On Mother’s Day, my oldest daughter Anna invited our entire family over to her house for dinner. After dinner, we celebrated the birthday of her 6-year-old son, David. Whenever I’m invited to one of my grandchildren’s birthday parties, I go out of my way to find an inexpensive but unique gift that they will remember and enjoy using. I always tease them ahead of time about the gift I have for them.

This year, I purchased a “Backyard Safari Adventures Bug Watch” for David. A bug watch is a simple but clever item that has a clear plastic container that is attached to a watchband. The container is big enough to fit a golf ball inside. The top of the container has a hinge that allows a person to turn the top away from the container so that a bug can be placed inside the container. On the bottom of the container is a picture of a bug.

Anna and her family live in a house that is next door to my parent’s home. During the spring, summer, and fall months, her children spend a lot of time outside playing in the family neighborhood where I grew up.

Last summer, David spent time with my dad helping him plant his large garden. While they were planting, David became familiar with several different types of bugs. There were a couple of occasions when I was at my parents’ home and David showed me some of the bugs that he had caught. On one occasion, he had a few caterpillars in his hand, and wondered how long it would take for them to turn into butterflies.

After David opened the gift that I gave him, I strapped the watchband around his wrist. He immediately went outside to find a bug. Six of my 11 grandchildren followed him out the door: Kathryn (9), Mary (7), Grace (5), Harry (3), Peter (3), and Katie (3). At that time, it was about 8:45 p.m. Although it was dark outside, the front-door light was on, so the children were able to look around for bugs.

After searching the area near the front door for several minutes, one of the children found a skinny little bug that was immediately captured and placed inside the container. The bug quickly figured out how to escape by squeezing through the gap between the lid and the top of the container. I happened to be on the front porch when the bug escaped, and saw that the children were disappointed that the bug had escaped so easily. They immediately started searching for another bug.

I looked to see if there were any lightning bugs, but I couldn’t find any. The thought that crossed my mind was that it was too bad that it wasn’t the middle of June. If it were, we would see numerous lightning bugs and June bugs flying around.

When I realized that we were going to be outside for a long time looking for a bug, I said a couple of quick prayers to my guardian angel and asked him to help one of us to quickly find a bug. I wanted to go home, but I knew that I wouldn’t be able to leave until a bug was found and captured.

Within two minutes of saying the prayer, I opened the storm door to go inside the house. As I opened the door, a bug that was about half an inch in length flew into the house. I followed it into the house and swatted it with my hand. It landed on the floor and stood there without moving.

I immediately grabbed a shoe that was on the floor next to the bug and turned the shoe upside down over the bug. I then called out to the children to come into the house.

When David came in the house, I took his bug watch off his wrist and scooped the bug off the floor and into the container. I then strapped the bug watch back onto his wrist. All of the grandchildren who had been looking for a bug crowded around David to see the little bug crawl around in the container. The bug was a young June bug, probably one of the first June bugs of the season.

It was fun to watch the excitement of my grandchildren as they observed the bug crawling around in the container. My granddaughter Mary shouted, “He thinks the picture of the bug is a real bug!” A few of the other children giggled and agreed with her.

Over the years, I’ve gotten used to calling out to my guardian angel for assistance on a regular basis. During the jury trial that I recently wrote about, I reached out for help from him on numerous occasions. Just this morning, I asked him to help me find an item that had been misplaced. Within a couple of minutes, I found it. Every time I write, I ask him to assist me.

Whenever I drive to a destination where I know it will be difficult to find a parking space, I ask my guardian angel to go ahead of me and save me a spot. I learned that particular parking strategy from Georgette. When we had young children, she always asked her guardian angel to save parking spaces for her when she traveled because of the difficulty involved in getting our children from the car to wherever she was going.

Because he is a celestial spirit, your guardian angel never sleeps. He is always standing by ready to assi.st you. Even though he does a lot for you that you don’t see, he is available to take action whenever you request his assistance. But before he will act on your behalf, you must acknowledge his presence, have faith that he will help you, and then actually ask for his help.

You show your faith in your guardian angel by thanking him for doing what you have asked him to do before he actually responds to your request. By thanking him before he responds, you are showing superior confidence in him and God that your request for assistance will be answered.

Every time I ask my guardian angel to do something for me, if I have the time, I say the entire guardian angel prayer that I was taught when I was a boy — twice in a row, one right after the other: “Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.” The first prayer is said as a prayer of petition and the second prayer is said as a prayer of thanksgiving.

If I don’t have time to say the complete prayer, such as when I need his immediate assistance, I simply say, “Guardian angel, please help me. Thank you for helping me.”

Do you believe your guardian angel has the power to assist you with all your needs? You would be wise not to discount or ignore this powerful and influential friend who has great love and affection for you, and stands by your side day and night waiting to be of service to you.

SHARE