Everyday Angels

Fiauna is a sincere blogger. You will find in her blog heartfelt feelings of daily life as a mom raising 4 children, one with special needs. In this post, she reminds us that each of us can have the Ministering of Angels, be raised up, when we need it most. She reminds us that when we are struggling, having a hard time bearing a particular challenge, Heavenly Father sends His angels and gives us strength to carry on.

Read her original post here... she is a beautiful author who says it so much more eloquently than I ever could.

"Thanking My Angels
Today my heart is full. (Oh, that sounds so much like a church talk. Well, in a way, I guess it is.) Today we spoke of the Ministering of Angels, something I thought I knew everything about. I've heard the pioneer stories and loved them, truly. I've heard many personal stories and have enjoyed and felt uplifted by them. Well today was my day for an epiphany.

As I sat in class today (which wasn't supposed to happen. I was supposed to be teaching primary, but thanks to conference, the lesson schedule was rearranged and I was allowed to attend my classes.) I listened to the lesson with polite reverence.
The woman teaching the lesson shared touching stories from her own life; stories
of angels who have come and gone. As she spoke she shed a few tears. Then she
spoke of her daughter's experience of being a peer tutor for the challenged students of her school. I was especially moved.

We all know how I feel about my daughter, and those like her. They are truly angels sent to teach us how to become more Christ-like. What I didn't expect to learn today is that when we serve these special angels and their families, we become angels
ourselves.

Through the experience of raising my daughter, I have had days when I have felt down, depressed, desperate, at the end of my rope. I have also had days when I have felt strong, capable, blessed; I have felt the ministering of angels. These angels come in the form of friends who help, family that offer support, and strangers who share a knowing smile or a kind word. And sometimes these angels are like this teacher when she said, "I am in awe of the mothers of these special children ..." Awe? That word is so powerful. To stand in awe of a mother doing her best to rise to face the challenges ahead of her--I can't tell you how much I appreciate that.

I don't know that my challenges are any greater than any other mother's out there. All I know is that when you share a kind comment, a word of encouragement, or a knowing smile with me, you become my angel. Thank you.

One morning at recess...

I send my babies to school everyday and pray that there is someone like this taking care of them. These kind of teachers deserve more praise and in my book, are angels. This was originally posted on my other blog.

As the second day of school draws to a close, I find myself so grateful for the teachers at my children's school. They are definitely doing a job I don't have the patience for. I know how crazy I get when my five children are all hyped up and full of energy. I can't imagine 30 kids, full of energy, every day, ALL DAY. Teachers definitely don't make enough money for the service they give and while I may not agree or like every teacher, I am SO glad someone is out there trying to make a difference.

As I watched the kids on the playground yesterday morning (I always have to spy the first day to make sure they get to where they need to go) I saw something quite touching. All the teachers were out on the playground so the kids could see them. There were the happy greetings, occasional hugs, chatting with parents. All the teachers seemed in a good mood and relatively happy about being there. Most teachers were chatting with each others in groups of two or three. Or they would be talking with a parent, with a quick hello to their student. But there was one teacher who was different than all the rest.

Barely taller than the 2nd graders she teaches, this teacher blends in well to the elementary crowd. If you don't know her, I am not sure you wouldn't think she wasn't just a 6th grader at the school. She was SWARMED with children. The closest teacher to her was well out of shouting range. She bent down (even though she didn't have to go very far :)) to each one of the kids she spoke to. She gave warm loving hugs to EACH one and they all clung on to her as if she was their favorite person in the world. She looked into EACH child's eyes and smiled and laughed with them. Although I was there to watch my own children, I was captivated by the interactions this teacher had with all the children she came in contact with.

One particular boy was in tears. She tenderly wrapped her arm around him and listened to everything he had to say. Although, I couldn't hear the conversation, I could see his little shoulders rise and fall with each stuttered breath. This teacher listened and comforted him. While all the teachers seem to love seeing their past students, her students loved to see their past teacher.

In my opinion, it sure says alot about a teacher when she is rushed by student after student with a warm hug. Teachers should be a comfort away from home. Having been blessed to have this teacher two years in a row, I know for a fact that she treats each of the children with love. And as a parent, this gives me great reassurance when I send my children to her. This is the kind of teacher that really makes a difference. To this teacher, and I think you know who you are, thank you for making a difference!

A Sister's Love

We all struggle. We all have our dark days. Our sad days. The days we can't handle. And sometimes it feels like we are at the end of our rope.

It is about that time that God steps in and takes over.

Jill is a wonderful person who is going through a rough patch in life right now. But she is beautiful and amazing. Her time will come when she sees more light days than dark. But for now, she appreciates the love of a sister. To view the original post click here.

"I found out today who one of my anonymous friends is. Jenna.

I can't even begin to express my gratitude. I would call, but I'm a tad emotional and I may make a fool of myself. The flowers, the daily notes in my mailbox, the encouragement to find joy and the assurance that I am a beloved sister and also a daughter of God... these are the things that my spirit has been craving. I don't know how to adequately show my gratitude, it may take me awhile to really put some thought into it.

My despair has been reaching new lows lately. I'm seeing a psychiatrist who tests me on a weekly basis to find out what my mood is like, what my struggles are, and the tests just keep getting worse. I've been 'moderately to severely' depressed and on this past Thursdays visit, there was nothing moderate about it. Dr. Moran promised that things get worse before they get better, and that relief is within my grasp. She is treating me with chemicals, thank heaven for modern medicine!

But I believe my Heavenly Father, knowing what is in my heart and soul, knew that I couldn't take the 'worse' before it got better. Maybe Jenna listened to a prompting, feeling like she needed to reach out to her sister with a little love and compassion. Logically I know that I am valued, and loved, but I can't internalize that right now. Jenna, your thoughtfulness pierced the wall I've been building around myself in order to cope. I love you so much, and I'm so grateful that you are my sister."

In the file room

My youngest son has been going through a great deal of illnesses lately. Sinus infections. So much so that in the last few months I would say there were only a handful of days WITHOUT an antibiotic.

I have a great pediatrician. Together, we have tried and tested many different things. After a series of unsuccessful attempts to rid my little boy of this chronic infection, my pediatrician sent me to and ENT.

This particular ENT wasn't exactly what I would call the "cream of the crop." His solution was to keep my son on antibiotics indefinitely... hmmmm. No thanks.

My angel neighbor, who I have blogged about NUMEROUS times on my other blog, suggested that I actually request an adenoid x-ray. The was hesitant to comply, but finally did on my persistence and said it wouldn't yield any results.

Then, maybe because I annoyed him, this referred me to ANOTHER (who by the way turned out to be FABULOUS)

But the story here is actually about the lady who helped all this happen. I had to set the appointment with this EXTRA SPECIALIZED a month in advance. During the time I waited, I had to have films sent over, records faxed, DNA sampled (ok -- maybe not that last one, but you get the idea)

The last film I had to get was the actual adenoid x-ray. Since the first ENT still had the image, I called them and asked them to hold it for me until I picked it up. Which I planned to do a few minutes before my OTHER ENT appointment since the offices were close to each other and VERY far from me.

Well, about an hour and a half before my SUPER SPECIALIZED appointment, I got a call from the FIRST ENT saying they didn't have the films anymore and I would have to go to the imaging center for the films.

From previous experience with this place, I knew that to receive the films, you had to request them 24 to 48 hours in advance. I only had under 2 hours. Without the films, my appointment with the EXTRA SPECIAL ENT would be a waste. He couldn't look at the whole picture so to speak.

So I called, hoping for the best. I reached a young lady in the file room named Amber. Amber was SO helpful and kind. However, she couldn't find the films anywhere. She dropped everything she was doing and called the FIRST ENT's office and found out they had stuck the films in with another patients films.

After an hour, she located the films and had them ready for me to pick up. Because she went the extra mile and helped me out, I was able to have all the information I needed for this long awaited appointment. And my son was able to get the treatment he needed quickly.

To some, Amber may not appear to be much of an Angel. But today, she was what I needed. She helped our family through an important time. And really, isn't that what Angels do?