Coincidence? Perhaps. Fate? Maybe. What she determined was that it was a very positive life-altering moment when everything soon changed for the better. But she did not see how it had affected her until a few days later. This person, to her, was truly an angel.

Like many young adults, my friend had previously seen her life as worthless. She thought she served no purpose within the world since nothing seemed to be going right.

It probably did not help that she had been hurt verbally and emotionally for quite some time which is when the wall she put up had started to cave in.

Once she and her angel were introduced, she found God again despite having pushed herself away from Him for a few months. With this noteworthy “angelic” encounter, she realized that God had done so much for her without even realizing it.

She was enlightened after grasping the angel’s hand; her spirits rose and things did not look as bad to her as they had before. As a result, she also made a life-long friend. In good times and in bad he has always been there for her and she has been there for him.

Many people laugh when she tells them that she has truly found her guardian angel, here on Earth.

They either think that she is mistaken because only someone from above can take care of us and that angels do not walk among us or that angels do not exist, which unfortunately is what many in this secular world believe.

Modern-day angels are those who look after us, maybe perform a kind deed on a day-to-day basis. They tend to go unnoticed as we all hurry about our busy lives. They may not have halos, wings or bright lights emanating from them.

Angels come into your life when they are least expected and in unforeseen ways. God finds the perfect way of letting us know who they are, if we let Him, tossing them into our lives without warning.

Everyone we meet is in our lives for a reason; we may not know what it is right away and it could take years to find out why.

Since we are just beginning a new year, think of those over the past year who may have been your guardian angels, helping God look after you. Thank them for doing all that they have done for you, whether it was a smile or they made you laugh one day when you were down, or someone who has done a huge favour for you at one point.

He is everywhere and stops at nothing to make sure that we are all right, even if it means giving us an angel that we encounter instead of imagining what they look like and could do for us.

(French, 21, studies human resources at Centennial College and theology at the University of Toronto.)