“Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Returning home from another stressful day at work, it took every bit of strength I had to simply make it up the stairs to my condominium. As much as I wanted to leave the feelings of distress outside my front door, they followed me inside, refusing to allow me a moment of peace. I headed straight for my room and settled in for the evening for my own little pity party.

I am sure that most of us have had a pity party where no one else is invited … just you and your worries and your tears. You lay on the bed or on the floor with a box of Kleenex by your side and let the tears flow like a waterfall, crying like a “travailing woman” (Isaiah 42:14).

My pity party was prompted by the great deal of stress I was experiencing at work. I began with questioning why I had to endure such great stress … when would I see light at the end of the tunnel. My questions soon led to deeper, darker places, however. I began questioning why I am alone. I reflected on all of the failures in my life. I questioned why God had allowed me to suffer. I saw myself like David as he prayed in the cave, saying “no man cared for my soul.” Why did I not have anyone in my life who even cared that I was hurting? Like the song sung by Helen Reddy years and years ago called “You and Me Against the World,” it was just me against the entire world, but I was missing “you” … it was only me. I found myself crying out like Job, questioning why I was even born. What was my purpose in life? As in Lamentations 2:18-19, my “heart cried out unto the Lord” and I “let tears run down like a river day and night,” pouring out my heart “like water before the face of the Lord.”

Before crying myself to sleep, I tried to console myself with one of my favorite verses … “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). When I awoke, however, there was no joy. My self-pity was still there. I fought the tears that wanted to return. I dreaded having to go out and face the world once again. While getting ready for work, I prayed for the Lord to comfort me and restore the joy in my heart. I needed to know that He was still there … that He cared … that someone cared.

Upon arriving at work, nothing was different. I placed on the best smile I could despite the feelings I was struggling with. By lunchtime, I was feeling no better, but I didn’t want anyone to know the battle I was having inside. We were scheduled to have a surprise baby shower for one of my co-workers, and the last thing anyone needed was for me to put a damper on the celebration of a new life to come.

Standing in the conference room where several of the ladies from work were gathered awaiting the arrival of the mother-to-be, I was greeted by one of my co-workers who told me that there was a delivery for me downstairs … a dozen beautiful roses. “Surely they must be mistaken,” I thought to myself. Who would be sending me roses? After all, no one cared. I am not dating anyone and, therefore, there is no significant other who would send me roses to lift my spirits. No one in my family has ever thought to send me roses. They rarely even call to say hello.

Moments later, another co-worker poked her head into the room to tell me she had brought the roses upstairs so I could see them. Stepping outside the conference room door, there sat a beautiful arrangement of peach-colored roses. My friend was right. Someone had sent me a dozen roses, but who? I allowed my friend the honor of opening the card to satisfy her curiosity. What she didn’t realize is that I was just as curious as she was! Opening the card, no one’s curiosity was satisfied. The roses were sent by “A Secret Admirer.” That led to a great deal of speculation as to who the roses might be from. The only person I could imagine they might be from was a gentleman I had met several days before, but we had only seen each other once and I couldn’t imagine him sending me a single rose, much less a dozen roses. I decided I would simply call the florist after the baby shower was over to find out just how my “Secret Admirer” was.

When I called the florist, I have to admit that I almost fell out of my chair when I was told the identity of my “Secret Admirer” … Peggy Vaudt. Peggy is one of my co-workers. For those of you who may have read my story called “Silent Witness,” she is the one who silently witnessed to me before I rededicated my life to the Lord. Her silent witnessing to me, and her prayers, helped lead me back home.

I immediately went into Peggy’s office to thank her for the beautiful roses. When I asked her why she had sent them, she leaned back in her chair and told me that she knew I had been terribly overburdened lately and that when I left the office, she knew there was no one who really cared whether or not I had a bad day. Peggy said she wanted me to know that she appreciated and admired me, and she hoped the roses had “come on time.” Little did she know at that time just how “on time” the roses were.

The kind, thoughtful gesture of Peggy sending me the roses deeply touched my heart. I am still deeply touched and will be forever grateful. What was even more touching wasn’t receiving the roses themselves but the fact that God had sent me an angel. God heard my cries and showed me that there was someone who cared. He cared. Peggy cared. He felt my pain even before I did. The roses weren’t ordered the morning after my pity party. The roses were ordered before my pity party. God placed it on Peggy’s heart to order the roses, and through His divine intervention, they were delivered right on time. Weeping had endured through the night, and certainly my joy came in the morning.

God then gave me another wonderful gift when I later learned the significance of the color of the roses. Peggy was not even aware of the meaning behind peach-colored roses. Peach roses signify “happy days ahead.” To me, this is a message from God. God was in control. God used Peggy to show me that there are people who care for me and that happy days are ahead!

There was no coincidence in the timing or the color of the beautiful roses Peggy sent me. A coincidence is a gift from God when He wishes to remain anonymous. God is my “Secret Admirer.” Peggy is my “Secret Admirer.” By the mighty power of God, she is also an angel who came right on time.

For more about Peggy, “my angel,” visit: http://www.themestream.com/articles/163325.html

“And when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border.” Numbers 20:16

Debra Penny DLPenny61@cs.com

Debra (“Debbie”) Penny is a single mother of two boys, ages 17 and 18. She resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where she works as a Legal Secretary. Debbie has a passion for writing, especially poetry, and has written countless poems on subjects such as love, salvation, and God’s grace. Following the death of her grandparents, she was also inspired to write many poems to comfort others following the loss of a loved one. She is a born again Christian, and her love for the Lord is demonstrated through her writing.