Big Act of Kindness – While on the Road

By Holly Michael

My husband (an Anglican priest) and I often travel domestically and internationally. We’ve gone to Scotland, England, and India and all around the United States most often for ministry or mission trips. My husband is a giver, always serving others, always giving of himself – a true servant of Christ.

During a church-related trip to New York, we decided to travel up highway 1 through Maine then across New York, then on to Detroit to visit a pastor friend before heading back home to Kansas City.

Driving along the scenic winding highway along a rocky coastline, I grew enraptured by the seaport towns with their colonial charm. While chatting away, my husband was unusually quiet. I asked him what was wrong. Rarely a complainer, he admitted he had a horrible toothache. He didn’t touch his seafood dinner at the quaint coastal restaurant that evening.

We stopped along the way, somewhere in New York after purchasing some pain relievers. By morning, my poor husband was wincing in pain. He took more pain relievers and we drove on. We made it to Detroit just as the sun set.

After dinner and visiting with our friend for a few hours, it was obvious that my husband could no longer bear the pain and needed a dentist. Our friend said he knew a dentist in his parish and would call her for advice.

I was surprised that this dentist even took the call so late in the evening. She asked about the pain level and suggested we come immediately to her private practice. There, she took an x-ray and discovered my husband needed an emergency root canal. She did the dental work all by herself, joking about fumbling around without helpers, comparing it to celebrating Mass without altar servers.

It was the early hours of the morning before she finished her work and this kind dentist refused to take a penny for her services.

We are ever grateful for Catherine the dentist, now a dear friend. When away from home, on the road, God always send us angels when we need them.

“My husband, touched by this dentist’s kindness made a fabulous dinner (Indian food) for her family the next day.”

Photo, from left to right, back: my husband, Bishop Leo Michael, me, Dr. Catherine Dinka and her husband John. And front row: Steven, Jenna, and David.

My book, Crooked Lines, features a few angels that help a priest through his travels along life’s Crooked Lines.

Crooked Lines

Two continents. Two cultures. Two souls seek hope and a future.

On the shores of Lake Michigan, Rebecca Meyer seeks escape. Guilt-ridden over her little sister’s death, she sets her sights on India, a symbol of peace.

Across the ocean in South India, Sagai Raj leaves his tranquil hill station home and impoverished family to answer a higher calling. Pushing through diverse and challenging cultural and religious milieus, he presses toward his goals while wrong turns and bad choices block Rebecca from hers.

On similar paths amidst twists and turns, and bridged across oceans through a kindly priest, the two desire peace, and God’s perfect will. But vows and blind obedience at all costs must be weighed…And buried memories, unearthed.

Crooked Lines, a beautifully crafted debut novel, threads the lives of two determined souls from different continents and cultures. Compelling characters struggle with spirituality through despair and deceptions in search of truth.

Holly Michael, published in various magazines, newspapers, and in Guideposts books is releasing her debut novel, Crooked Lines. She and her husband, Anglican Bishop Leo Michael, regularly travel from their home in Kansas City to India. She lives in Kansas City and has three grown children.

Visit Holly at www.HollyMichael.com