Examples of Ministering Angels

             Too often I will get several interruptions whenever  I am trying to read (any book I'm interested in) or write a post for my blog.  I failed to go into detail with my last post.  It was there when I initially sat down to create it.  After four or five interruptions I read what I had and felt satisfied that it was passable – but it does seem to be uncompleted as there are no examples.  I will now share the example that brought to mind the subject of ministering angels (aside from the latest read in the Come Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants schedule).

            Over the years Corey has posted many things on facebook that have touched me – his latest with his experience of a cat whom he and Joh named Milagro.  I don’t have either of their permission to share their story but will do so without it. (If either would like me to take it down, I will do so.  If you are reading this and it is the end of the month now chances are great that neither of them saw any reason to remove)

            It has been at least two years since they found a tom cat in their backyard whom they would leave food and other comforts.  He appeared to be a stray as sometimes he would come all scuffed up and beaten – most likely by another cat.  And they would clean him up and offer comfort as best as they could without letting him into their house.  First of all, they saw him as an outdoor cat who might not be comfortable inside but also because Corey and Joh had three female cats living inside and did not know how they would react to the male or how he would react to them.

            They eventually named the cat “Milagro” which is a Spanish word for miracle.  They saw the cat as a miracle as he would disappear for weeks at a time and neither Corey nor Joh knew if the cat was still alive.  He outlived many moments of being torn up or matted and seemingly unhealthy.

            It was Milagro that brought their fourth cat, Gabriella, into their lives.  She also needed attention to clean up her wounds or appearance or whatever may have been wrong with her.  Corey and Joh cleaned her up and took her to the vets and eventually adopted the bundle of joy.  They will always be grateful to Milagro for bringing her into their lives.

            I don’t know when exactly that Milagro had disappeared from their lives.  Corey had been off facebook for quite a while and so I don’t remember the details as he  had not posted anything while he was on his facebook break.  Quite recently Milagro made another appearance.  I believe he was mangled and had obvious health issues.  Though Joh and Corey were still reluctant about bringing Milagro into the house, they couldn’t watch as Milagro suffered.  Thus they took him to the vet and were given medicine.  They also purchased a chip so that they could keep track of him should he disappear again.

Joh made a special place for Milagro to be in the house and away from the girls.  They cared for him and did not let him go until the medicine was gone.  Meanwhile Joh had posted pictures of Milagro in the event he did belong to someone.  They did receive a phone call.  The cat’s name is “Cookies” and while Joh was on the phone with the owners mother he could hear a girl’s voice in the background saying, 

"Mommy, I never prayed, but last night I decided to for the first time."

Ministering Angels. Corey. Joh. Milagro.  The inspiration that Joh received to post Milagro/Cookie’s picture.  The answers to a young girl’s prayer. And that is only one example.

A much needed miracle: continuing education

         We were on the waiting list with a couple of charter schools.  I had even looked into homeschooling – which is probably what I would have ended up doing if someone hadn’t pointed out the dual immersion program.

          The dual immersion program allows students to learn a language in addition to English.  Students have two teachers, one who teaches in English for half of the day. The other will teach in a foreign language with math as the prime subject and will touch on the other subjects.

At the time there were only eight schools within this district that offered this dual immersion program.  Two offered Chinese, two offered French and four offered Spanish.  The school closest to where we are living teaches Spanish – which seemed to be the most logical of the three languages as we have contact with almost as many Spanish speaking people as English speaking.  Roland’s family members also speak Spanish – well, some of them anyway.

          I applied two months after the deadline and was put on yet another waiting list.  Within a week we received an acceptance letter.  We were in!  There is no question in my mind that it wasn’t meant to be.

          She may not have wanted to learn Spanish, but I figured she’d at least be learning.  So much seems to just come to her naturally that she needed a challenge.  She no longer takes the bus.  I have to drive her the two miles south each morning.

          So when Jenna started first grade, she had been in three different schools.  She is now in second grade at the same school. The grading system used in this district rates from 1-5 – 5 being the highest.  Thus far all of Jenna’s subjects have received 4s and 5s except for being able to spell words in Spanish.  She only received a 2.  It is something to strive for – which is a good thing.

          I still do volunteer work at the school.  I LOVE the opportunities that Jenna has – though she may not fully understand or appreciate them now.  She is still doing well – though she doesn’t love it near as much as her first school.  Her current school is actually my favorite of the three.

         

In God's Due Time

Roland and I had been married a couple of months before we met Bill Jolly – who totally lived up to his last name as he was always smiling and joking and overall really did appear to be happy.

          He’d come to choir practice and often joke with the chorister.  It was rare that he presented himself as a person who was ever serious.

          Overall he didn’t seem like my sister’s type, but I liked him and wondered if she would too.  Yet in the back of my mind it seemed like he had a wife.  I’m not sure why I thought that.  I never saw him with anyone. 

It wasn’t until much later on that I learned his wife was homebound for much of the time due to failing health.  When she did leave the house it was usually to go to the doctor or hospital.  I would visit her periodically. It was disheartening to see her in such poor health as she was younger than I and I had just turned 40.

          Bill loved Annaleigh.  He was committed to her.  A very devoted spouse.  And she loved him.  She struggled to meet his optimism.  She actually suffered from depression.  After our visits, I would often leave with stirred emotions.  Overall our visits were never the most uplifting and I did struggle with it.

          And then there was Bill who never showed his emotions about his home life.  Many knew they were there.  But he remained pleasant and in high spirits.

          Bill is a photographer.  He was working for a company which specialized in selling cameras.  On the side he tried his hand at starting his own business putting Annaleigh in charge of making the appointments.  I don’t know how well he did with the business part.  I know he was struggling financially.  And still he continued to smile.

          I had introduced him to my family the month before Jenna turned one.  My brother, Corey, would be leaving the state to return to school and I wanted to make a family picture before he went out of town.  Bill took the photos.  He did group shots of my sibs, my mom and me.  And my family with Roland and Patrick with his family.

          I remember my oldest niece was really annoyed with him although the boys and youngest niece found him to be strangely funny.  Bill doesn’t seem to have a talent for remembering names and often assigns bogus names to people – usually to make them laugh.  But my oldest niece was NOT amused.

          Three years later Annaleigh passed away.  It wasn’t really a big surprise to anybody.  It was the first time I had seen Bill cry – though he still continued to give the appearance of being happy.  Annaleigh had been unable to give Bill children – and he would have made such a great father.  Bill had accepted that maybe it wasn’t meant to be.

          Shortly after the funeral, Roland suggested that we set Bill up with my sister.  What?  When I first met him I thought he was maybe a few years older than my baby sister – but he was actually the same age as me.  Kayla didn’t want somebody that old.

          Roland persisted with setting them up together.  So I called Kayla and told her about Roland’s plans. 

          “Would you be interested in going out with him?” I asked.

          “No I wouldn’t” She had remembered Bill from the photo shoot and thought he was a nut.  Their personalities did clash, I thought.  But then so do mine and Roland’s.

          I told Roland that Kayla was not interested.  Of course that didn’t stop him.  He ended up giving Kayla’s number to Bill – who called her on the spot.  I was surprised to hear that she had gone out with him.  But she said he had to have guts to call a total stranger – it would, of course, just be a onetime thing.

          Without going into all the detail, Bill and Kayla ended up getting married.  For the second time (since they've been married)  Bill cried as he announced that Kayla was pregnant.  He had waited over twenty years to become a biological father!  Even longer than I had waited to become a bride and spouse. 

          Miracles do happen.  They take place every day.  Sometimes we fail to see the small miracles because we are so busy searching for the much larger ones.  I thank my brother-in-law, Bill for his awesome example of always being jolly.  Always accepting whatever life may slap him with - and accepting whatever good things may be handed to him – no matter how long it might take. 

          Things happen in God’s due time – not necessarily when we would like them to.  But through faith things will always work out – even if they are nowhere near what we desired or expected.