Everyday Angels

By Barbara Carter-Donaldson

This book is a compilation of stories about people who do kind and loving acts, and for those reasons alone, they are referred to as everyday angels. It consists of short stories of some of the author's most memorable events about interactions over the years with children whom she taught and with people who have shaped her life and whose lives she believes she has impacted as well. In many instances, the author felt that she and her family were engaging with angels because of the providential way in which people intersected their lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9781639033553

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Everyday Angels

Barbara Carter-Donaldson

ISBN 978-1-63903-354-6 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63903-355-3 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by Barbara Carter-Donaldson

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

This book is dedicated to all the people I’ve encountered in my life who have inspired me by their unselfish acts of kindness and love. It’s also dedicated to my six angels, my grandchildren: Madison, TJ, Mikey, Daylin, David, and Max.

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some people have entertained angels unawares.

—Hebrews 13:2

Introduction

From a biblical standpoint, angels are celestial beings often invisible to the human eye, and they have greater power and ability than humans. Angels are ministering spirits. They can take on the appearance of men when the occasion demands. How else could some entertain angels unaware (Hebrews 13:2)? Remember the three men who visited Abraham near the trees in Mamre (Genesis 18)? They were angels.

Angels appear more than a dozen times in the New Testament and a dozen or so other times in the Old Testament. The Bible clearly tells us that God sends angels to protect people. He will give his angels charge over you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone (Psalm 91:11–12). Their job is to deliver heavenly messages and to fight against the spiritual forces of evil. There are those who believe that angels visit us on earth and do kind acts for humans. This book is a compilation of stories about people who do kind and loving acts, and for those reasons alone, they are referred to as everyday angels. It consists of short stories of some of the author’s most memorable events about interactions over the years with children whom she taught and with people who have shaped her life and whose lives she believes she has impacted as well. In many instances, the author felt that she and her family were engaging with angels because of the providential way in which people intersected their lives

Chapter 1

Angel in the Classroom

I could not have made it this far had there not been angels along the way.

—Della Reese

I had just begun my first year of college at the University of Delaware in Newark. Although I had received scholarship for tuition and books, I still needed spending money. When I asked my parents about sending me money, they said, Why don’t you plan to work during your breaks and during summer? You should be able to make some money since you’re now in college. I reflected on that for a moment and realized that they were absolutely right.

One day, while talking with a friend who was a sophomore at Delaware State College, she mentioned that whenever her college was on break (winter, spring, and summer), she would substitute teach. She stated that the money was pretty good and that as a college student, I would be able to substitute teach, and it would provide invaluable experience since I wanted to become a teacher. Even though I was an education major, I had never really thought about substitute teaching, at least not now, not yet. I reasoned that I was too young, too inexperienced; what did I know about teaching? But it sounded good, so I immediately investigated what I needed to do to substitute teach in Wilmington. It wasn’t hard: complete an application and have adequate references. It wasn’t as difficult as it is today: application, transcripts, fingerprinting, and criminal investigation check. This was 1971. If you were in college, you could definitely substitute teach. So I submitted all needed forms to the Human Resources Office at the school administration by late August, and when I was home for winter break, I was already getting calls to substitute teach. Wow, me a teacher…already. I was so excited.

My first job as a substitute teacher was at an elementary school not too far from where I lived on McCabe Avenue. The school was old but not dilapidated, and it was an open school. I had just started college and was not familiar with the open school concept. This concept was introduced in 1965 as an experimental school architecture where the physical walls separating classrooms were removed to promote movement across class areas by teachers. Advocates of this type of classroom argued that students should be allowed to learn in ways suited to their individual differences and that the most effective teaching and learning strategies should allow teachers to work collaboratively with each other and team teach.

When I walked into the classroom, I was petrified. This was my first classroom experience. Students were loud, out of their seat, horse playing, and the classroom was in total disarray. There was only one other teacher in the classroom, and she looked dismayed when she saw that I was so young and obviously inexperienced. I waited for her to get the students quiet, and she seemed to be waiting for me to do the same. She had a group of students facing her and her desk, and I had a group facing me and my desk in the opposite direction. A petite girl with curly black hair and a pleated skirt with a rust-colored sweater walked up to me and asked, You our teacher today?

I said yes, and she flashed a fiendish smile and sauntered away, stopping at various desks to chat. This was a fifth-grade class, and they were noisy, animated, and didn’t appear to be intimidated by a substitute teacher, especially me. The other teacher got her group quiet and working and waited for me to do likewise, but nothing I did worked, and the other teacher didn’t seem too eager to help. She did tell