On becoming an angel

No, I don’t mean dressing up as a member of the heavenly host as part of a Sunday School Christmas pageant. Or even magically being transformed into a heavenly being after death. I’m thinking about being an angel, right here on earth.

At its most basic, ‘angel’ simply means ‘messenger.’ From malak in Hebrew to angelos in Greek, the Scriptures - both the Old and New Testaments - contain many stories about angels serving as messengers of God. Think of the beginning of the Gospel of Luke: the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah to foretell the birth of John the Baptist; then later tells Mary that she will bear a son, the son of the Most High, to be named Jesus.

This week, I realized that I had become an angel – a messenger for God – for a woman in Bayou La Batre. The story begins a few weeks ago, when our congregation began collecting toys to give to children in the Bayou. After the pile of donated toy trucks, games, and baby dolls had begun to collect in the narthex, we realized that LDR was not planning to distribute Christmas gifts, so we didn’t have an automatic outlet for the items we had collected.

After a bit of research, I discovered that the Bayou La Batre police department was partnering with the local Lions club to distribute toys in this area that was hit so hard by Hurricane Katrina – and is recovering so slowly. I called their contact number and talked with a local woman who is helping to organize this project.

What does this have to do with being an angel, you ask? Well, after a couple of phone calls to her; to arrange delivery of toys and stuffed animals donated by members of our church, a local senior citizen’s group, and more toys purchased with funds that have been donated by individuals and congregations from all over the US, she told me this about the morning I first called her:

“You know, just that morning, I was sitting in my chair, praying to God, crying, and asking what we would do if we didn’t have enough toys for all the children that needed them. Then the phone rang, and it was you, and you told me that you had toys already gathered and were able to buy even more, once you knew what we needed…”

I had the joy of receiving that type of miracle several times last winter at the Distribution Center in Ocean Springs; but this time I realized that I had become an angel, a messenger of God, to this lovely woman who is working so hard to make Christmas merry for the children of Bayou La Batre. What an incredible experience!

She and I are both convinced now that somehow, there will be enough toys for the 600+ children that may not receive any gifts besides the ones this project can give to them...