I have a message for you.

Growing up, my grandmother Manuela, my mom’s mom, used to tell me to listen and pray. If I were ever at a point where I was struggling with a decision she would tell me, “listen and pray.” She would tell me that someone is always out there, watching over us. She would say that we might not know it, but someone is out there, making sure we are either on the right path or we are guided to where we are supposed to be. 

For almost a year now I have been struggling. I have been going back and forth on a decision that will change and evolve what I do. In the past, I have been met with decisions that were pretty easy. They were right in front of my face, and I knew it was the right thing to do. There are other times when decisions have come into play where they will shape the next chapter of my life. We all face these moments. They can be scary, but sometimes you have to “listen and pray.”

A few weeks ago I experienced something that I can’t fully explain. I can tell you this, the decision that I have been struggling with for almost a year now was made clear. I’m grateful for that, but let me tell you, I was not expecting what I got. I was invited to an event. It was something that happened overnight and I was on my way from Indiana to Pennsylvania. It is rare that I fly out of Fort Wayne, but because this was last minute I did not get a chance to fly out of Detroit. I woke up very early that morning. My connecting flight was in Atlanta, one of the busiest airports around.

When I arrived I had a couple of hours to kill so I stopped for a bagel sandwich, but the machines were not working so it was onto the next best thing. A breakfast of runners-up, pizza. It was actually pretty good for eight in the morning. Once I finished up, I realized I had not been paying attention to the time, and I had to run to my gate. I arrived just as my zone was boarding. Once we were all boarded and ready to go the captain walked out to address us. In my experience flying, the intercom is used for announcements, but this one was special. 

“Ladies and gentlemen. I apologize, but I have just been given some information that if I had known before boarding I would’ve never allowed anyone to board.”

My eyes popped open and I looked around to see everyone else’s faces. 

“We have to deplane momentarily because there is an insect infestation on this plane.”

I quickly picked up my backpack and began to inspect it. A girl behind me laughed and I turned to look at her. 

“As soon as I saw you do that I started looking at my bag too,” she laughed. 

I laughed back and replied, “Just in case.”

The captain walked back into the cockpit and shut the door. The flight attendant spoke over the intercom for those in the back.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we will deplane shortly as there are gnats on the plane.”

Everyone around me scoffed. I thought, “Gnats…? Come on, that’s nothing.” 

“The gnats are biting passengers so we need to deplane.”

“OH!” I thought.

Everyone nodded in agreement that we should get off. 

Once we did I sat at the gate to wait. I started feeling all itchy. I looked at my wrist. “Is that a bite? Wait, is that a bite?” It wasn’t but my mind was playing tricks on me as I’m sure many of you have experienced when you see or hear creepy crawlies and you feel itchy. It happens. The delay went from thirty minutes to an hour. The issue was bad enough that we needed a completely different plane. I had already let the event folks know that I was going to be running late because of the gnats. 

“No problem,” I was told. I felt good, but I was still thinking about this big decision. 

“Am I doing the right thing?”

“Am I where I am supposed to be?”

“Will people look at me differently or judge me?”

All kinds of thoughts were going through my head. I started to pray and I was ready to listen. I just needed an answer. An obvious answer. That’s it! That’s all I needed. Please give me a sign. 

When I arrived at my destination I waited outside of the airport for my Uber to arrive. It would be about a thirty-five minute drive. I was exhausted from traveling and all I wanted to do was relax in the car in silence. My Uber driver arrived, we said hello, I entered the vehicle and I didn’t say a word. About twenty-five minutes in I noticed that my driver was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. He sighed a few times and I felt like he wanted to chat. We had been in silence too long. I noticed that we had not jumped on the highway and that we were in a pretty rural area. It was all back roads and I finally broke the silence. 

“Is this place out in the middle of nowhere?” 

“Yeah… pretty much. Are you here for the whole week?”

I could feel the driver begin to relax a little now that we were talking.

“No. I’m actually here until tomorrow. I was invited to an event,” I explained.

“That’s awesome! What do you do?”

I told the Uber driver about my time in dispatch, the podcast, the #IAM911 movement, Imagine Listening, and that I teach. He told me that he used to work at a jail, but left to run a security company, and that he also teaches. The topic he teaches is on liability but liability at night clubs. He has also taught his class to local law enforcement. 

He says to me, “Man, I can’t imagine the things you have heard and that others have heard. I can imagine that the screams stay with you. You don’t have to be there to see it because you are seeing all that you hear in your head.”

I thought, “Man, this guy gets it. He really gets it.” I felt pretty comfortable talking to him at this point. 

He goes on to say, “You know, it takes a special person to do what you guys do, what you did all those years, but it also takes a special person to do what you do now. You help these people see their worth and how much it can help them to tell their stories.”

I said thank you and I told him that I am a firm believer in the power of storytelling, how therapeutic it can be to share, when one is ready to share, and that some calls are meant for us. I then told him the story about my grandmother, and how when she passed away that I was the one to take the call.

As I told him the story he said, “LOOK BROTHER, LOOK!”

I looked down at his arm that was resting on the console and he had goosebumps.

“I’ve got goosebumps all over brother. Keep going.”

I continue the story and when I finish I tell him, “My grandmother and I were close. She was a great storyteller and I feel that I get it from her, and you know what man? The whole thing was poetic in a way because she lived with my mom and dad before my siblings and I were born so it was fitting that she was there for me in the beginning and I was there for her in the end.”

“Brother look,” he said again. 

He displayed goosebumps once again. I can’t explain it but something powerful was going on. 

He then nodded his head and said, “I have a message for you.”

“Yeah,” I asked. 

“Yes brother. I have a message for you but I am not going to tell you until we get there.”

We were just around the corner at this point. 

“I do want to tell you this right now though. You know how you said that some calls are meant for you guys? Well, you’re right. That call was meant for you. That was your grandma saying goodbye to you because you were unable to be right there with her.”

I started to tear up, as I am now, typing this out. All I could do was say thank you. I wiped tears from my face as we pulled up to the venue. We got out of the car and I got my bags. He walks up to me. 

“Brother, I want you to get your phone out and Google the number 330.”

I do so. 

“That right there, is my message to you. That’s that message I have for you. Read it when you are back in your room.”

We shook hands and he pulled me in. He gave me the biggest, tightest hug, and I embraced him back. 

“You have found your niche. You are on the right path and you are exactly where you're meant to be, doing what you’re supposed to be doing.”

I fought back my emotions as I thanked him for saying that. 

“Thank you brother. This has been an amazing conversation,” he said. 

We parted ways and I walked up to the doors. I looked back to wave and he was gone. That fast, he was nowhere in sight, and I was left with a “WTF was that” moment. Later that day I sat in my room and read the message. 

It says,

The angel number 330 signifies that your guardian angels are encouraging you to embrace a new path and believe in your abilities. It’s a message to trust in the divine guidance and take the right steps to manifest your desires. This number also suggests a period of positive growth and transformation, urging you to let go of fear and embrace blessings. 

In more detail:

A message of encouragement:

Angel number 330 is a sign that your angels are by your side, supporting you on your journey and believing in your success.

Trust your intuition:

This number encourages you to listen to your inner voice and trust the guidance you receive, as you are on the right path.

Embrace change and growth:

Angel number 330 often appears during times of significant change and transformation, reminding you to embrace the new opportunities and experiences that are coming your way.

Let go of fear:

It encourages you to release any fears or doubts you may have, allowing you to move forward with confidence and optimism. 

Believe in your abilities:

Angel number 330 is a reminder that you have the strength and wisdom to navigate your life’s journey and manifest your dreams.

I broke down after reading this, but in a good way. How was this possible? Some many things started going through my head. First off, my driver's name was John, a biblical name. When I took the call when my grandmother died it was around 3 or 330 in the morning. What??? And get this, years ago, I had come home after showing up late to wherever it was that I was going that day. I told my grandmother how annoyed I was because I was in a hurry and needed to be somewhere and she told me that I should look at it from a different angle. She would tell me that there was a good reason for me being late. It wasn’t that I was late, but that maybe traffic made me late because if I had been on time, or rushing, that I might have been in an accident. Things happen for a reason, she would say. Here’s the connection, if I had not been delayed, or late, at the connection in Atlanta, I would’ve never met John, nor would I have received the message he had for me.

Little did John know that I had been struggling with a decision for almost a year. I enjoyed my time at the event and I knew I was on the right path, and that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. But I never expected what happened on that Uber ride. The world works in ways that we can’t explain sometimes, and maybe it doesn’t need an explanation. We all reach a time in our lives where we have big decisions to make. That day someone was with me, talking through John. Maybe it was my grandmother. I don’t know, but I was begging for some sort of sign, some sort of answer, and I got it. All I had to do was, “listen and pray.”