Thursday, December 21, 2006

Christmas Angel

I just completed teaching 3 seminars yesterday on various topics such as Drug and Alcohol, Sleep Disorder and Holiday Blues. One young employee came up after class to share that the last six months of her life have been the most difficult since she was diagnosed with Lupus. However, her attitude was stunning.

She shared with the class that before she worked at her new employer she was a special education teacher. She taught a class of six students. It was a separate class of behavioral disorders, bright children but troubled. That year after struggling to get through the first half of the year she came close to leaving. She felt that she was not getting through to the children and the parents showed her no support. Now Johnny was a very smart boy but he never listened and he was spending his second year in her K-2 classroom. She suspected that he was being abused but the evidence was circumstantial. After 3 months of constant struggles with him she was ready to send him away for vacation and enjoy her time off. Before he left he gave her a used coffee mug as a gift with an angel on the front. She asked him why he choose an angel. He put his hand on her shoulder and simply said, "Miss Smith, you are my angel and I love you." All this time she thought that she was not getting through to him, but deep down she learned that she was his only stability. This one statement made the struggles worth all the hassle of the year.

Now she has a new struggle with Lupus. But she has chosen to fill her "angel cup" not with fear or complaints about her physical condition. Instead, she fills the cup with kind words and encouragement to help others like her cell phone customers solve their problems with their baffling phones.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that you bring them an angel with a message of "good news’ that offers courage to their baffling struggles and profound peace to their hearts. A Blessed Christmas to all my Sonshine Friends.