Back in the eighties, pop artist Amy Grant had a contemporary Christian hit with the song, &uot;Angels Watchin’ Over Me.&uot; The lively tune offered a serious message of hope for believers – the good news we’ve got a powerful friend watching over our shoulders.

I have always said it is a good thing we can’t see into the future. If we knew of the calamities just around the corner waiting to befall us, we might be frozen into inactivity, tempted to simply give up and not get out of bed – period.

So it’s awfully nice to know there is someone out there with us, even if we can’t actually see him – or her. My guardian angel was good enough to tap me on the shoulder last week while I was journeying to Georgiana to cover a story at R.L. Austin.

My old Dodge, which had been trucking along just fine from the fair suburbs of Honoraville, suddenly developed a funny &uot;whocka-whocka&uot; sound and a strange tremor.

I pulled off, checked the tires, even kicked them a little (I recalled all too well a couple of tire blow outs having started the same way) but they all looked fine. Maybe it was just my old road paranoia creeping up on me.

I hit Highway 31 again, but things weren’t sounding or feeling one bit better. The second time I pulled off, a little voice told me, ‘For heaven’s sake – stay put’.

My earthly angel, a kindly knight named Ricky McGough, later arrived in a shining red tow truck to rescue me. As it turned out, my tires were fine.

Unfortunately, one of the truck’s wheels was trying its darnedest to come off that afternoon. When I imagine what could have happened – well, I get little shivers down my spine. And I thank the good Lord – and the dear old guardian angel he has provided me – for escaping yet one more near miss.

Greenville’s Wayne Benson has found a guardian angel in the form of his younger brother Hal, who is donating a kidney to his &uot;big bro&uot; this week. If all goes well, the surgery will be done this Tuesday, and by the time you read this, Wayne will have a new kidney and a brand-new lease on life. Lots of people have been praying for, and, I am sure, will continue to pray for Wayne, Hal and their extended family.

As I have said before in my columns, angels may be of the celestial variety or of a more earthly nature.

However they come into our lives, they are a blessing we should appreciate and never take for granted.

Angie Long is a reporter for the Greenville Advocate.

She can be reached at 382-3111 or via email at angie.long@greenvilleadvocate.com