Horsetooth Angels

It was just another weekday. I was walking home from working at Cinemark, and on this particular day, I was not feeling very well.

I had bottled up a lot of angst and emotion. Besides my daily struggles with my schizophrenia, I felt tired of having to, in my mind, measure up to everyone else at Cinemark and work as fast and as efficiently as them. I was also weary of trying to be nice to customers, who belittled me with insults in regards to my intelligence.

It was on that day that I walked to the Horsetooth MAX stop, a nearby bus stop that I had been to many times before. Just like many days prior, I walked up to that bus stop, listened to music on my Iphone and glanced at the computer screen, that showed when the next bus would arrive.

All was going as usual, nothing out of the ordinary happened, until an old man with a white beard came up to me with a few pennies and some dimes, and said…

“Here’s some pennies from heaven for you.”

I then said, “Thank you,” but for the next few seconds, I felt some substantial chills.

My grandma, or “MeMaw,” before she died, every single time she would take us to Wal-Mart or the grocery store, if she found a penny in the parking lot, she would pick it up and call it a “penny from heaven.” After she passed away, for multiple members of my extended family and myself, every time we would have a significant event happen such as a graduation or wedding, we would find pennies and always remember MeMaw.

After I met that old man that day, I was assured that Jesus and my MeMaw had collaborated somehow to find a way to let me know, that though things were hard, that everything was going to be ok.

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After work yesterday, I walked home from Cinemark to catch the MAX bus. It had been a fairly slow but enjoyable day working at the theater. I had gotten to watch a movie after work and have free kettle corn because of National Popcorn Day. All was well in my little world.

Walking up to the MAX stop, I listened to music on my phone, like so many days prior. I put my hands in my pockets and then waited for the next bus to arrive.

A few minutes before my bus arrived, the southbound MAX bus made a stop. Watching buses go to and fro was nothing new to me, until last night.

As the doors of that bus opened, a guy wearing a white tank top and torn jeans came rushing out, beating up another guy in a hoodie.

Stunned, I stood there not making a move, only glancing back to watch as the assaulter of the man in the hoodie hopped back on the bus and rode away.

After the bus went away, I walked over to try and talk to the man, but he was stumbling, walking around like a zombie, and was looking a little like how Glenn did before Negan killed him on The Walking Dead.

Not knowing what else to do, I called 911, got on my bus, and then walked the rest of the way home.

You may wonder why I decided to tell these two stories today and now, I will tell you. Both of these experiences happened at the same Horsetooth bus stop. In the first story, I had a bad day, and God found a way to remind me that I was going to be ok. In the second, God protected me from harm, guarded me with His angels, and showed me that He is real.

Isn’t it funny how we so often complain about and wallow in worries, sadness, and depression over our jobs, our purpose in our lives, or whatever we’re going through, when every day, in the exact same places, God is shouting out, yearning for us to listen to Him and learn from Him.

You may think God has abandoned you, that your life has no purpose, and that nothing you go through has any meaning.

Yet, the next time you feel down and think God is not real, remember and consider these words from scripture.

Psalm 19:1 NIV

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”

Thank you friends for taking time to read this blog. I appreciate each and every one of you.

Until Next Time,

Jacob McGowen