When God Sends Angels

Greeting, brothers and sisters in Christ.

We’ve all heard about entertaining angels unaware, and we’ve all heard stories about encounters with angels in a time of crisis. But actually, I think human encounters with Heavenly beings must be extraordinarily rare. The “angels” God sends to us at the right time and place are the earthly kind. The people who show up just when we need them.

It was about 1982. I was lying on a stretcher in the huge waiting room of a very large hospital in a very large city. There must have been a few hundred people in that room!

I was at the end of the room near the examining rooms waiting for one to become available. Out of nowhere, my attention was drawn to a lady standing all the way down at the other end of the room next to the wall. She saw me at about the same time and our eyes locked. She immediately made her way through the crowds toward me, her gaze never wavering. When she reached me, she asked, “You need prayer?”. I nodded yes.

She laid her hands on me and the voice of a Prayer Warrior washed over me, suffusing my entire being with the most incredible feeling of peace. I knew everything was going to be ok.

That prayer probably saved my life.

Sometimes God sends people for other reasons than life threatening situations.

It was the mid to late 90s. After a financial roller coaster (which I’ll tell about in another post), my mother was getting Social Security. It wasn’t a very big check. After paying utilities and other necessary expenses, there wasn’t much left. But she desperately wanted to help out the children’s home. This is where children live who are waiting for adoption or in between foster homes.

I don’t know how it works in other places, but the children’s home in Wichita Falls only got a certain amount of financial aid from the government. They struggled to meet all the needs of the children. People would donate clothes and way too many toys, but there were so many more needs than just those items.

My mother called and talked to the director, who was thrilled at the offer. Each month, the director would let my mother know of something they needed especially badly, and she would try to help with that.

I don’t know if the Holy Spirit had prompted my mother to do this, or if it was all her idea, but the way things worked out each month, there was no doubt God was in on it.

I don’t remember the exact order of which month was which, but here are some that stand out in my memory.

It was winter time and those tile floors were cold. The director asked for some of those fuzzy socks that have rubber grips on the bottom. We found a huge display of them in children’s sizes on clearance for 10¢ a pair! I think that was at Walmart. I’m almost certain that was the first month we fulfilled the children’s home request. I remember how amazed and excited my mother and I were at finding just what we needed for so cheap. But it kept happening…

They needed children’s underwear. We found a large clearance display of multi-packs for 50¢, 75¢ and $1 a package. I think that was at Kmart, not long before they closed the store down.

They needed bras for the teen girls. We found those for about $1.50 each.

It was time for back-to-school. The children badly needed new shoes. We went to Walmart, and reached the shoe department just as an employee was pricing the last couple of pairs of a big pile of sporty style sneakers on a clearance display. The highest price on any pair was $2. I find it odd that they would be marking any down just when the demand was at it’s highest, but no complaints from me!

They needed backpacks, but not for back-to-school. When a child went to a new foster home, they carried an extra change of clothes and some sundries. These items were placed in a garbage bag because there was nothing else to put them in. Foster children have enough self esteem problems without that denigration, and a back pack would make a big difference. As we walked down the clearance aisle of a dollar store, there they were, a big stack of them for 50¢ each.

We would show the receipts on all this stuff to the director. She was a strong Christian, so it didn’t surprise her, but she would get a huge kick out of it.

Then one day, the director asked for sheet sets. Twin size white cotton sheets. They had to be white and they had to be cotton. I don’t remember the exact number she asked for, but it was a lot, like 15 or 20 sets or something.

First we went to Walmart. But no clearance, not even a sale. Regular price would have amounted to a fortune. So we did something we’d never done. We told the manager why we needed them, and asked for a discount. He said he couldn’t do that. Alrighty then!

Next, we went to Target. Again, no clearance or sale. God, did you forget? You always arrange a clearance for us. What’s up?

So, we went to the service desk and asked for the manager. He showed up and we explained to him what we explained in Walmart. He told us to wait, and he disappeared into his office. I assume he called the children’s home to confirm our story. He came out a few minutes later and quoted a generous discount to us.

This was great, but the remaining balance was still going to be too much! But before we could even react, another customer who had been standing nearby and had heard the entire exchange stepped forward. “I’ll help pay for them”, she said.

Oh! The incredible relief we felt! We eagerly accepted. She didn’t pay the entire amount, but she did pay most of it. The rest of the balance was only $30 something.

That was the earthly angel God sent to us that day. He doesn’t just send people to pull a child out of a burning building, or save someone from drowning or something. He will send people to the faithful for any need that the situation calls for.

As an added bonus, this particular situation was a Chains of Blessings thing. We were blessed, our benefactor was blessed, and the children’s home was blessed.

And while I’m on the subject, please see if your local children’s home, women’s shelter or any other shelter needs something they’re not getting.

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