~Red and white. Those were the two colors I began to see form together when I nearly died just over ten years ago. They say that you see your life flash before you as your soul begins to slip from your body. And I felt it strong. I began to see a picture form even though my eyes were closed tight. I prayed intensely and possibly for the first time ever, to the angelic but invisible being that I call my personal guardian angel.~
It was my graduation celebration from the 8th grade with my fellow classmates. It was a beautiful, warm day in the beginning of summer and we all were to spend the day on the lake. Not to my knowledge, we were sent on the boat without parental supervision. I was about 14 years old. This beautiful shimmering lake I discovered was about 50 feet deep and we had lowered the anchor right in the middle of it. Everyone jumped off the boat and splashed in the lake, swimming around and laughing, enjoying the beautiful day. I love the water because one can feel so free in it. You are weightless due to the lack of gravity. Nothing can hold you down. I swam about with my friends when all of a sudden, my foot became caught on something below me and I felt myself being dragged under water for what seemed like forever. I don’t have the talent of being able to hold my breath for very long…not longer than about 30 seconds. I had counted the seconds in my head and it was a full minute. It didn’t feel like seaweed that had attached itself to me. It was a strong force beyond that, that seemed to drag me down. My eyes were closed tight but even so, I began to see a picture form. Red and white were the only colors I could remember. They made themselves vivid, swirling together and beginning to form something that looked to me like the day I first entered this world. I was comforted yet frightened at the same time to see this…comforted in the thought of going to Heaven, but frightened to see my short life end. In a quick second, I thought about all the huge life events I might miss: my high school graduation, a career, my husband, children…
I knew it wasn’t my time. So in that moment I cried out in the depths of my mind and soul to the invisible creature I knew had followed my every path in life. “Please save me! I know this is not my time.” Abruptly my foot was released and my face saw light again as I gasped for air. I finally made my way back on the boat only for my unfortunate situation to be used as a moment of excitement and laughter by my fellow classmate “friends” who I had thought cared for me. I stood there in humiliation knowing that I had nearly faced death and rather than any concern, I was used as an object of ridicule. I thanked God and my guardian angel for saving my life but for some time, I kept this miracle a secret close to my heart. I share this story to assure those who read it that there are angels, an angel for every one of us. They await our call. They only come to our need if we ask them. I don’t know my guardian angel’s name, but I am confident that he or she is there. But I know that my angel can do anything. Like my savior and God who saved Peter from sinking, my angel walks on water.