't worry too much because he knew those woods like the back of his hand. He did, however, decide to give it up for the day when it started to snow heavily.
After walking for several hours, he looked around to get his bearings but could see no familiar landmarks because of the blanket of snow.
Several more hours of walking, and still nothing seemed familiar. He kept walking because being still in a storm like this could be the end of him. More hours passed and darkness started falling over the land around him.
Still walking, he prayed that God would help him find his way.
Pausing to lean on his walking stick, unable to see his hand in front of his face now, he felt something big move beside him.
Grandpa was a big man, but he was a little intimidated so he didn't move a muscle. Whatever it was, stopped and kind of leaned on him for a minute. Then it moved forward a little and stopped again.
Grandpa stayed as still as he could, hoping that it would think he was a tree. But, he felt it nudge him, and thinking to himself, 'Lord, this is either the help I ask for, or the death of me', he reached out and gently grabbed a handful of fur.
It was about midnight now and Grandma was watching out the windows for her guy to return. She could barely see the edge of the porch through the storm.
Suddenly, grandpa fell out of the storm and onto the porch. And there beside him with just a head sticking through the curtain of white, was the biggest bear either of them had ever seen.
Grandma stared in amazement as the bear looked down at Grandpa lying on the porch and gave him a nudge with its nose. Then it turned and disappeared into the storm.
I believe that God sends us angels to help us. And I believe that they might take any one of many forms. This particular time, I believe, he sent my Grandfather an angel in the form of a bear, who lead him home in a storm.
What I learned from my Grandfather's experience is that sometimes you just have to reach out and grab hold of the help that God sends, no matter how unlikely it seems.
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