"If You Want To feel Good About Your Self Do Something For Someone Else."
Have you ever said "Please God, send someone to help" and someone seemed to appear out of nowhere. This person was given the opportunity to be your "Temporary Part-Time Angel," and they accepted.
OR
Have you ever offered to help someone, and heard them say, "You're the answer to my prayers, God must have sent you" or "You must be an Angel sent by God." At that time you were the Temporary Part-Time Angel.
My Favorite Holiday Stories
I hope these stories touche your hart as much as they did mine
“Fire and Iron Station 42”
Osceola Florida
The worst of times frequently brings out the best in us. In this time of one world crisis after another; when so many have either lost their jobs or fear losing the one they have, when even their homes are at risk. We remember how to pray - we remember there is a G-d and that we are all One family.
By helping each other, we find that something special within ourselves. When we share, when we give to someone less fortunate than ourselves; we are also giving hope and faith to ourselves. On December 23 of this year I was given the opportunity to spend a special day with a great team of people on “Fire and Iron Station 42” giveaway drive. The people of Fire and Iron are a motorcycle group of caring fire fighters and paramedics.
The day started off on a magical note, as we escorted Santa, who rode in the front seat of the Fire Engine. We spent the day delivering presents to children who wouldn’t have had a Christmas, if not for kindness of this team of people. Who not only put their lives on the line every single day saving our lives; but also brought hope to the spirits’ of children and parents everywhere they went. While traveling with them that day, I witnessed the children looking up at the firefighters and seeing them as they truly are, Real Heroes! It has always been my thought that Santa Clause exists in the spirit of giving; and as I looked up at this team I knew that he existed in each of them. …It is people like this, who truly bring the spirit of the holidays to life, in this magic season of giving!
George Bailey
The Toy Store
This story was given to me by a man who does not want his name to be used, so I will use the name Arthur as a substitute.
As we sat at the coffee bar, and talked about Temporary Part Time Angels, Arthur told me he liked the idea of being a Temporary Part Time Angel. He told me how he always carried a few small gifts for people who looked like they needed something. How he liked to always have a few extra dollars in one pocket so when he was at the checkout line at the grocery store, and the person was having to tell the cashier to put some of the basics back, that he could take out of that pocket and say let me pay for that. “Just consider it a gift from me to you.” Then Arthur told me how these things made him feel. Etc.
Then he said, “Let me tell you about the most fantastic day in my life. To this day, I don’t know what encouraged me to do it, I didn't get anything out of it, and it cost me over four hundred American dollars, but I have never felt better than I did that day.
For some reason I found myself in the Toys-are-us parking lot. I don’t know why, I have never been married and don’t have any children. In fact I don’t even have any nieces or nephews to buy for. I was there, and felt compelled to go inside. The parking lot lights hadn’t come on yet, and the only light was the light coming out of the store. Suddenly I noticed a silhouette sitting of to the side, at first I thought it was a teenage girl, but as I got closer I noticed the silhouette was a woman in her twenties, and she was crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she told me it was Christmas time and she couldn’t afford to buy gifts for her two children, to have under the tree. I told her lets go get a few things, “Let it be my gift to you so you can have toys for your children from Santa. As soon as we got into the store, I picked up a couple of small things, then said to her, I guess we need a shopping cart. She said, “I can’t believe this is happening for me and my children.” Then I said maybe we should go down the isles like we were at the grocery store. As I kept putting stuff in the cart she kept repeating, “I can’t believe this is happening.” Then we got to one isle and she picked up a small package of Play Dough and said sheepishly do you think we could get one of these. I told her no they need the big one and, put it in the cart. Then I saw an Etch-A-Sketch saying every child needs one of these, as I put it into the cart, with tears on her face she kept saying, “I can’t believe this is happening.” When we went down the next isle I saw a Rock-um Sock-um, and asked her if it’s not too violent for her I would like to get one of these for the boys. On the next isle she picked up one small Nerf Ball, I said no, one is not enough and put six in the cart. On the next isle I saw Gumbo and Pokie, and it reminded me of the fun I had with them when I was little, and I hoped her boys would have as much fun. I hadn’t had this much fun in years, I felt like a little kid who could get what ever he wanted. Even now when I talk about that day I get chill bumps all over. By the time we got to the last isle the cart was so overflowing I couldn’t put another thing in. So I said I guess we are finished and headed for the register as we waited in line I saw these huge lollipops and asked her if she allowed her children to have sugar, when she said yes I picked the two largest ones and set them on the counter. When the cashier saw just how many toys we put on the counter she said, “I guess someone is going to have a good Christmas.” With tears on her face the woman said, “ I don’t even know his name, we never met before, and he is doing this for me and my children.”
I helped her put the toys into her car and said, ”Merry Christmas, and the next year will be a much better year.
A note from one of the staff, I can’t help but think that somewhere are two young men who have heard this story from their mother hundreds of times. The year they almost didn’t have a Christmas, and the man who came to the rescue that day in December about twenty years ago. If either of you read this please e-mail me at GeorgeBailey@TemporaryPartTimeAngel.com I will see that he gets to read it.
We all believe there is more to Heaven and Earth than meets the eye. Recognizing this existence as "The Creator" or "God" is essential. Whether we refer to His or Her messengers as Saints, or Angels is merely a matter of personal tradition. Occasionally we are given the opportunity to experience this divine intervention either directly as an Angel Experience, or more frequently when one person is guided to come to the aid of another. On such occasions as this, we can refer to this person as a
"Temporary Part-Time Angel."
"Featured Story Of The Week"
Occasionally one of our staff members at TPA is guided to stop at a particular place that they are passing. Not surprisingly they come back with a story that someone was willing to share or simply ended up helping someone they met there.
In the following example I was given the opportunity to participate.....
George Bailey.
Yesterday I stopped at a convince store where the two employees were standing outside, both looked to be in their early 20's. After a few minutes of talking about the cost of gas the subject changed to "Temporary Part Time Angel." The girl immediately said you need to talk to him (pointing her finger at the other employee). He seemed to blush a little and say "It seems the last few months I have been changing somebody's tire about twice a week."
On the following pages you will find some interesting experiences that people like you have shared with us, which has helped them realize how they are a "Temporary Part-Time Angel" in someone’s life. We hope these Stories will inspire you to see the “Temporary Part-time Angel” in yourself.
Stories like these, come from people like you!
Sharing your own personal Temporary Part Time Angel story brings joy not only to our staff, but the readers of our web site and maybe eventually the book.