Angels At Work?

Today, I have three stories of what I believe are angels at work here on Earth. This is a rather long post but well worth reading to the end.

The first one comes from a post in a discussion group, from the social networking site TEE BEE DEE (www.tbd.com). Bridget gave me permission to reprint it here.

'Les' is his name. A homeless man that have touched and have a very special place in my heart.

I don't make a habit to handout money to the homeless in every corner of the street but Les is an exception. He began to appeared around the corner from my house shortly after I moved into my house a while back. I watched him everyday struggling with his cane moving his exhausted crippled body to the middle divider of the street to beg for money. He looked so broken......... broken and forgotten from the world full of noise; so noisy perhaps he had became invisible.

Every week I gave him a little bit of money and tries to greet him and shake his hand as I make my U turn to get to the freeway. Whether I have money in my hand or not his tireless smile with barely any teeth left greeted me with the most heartfelt greeting "God bless you and please make it a great day". Wow! he hadn't forgot about God for that matter and wishes me to make it a great day.

For the past 3 years Les has become a daily comfort as my daily spiritual ritual. Les doesn't know that he is not only in my life but he had impacted my outlook on life...... life full with hope and faith.

I haven't seen Les for 3 days. My heart miss him and worries for him. I hope to see him soon.

Wherever you are Les. God bless you for your kindness. You show me hope and faith in a place where most would have not.

B

This next one is from Chuck Norris' Column in the WorldNetDailey, Posted: August 04, 2008, 1:00 am Eastern, © 2008

Here is the link to the actual column: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=71376

Traveling up the coast of California for our summer vacation, we stayed near the seaside amusement park Santa Cruz’s Beach and Boardwalk. We were really excited about spending a few days there with our 6-year-old twins.

After dinner one evening, we began to walk back to our hotel. On our way we passed three apparently homeless men. One of them said as he looked at the kids, "Hey, wait a minute. I have something for you." We stopped cautiously, as our kids know not to receive things from strangers. Looking at the man, I saw warmth in his eyes so we walked over to him. The man searched his pockets while saying that he had some coupons to ride the rides. But after a few minutes of rummaging around his clothing and wallet, he came up empty-handed. Still, I thanked him for his offer, and we walked on.

A short distance later our kids began to ask, "Who was he? Why was he so dirty? Why was he living on the street?" What followed was a good, age-oriented family discussion about homelessness. There was something different about this homeless man. In even our brief encounter, we sensed that he had a kind heart and a genuinely grateful attitude about life and others.

Back at the hotel, our daughter Danilee said that she would like to draw a picture and give it to this man we met. But it was too dark and late to be running around the city looking for him on the streets. So my wife Gena replied to her, "Sweetheart, you can draw him one in the morning," thinking like most parents that she would likely just forget by morning. When we went to bed that night, we prayed together as we always do, and our kids prayed for this man we met.

The next morning we were on our way to a restaurant for breakfast. As we passed many people on the sidewalk, to our surprise one of them was the homeless gentleman we met the night before. His eyes and gentle smile clearly showed that he remembered us. And we began to think about how Danilee wanted to draw him a picture (which we didn’t have) – and how a small act of kindness goes a long way and that these things sometimes happen for a reason. We also thought about how our kids learn from us how to treat others, even those upon whom society generally frowns or ignores. Gena later told me she prayed silently, "Oh Lord, give us one more chance to give him that picture."

At the restaurant, the waitress brought my kids some crayons and paper so they could finally draw the pictures they wanted to give to this stranger. Danilee drew two beautiful angels overlooking her and this man walking side by side. And our son Dakota drew three crosses. When they completed the pictures, they put them in their fanny packs and then asked us if we could buy him a breakfast – which we did even though we had no idea if we would even see him again. Though it was one of the hottest days on record, we carried this breakfast with us for hours, continually looking for this sojourner as we went about another vacation day. But there was no sign of him anywhere. The day and evening came and went. We had only one more chance to meet him in the morning before we left Santa Cruz.

Walking to the same restaurant for breakfast, we didn’t see him anywhere. As we left the restaurant, however, Gena looked across the street. Up ahead about 50 yards, she noticed two men walking around a corner near a covered bus stop. As we got closer, a familiar face came into view and we all began to smile. We told him that we’d been looking for him for two days. The kids told him about the breakfast that never made it to him the day before, and that we brought him some iced tea on that day. Then they pulled out the pictures they made for him. We could all see how they truly touched his heart, as he repeatedly thanked the kids for their kindness. He told them how he had been in Santa Cruz since he was 3 years old, and that he was now 35.

For those few moments time seemed to just stand still. As he stared with his piercing blue eyes and talked to us, we simply seemed to forget about all those complicated matters and issues that often surround homelessness. Instead, we were just humans showing cordial concern and compassion for one another.

What happened last still sends shivers up my spine. Without recognizing who I was, he stuck out his hand and respectfully introduced himself, "My name is Alan." His few words nearly took our breath away because Gena’s father’s name was also Alan, and he also had a very similar gentle and kind demeanor, but her father had passed away six months earlier and was still so dearly missed. Just before we walked away, Dakota handed him the iced tea we brought. After he sipped it, he exclaimed, "Aaahhh. Sweet tea – I love sweet tea!" To which Gena softly replied, "So did my dad."

God spoke to us that early summer day. Heaven sent a big sign through what might seem like a relatively small encounter to many others. But it can be a reminder to us all – one that’s also spelled out in the Good Book, "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it."

The last one is also from the Tee Bee Dee website and was shared with permission by Judi.

What a wonderful and inspirational story, Bridget!! It reminds me of the years I worked at a downtown Fort Worth hospital, and on my way to work, I would always see an elderly woman, with layers of coats on, pushing a basket full of her life's possessions. I never passed close enough to her to give her a handout (I saw her from across the freeway, or duck under a bridge). Other nurses would talk about seeing her, and we would try to guess her background.

One day, the lady was brought into our ER in a diabetic coma. Her name, "Ethel". I will never forget the ragged, sad, thin woman with the extremely pale face. A body that had apparently lived a life that we could only imagine. About 16 nurses all decided to do something about her situation. We pooled our money, collected food, money and clothes from other staff and doctors, and contacted Habitat for Humanity.

By the time she awoke from her coma, learned how to care for her bruised, torn-up and infected feet, as well as give herself insulin, we had found her a one-room house, renovated it with the help of Habitat, and moved her in, lock, stock and barrel. She couldn't remember her birth date, but doctors estimated her to be in her 60's.

She had home health set up to see her twice a week, we set up for her to have Meals On Wheels, and we each took turns visiting her. She told us many, many stories of her "20 some-odd years" on the street, some funny, some winsome, some downright scary, and others quite horrible. She had "3 children", one a school teacher, one an administrative secretary, and another a pharmacist. She would never tell us their names, and said they were better off not knowing how their "mama" lived her life, but we could tell from her voice and in her eyes that she loved them.

About 14 months after she moved into the house, one of my fellow nurses found her in her "favrit' cheer" (favorite chair), where she had "gone to meet up with Jesus", as she had predicted months earlier.

We will never forget Ethel, the joy she brought each of us, the things she taught us about love, caring, laughter, and heartache.

Ethel, if you're reading this, you are missed dearly!!!

Here is the link to the TBD web site where two of the stories can be found. http://www.tbd.com/group/23/discussion/357342/show?startIndex=0

There is nothing really for me to add here, the stories speak for themselves.

If you are 40+ and you want a social networking site that is inspirational, funny, caring, compassionate, exhilarating and spiritually and personally rewarding, join TBD. It's free and I guarantee it will improve you life!

May you be blessed always and in all ways.

Harry