My Angel Unaware and other Devotionals is a collection of devotionals written over a period of several years. Some were written as meditations to be offered at my home church. Many of the devotionals were first shared online during the pandemic to help people dealing with anxiety and depression. This book is devoted to the memory of my mother, my very own angel unaware, and reminds us all to be thankful for the people whose love first connected us with our Christian faith.
My Angel Unaware and other Devotionals is a collection of devotionals written over a period of several years. Some were written as meditations to be offered at my home church. Many of the devotionals were first shared online during the pandemic to help people dealing with anxiety and depression. This book is devoted to the memory of my mother, my very own angel unaware, and reminds us all to be thankful for the people whose love first connected us with our Christian faith.
I am male. Being male, I know I miss some things, like hints, subtle hints, not so subtle hints, and neon lit sign hints. As a woman or even as a man, surely you understand what I mean.
Now I believe that God created me as a male, and having created me, he surely understands me best. I simply donât take hints. I easily miss these finer points of human communication.
So when it was time to send me my angel unaware, God didnât send a stranger to my door. He knew I probably would have left them standing there.
God was smarter than that. He was kinder than that, and, as usual much more loving than that. God sent me my mother.
Was my mother a literal angel come down from heaven just for my family? No. As a child and even more now as a parent, I was aware that she had some flaws. But more than anyone else in my life, she surely comes the closest to true angelic status.
When it comes to connecting me with my Christian faith, no one else can compare. Certainly my first glimpse of unconditional love, love undeserved, forgiveness unmerited, grace that just keeps coming, knowing me at my worst and loving me anyway, that was from my mother.
And now as my mother declines with old age, as she is slowly robbed of intellect, memory, mobility, strength and even dignity, this is my time. Now is my opportunity to honor her, to love her unconditionally, with patience, with steadfastness, knowing her for who she is, even as she forgets.
As I prepare to lose her in this time and place, I accept it, because I believe as she does, that her next life will be eternal, in a place free from sorrow and pain. After all, if God sent her to me, I know he will want her back.
We have so many things we should be grateful for, but weâre usually too busy to stop and reflect on them. So I offer you these thoughts to consider, and then to give thanks for, if you feel blessed.
Who has followed the second greatest commandment and loved you as much as they would love themselves? Who has reflected the love of God into the darker parts of your life and given you a hope that will not fade away? Who have you hurt, lied to, mistreated, and ignored, and their response was to love you anyway? Who has been your angel unaware?
âBe not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawaresâ (Hebrews 13:2 K JV).
My Angel Unaware and other Devotionals by Christopher Hall is a book of Christian devotionals covering the period of a little over 10 years between July 2011 and October 2021.
In the Christian life, receiving Christ as oneâs Savior is just the beginning. To mature and bear fruit, every disciple needs a lifetime of nurture and care. Devotionals form one form of that nurture. On a voyage from this world to their destination in the next, across the treacherous high seas of life, they ask, remind, and warn the reader to look out for danger continually and if they find theyâve strayed from the path of obedience, to correct themselves and get back quickly to avoid certain disaster.
As an essential nurture for life, authors aim many devotionals for daily/frequent use. They walk you through different scenarios of life and ask questions that make you reflect on whether you are on track or whether youâre straying. They challenge, inspire, and encourage you. Typically, they aim at making the reader introspect on their response/adequacy to all kinds of daily situations: showing Godâs love to friends and enemies, forgiving those who wrong and hurt you, faithfulness to spouse and family, integrity and uprightness issues, etc., and in brief, living out the full teachings of the Bible from the heart in an uncaring, selfish, and hedonistic world.
This book fulfills the intended goals for a book of devotionals. Itâs the fruit of a labor of love by the author and written in honor of his mother, who was his visible âangelâ on earth. She brought him up in godly ways and brought him to faith in Christ. He has prepared it thoughtfully and the selection of topics for meditation matches the flow of actual events for the time covered (July 2011 to October 2021) e.g. the impact of COVID-19 starting March 8, 2020. The author is an Information Technology (IT) professional and doubtless developed the book on a computer/PC using office/publishing software tools, so it contains only a few errors. The layout, print size, and readability are great. However, one thing that struck me as odd is the period covered is in the pastâwhile devotionals may and often refer to past events/happenings, we mean them for use on future dates.
The devotional I loved most was the one for June 21, 2015, that is in honor of womenâmothers, wives, sisters, daughters, sisters-in-law, etc.
I sincerely hope it will be a blessing to everyone who reads it.