An Angel in Disguise




 



"All God's angels come to us disguised"

 James Russell Lowell

I teach an Education Practicum class.  Students who take this class are working or volunteering in the schools.  We meet at the beginning of the semester and then, the rest of the time the students help in the K-12 classroom and work on-line, discussing their experiences, challenges and successes in their classrooms.  At the end of the semester I go and observe each of them.  Last week I went and observed Crystal.  She is an instructional aide in a self-contained Special Education classroom.  It was my first visit to this particular school, so I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into a spacious classroom that looked more like a family room than a classroom.  Five students were just settling down to a table that was arranged in a large half circle, with Crystal centered on the other side.  The children had disabilities that ranged from autism to cerebral palsy.

Unlike a typical classroom of young children, there wasn’t chattering and giggling, instead there were mostly grunts and groans.  Besides the full time teacher, two instructional aides supported these special students’ needs.  Their instruction often came with sign language,  in order to try and keep those distant eyes focused on the work at hand. Today Crystal was helping them to  try to identify a color when shown another one just like it.  This is a skill that most preschoolers learn of course, but with these children their learning is delayed.  So much we take for granted with our ‘normal’ children is an unbelievable feat for many of these kids. As I watched them struggle to find their red circle to match Crystal's, I felt an unwanted emotion of sadness crawling up my spine.

I sat about five feet from the group taking notes about Crystal's teaching strategies, when one of the children, Isaac, was becoming quite agitated.  He began moaning and groaning and then broke out in painful 'animal like' cries. I found myself wondering about and questioning God’s design and purpose with Isaac and his classmates.  Imagine the heart aches of their parents, the pain they were given to deal with, the difficult challenges that lay ahead of them.  As I watched  Isaac’s tears fall, I noticed my own eyes were filling to overflowing. Part of me wanted to just bolt out the door.

Soon, another instructional aide came and gently put a heavy weight vest on Isaac to warm and soothe him.  She then took a small soft brush and slowly and gently rubbed it over his back and arms helping him to find comfort. Eventually, his sobbing turned to sniffling and finally he was calm.

Crystal finished the lesson and it was time for the children to have an outdoor play.  I watched Isaac as he stood up and moved away from the table.  He was walking towards me, and as  if the most natural thing in the world to this 10 year old child, he hoisted himself up on on my lap.  We both were still for a few minutes.  Then Issaac got up and turned around and looked me in the eyes.  He took both of his arms and wrapped them around my neck and put his cheek next to mine and hugged me tight…. We stayed like that...just feeling the warmth of each other’s touch. Finally,  Isaac unclasped his arms and reached for my hand to take me with him for his outside play. 

I later congratulated Crystal for the wonderful job she was doing, commented on her patience and positive attitude. and said my goodbyes.  By the time I reached my car,  I was sobbing.  I sat for a while, steering wheel in hand, overcome  with  such an overwhelming feeling of undeserved love.  Could it be, I had just been given the opportunity to be held by one of God’s angels? 

You can email me at Smallsteps4bigresults@yahoo.com