Of Angels, Birthday Trips and Caterpillars  

It happened a year ago but remember it like it was yesterday. We were flying to Batanes for my birthday. The flight was at 645 AM and we drove to the airport at 3AM. Everything was dark and quiet. I remembered to say a prayer of protection as the car was making its way out of the subdivision. Michael, who was driving the  van we borrowed from my mom,  was busy preparing for the trip the night before. He did not get enough sleep so I was particularly vigilant during the drive.

 
When we arrived at the airport, we immediately looked for the airline counter for Batanes. The airport signboard announced that the flight was cancelled because of bad weather. (Again! That was the 3rd time it was cancelled since we booked the trip.) Mishca beamed. She was not looking forward to a turbulent airplane ride which the route to Batanes was notorious for.

After breakfast, we headed back home. The sun was just peering over the horizon. I was about to doze off in the backseat with Mishca when I heard a loud crunch on the left side of the vehicle. I immediately called my husband’s attention. Instinctively  he maneuvered the car to the right. Or so I thought. He fell asleep on the wheel and that split-second lapse caused the accident. I was sure that we had a badly damaged van.

 
We stopped the car and saw that our van had hit another van on the left lane, damaging its side mirror. Michael apologized to the driver and gave money to pay for the broken accessory. We did not want to create a traffic jam so everything was settled in less than 10 minutes. Before restarting the van, though, we turned to look  at our side of the van–no damage! Not even a scratch!
Michael told me that when he fell asleep while driving, something or someone helped him steer the wheel to the right. When we got back to the house, we surveyed the car again. There really was no dent or scratch, nothing to show that we had just been in an accident. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!
 
I reminded my husband not to overextend himself before a trip to prevent future accidents. It’s a good thing that God’s angels are on alert even at dawn to watch over His children.

HIGAD ATTACK

Three days before Zachary turned 2 months old, I took him around the neighbor for a little sun and fresh air. As is my habit, I wore my light blue wide-brimmed hat after putting Zachary in his stroller. As I was pushing him around the neighborhood, I heard something fall on my hat with a thud. Thinking it was just a bud that fell from one of the trees around me, I ignored it and concentrated on the baby. I was a little disappointed to see that they were cutting grass in the village so we had to cut our walk short.

 
Later that afternoon, Michael came to me holding up a black bead. “Is this yours?” He asked. I told him it must be Mishca’s. A hour or two later, he came to me again, holding the same black bead. When I insisted I had not seen that before, I asked him where he found it. He said it was on the vanity area below the hat rack. This lead him to go back to investigate further. Then I heard a shriek, or a loud man shout, as he would prefer to describe it.  He found this higad (hairy caterpillar) on top of my hat!  He  accidentally touched  a higad three months ago and had to painstainkingly remove more than 50 tiny needles that resulted in a very itchy and irritated palm. It was not a joke to be attcked by these creatures.

We then marvelled at God’s protection. Without my hat, the higad could have landed on my head, or worse, on the baby! If not for the higad droppings that he found below the hat rack, we would not have  known nor protect ourselves from this unwelcomed intruder. I could have unwittingly put on that hat again, touched the higad and suffered for it.
This lead us to marvel and ask ourselves, “How many times has God protected us from untold dangers without our knowing?”

Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.  –Psalm 91:9-11