A while back my seventeen year old son along with his friends were frequenting a local city hangout known as “Birch Street”; it renders a somewhat Orleans-ish atmosphere filled with small shops and eateries and lots of people. It’s not that uncommon for him to go out with his friends and my wife and I, for the most part, trust his judgement when it comes to doing the right things.
One Friday night he went out to “Birch Street” with his friends and about 11:00 I received a phone call from him saying he needed to be picked up. I asked what the problem was and he said the police were there and made them call their parents… it had to do with smoking and drinking.
I didn’t make him spill the details over the phone; I just picked up my keys and made the 20 minute trip wondering about the seriousness of it all.
I arrived at the top level of a three story parking structure and he and his three friends were there with the police by their sides. One of the police officers pulled me to the side to apprise me of the situation.
“We received a call that someone was throwing drinking cups off the top parking level here. When we arrived we noticed these boys sitting in the car. As we approached them they rolled down the window and marijuana smoke came rolling out. We saw one boy in the back seat trying to hide a pipe. The boy in the driver’s seat has been drinking. It doesn’t appear that your son has had anything to drink or smoke.”
Well, ok then. More than a few emotions went racing through me at that point. Pleased that he hadn’t imbibed in the illicit activity (at least yet). Thankful they hadn’t gotten on the road after their mischief. Pissed that he hung around with influences like this. Grateful they were caught before something serious happened.
When I questioned him about why the police arrived in the first place—that cups were being thrown over the side—he said he had no idea what that was about. He said it certainly wasn’t them and, quite frankly, never saw anybody up there. In fact, that’s why they chose to be up there because it was away from people.
Hmmmmm… now isn’t that curious. Somehow there was an intervention that no one seems to have witnessed. Why was nobody seen throwing things off the top level of a parking structure? Why had the police been drawn to that exact spot and interceded before anything really got started with the four boys?
Are there angels out there interacting with our lives? I firmly believe this to be true. God is good.
Greg Morton
© 8-29-2006
