I recently had a meeting with a lady by the name of Lanie Kozelski and she told me a pretty incredible story. After I heard it, I asked her if she would consider writing it down for me to share and she graciously did so. I encourage you to take a moment to read her story and I believe you’ll be glad that you did.

Chris

The  Stranger  at  the  Train  Station

I  was  preparing for a  trip  to  California where  I was going to bring my new  baby  to meet my family. However, that  never  happened.

Three  days  after  my beautiful baby  boy was  born, he died  of a  heart  defect.  I  wondered  if  I  could  ever  breath  again.

A  month later  I was in  California  for  about   six  weeks, where  I got  to see  God  work  in many  ways.  My biggest  prayer  was  for the Lord  to give me peace  and  answers in my  heart.   The  doctors  could  not  give  me  explanations  about  all  that  happened.  I  needed answers  from  God.

As  my  trip  was  coming to a end, I spent some  quiet  time with the  Lord.  I told  him I had somehow missed  the answers that I  was  seeking to my prayers.

It  was my last  day in  California  when  my  mother  walked  into the  room.  I ask  her  if  we  could    go to San Francisco   on  the  BART (Bay Area Rapid  Transit).  I  had  never been on this train and wanted  to see what  it  was  like.  After  we  got  there, my  mother went  off  to get the  tickets, while  I took in the sights.

One big sight was a man in the distance.  He was  running  up to people in  a  frenzy.  People were  saying no to him and  turning away.   Granted, he  was a little  strange  looking.  I couldn’t  decide  whether  he  was  a  lumber  jack or a  hippie.  Never the less  I was next  in line.  He  came  up  to me  ask  if  I  had  change  for  $5.00. I  told  him I  would look.  I went into my wallet and  pulled  out three  dollars and   asked  if  this  helped.  “Yes”   he yelled  as  he  went  to get  his  ticket.  On  his  way  back, he  stopped and asked how  he  could return the  money to me. I  told  him  to  “pass it on”.  Off  the stranger  went  to catch  his  train.

A  little while  later,  my mother and  I went to  the  platform for  our  train.   The  first  person I saw was  the  Stranger.   As  he  walked  over  to  me,  my first  thought  was:  Mister,  it was  only  three  dollars.  He said  to me,  “I’m  sorry.  I’m new  here.”  I  asked  him where he was  from. He said  he  was from  the East Coast.  “What brings  you here?”    I  asked.  “My  new  Job”  he  replied.   “I’m a pediatrician”.   “Oh,  I  just  had a  baby” came  blurting  our  of my mouth.

The  Stranger asked,  “Where is he?”   “He died  of  a  deformed  valve in  his  heart.”  I said.   “I’m  a  Pediatric Cardiac  Surgeon.  I  teach  abnormalities  of the  heart.”  he said.

With  my  heart  pounding,   all three  of  us  got on the  train.  The Stranger sat  next  to me, asking  all  kinds of  medical  questions.  I  knew  he was a real  doctor.  At  the  end of  his  trip, he stood up, put his hand on my shoulder,  and  said, “You’ll  be  all right.  This  will never  happen to  you again. Don’t  be  afraid.”  The  door  to the train opened and  out he went.  When  I looked  out  to wave good-bye,  he was gone.

“Mother,  we  have  just  entertained  an angel unaware”  I  said.  “Yes” she said. “We sure  did.”

I  got  great  strength  from that  Stranger.  He gave  me all the  answers  I needed.

Thank  You  Jesus for  answering  my  prayers.  When  I went  back to North  Carolina,  the  doctors told  me  I should not have  anymore  children. I  knew  better.  I  had  four  more  healthy  children.

PS:   I’ve  often  wondered  how many times   we  miss  our  blessings  or an  answer  to   prayer  because  we  don’t  stop  to  help a  stranger.

Lanie  Kozelski

March 28, 2014