Welcome Back Readers
Gearing up for
another edition of "Faithful Friday", it occurred to me that I have
allowed new readers to view my life from an academic standpoint as it relates
to my writing. But I would be remiss to forget about those caring people, both
young and old, who have made and continue to make it possible for me to live and
work independently as I have in recent years. The fact of the matter is I
wouldn’t be where I am right now if it weren’t for them. That being said, I
decided to take a moment and reminisce with yet another guest post written by
my father. This one chronicles my journey to live on campus with the help of agency-provided personal
assistance and some special students on campus who had previous
experience caring for people with special needs (and their degree was in
special education). But even before that, Concordia University of Ann Arbor was
so accommodating; they walked with me down the paths to see what needed to be
changed for me to drive safely back to my dorm-even to the point of
filling in the gravel where I might slip off. The committee went above and beyond
that-switching up the dorms to have one that didn’t have a sunken
in the living area; this was essential for me to participate in Devos every night...
Anyway, on to my dad's guest post…
The
Angels of Concordia
Guest
Thoughts by Debbie's Dad
The
Bible clearly speaks of angels, the created beings that carry out missions for
the LORD on earth. Few have seen angels, but many are recorded in Scripture. In
both the Hebrew and Greek, the words that we translate as angels have the
meaning messenger - a messenger from God.
Angels
In the Old Testament
In
Genesis 18 Abraham conversed with men (angels) that accompanied the LORD. At
the peak of Israel's kingdom, the Psalms recorded the practical theology of
trusting the Lord and described the angel of the LORD as a protector (34:7).
Other Psalms described how angels are given charge to watch over us (91:11)
even as they praise the Lord (103:20).
As
the nation of Israel divided, and finally, the prophets provided more insight
into the work of angels. The prophets saw angels as "Seraphim"
(Isaiah 6:2) and "cherubim" (Ezekiel 10:1-3). Daniel, while in
captivity in Babylon, actually named two angels who came to help him: Gabriel
and Michael (9:20-27 and 10:13, respectively). Similarly, a man,
identified as an angel, came to help Zechariah understand the visions he saw (cf. Zech. 1: 7-9).
The
Angels and the Messiah
After
a long period of silence from God, the people returned to a devastated and
conquered the land. The most well-known messenger is the angel Gabriel who
informed Mary that she would give birth to Israel's Messiah – "the king of
Jacob's people forever" (Luke 1: 26-38). It was an angel that
announced Jesus' birth to the shepherds outside of Bethlehem (Luke 2:8-15),
then angels warned Joseph to flee to Egypt and then return when Herod had
died, and the danger had passed (Matt. 2:13-15 and 19-21). Angels ministered to
Jesus, at the beginning of His ministry (Mark 1:13) and rolled away from the stone
after his resurrection, remaining at the tomb to greet His followers (Matt.
28:1-2 and John 20:12). Jesus acknowledged the role of angels (e.g., Matt 22:30;
13:39; 25:31) as serving Him. Angles similarly ministered to the apostles in
their ministry, opening prison doors (Acts 5 and 12), providing ministry
guidance (Acts 8:26 and 10:1-7), and encouragement in perilous times (Acts
27:23-25).
In all of these
cases, the angels appeared as people, sent from God to give messages: to
warn, to explain, to encourage, and to protect.
My
Angelic Encounter
Back
in the period 2003-2006, when Debbie attended Concordia University in Ann Arbor,
I actually saw some angels at work: warning, explaining, encouraging and
protecting!
Before
you declare me a heretic, let me explain. Debbie was accepted to Concordia in
the fall semester of 2003 after 2 years of hard work at Washtenaw Community
College. She was able to transfer 51 credits and began as a sophomore. On
paper, all was well academically. But physically, it seemed a mission
impossible for her to live on campus and succeed as a student. Being
quadriplegic, she needed caregivers to get her up in the morning and then put
her to bed at night; that could work. But how could she make it through the
day? – For three years! The Concordia staff was terrific, charting her
path to classes and then walking with my wife and me across every path on
campus to make sure they could be traversed by a wheelchair. Every ramp and
every door threshold was checked. Our toilet seat was tested on the David
Dorm toilet.
But
the daytime routine was the killer- ominous, overwhelming, effectively
impossible. How could Debbie …
- Be fed at breakfast, lunch, and dinner??
- Handle loading
and unloading her backpack/travel to and from classes throughout the day?
- Open and close the pages of her books/take notes in classes to help her keep up?
- Study at night,
turn pages in books/ practice foreign language, look at notecard, etc.?
Indeed
it was not possible ... but when my wife, Debbie, and I explored the David Dorm
where she might live, angels appeared. Appearing as friendly college
girls, they came alongside and asked us what we were doing. We explained, and
like angels do, they warned us of things we had not thought about, explained
how others could help Debbie through the day, and encouraged us that it would
work. And soon, they assembled an entire army of the most wonderful young
women we could imagine. The army grew and grew, and they spent the next 3 years
encouraging and protecting Debbie – enabling her to complete her degree.
|
|
A
few of "Angels" of Concordia with Debbie in 2006
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Being
an Angel to Others
Sure
I know these young women were not the heavenly being like the patriarchs,
prophets, and apostles saw, but they sure behaved as if they were sent by the
LORD. They played the role of angels, providing us the message that what seemed
impossible was made possible by their sacrifice of time and energy to be
Debbie's hands and feet. To me, they will always be angelic. And they set
a wonderful example for me to follow. They glorified God by their Christ-like
lives …
Encourage the people
who are afraid. Help those who are weak. Be patient with every person. 1
Thessalonians 5:14b (ICB)
Debbie
earned her BA degree in January 2007, enabled by that platoon of wonderful
young women in David Dorm and across campus. Many of them still keep in touch
with Debbie online, pray for her, and encourage her from afar, as angels always do. May the Lord send to each of us someone to whom we may serve
as an angel, just like that.
