Contents

      Epigraph

      Introduction: An Angel at my Door

      Chapter 1. Growing Up Again

      Chapter 2. Angel Babies

      Chapter 3. Unborn Angels

      Chapter 4. Angel Children

      Chapter 5. Invisible Friends

      Chapter 6. ‘Take Care of this Child’

      Chapter 7. Angels of Mercy

      Chapter 8. Angels in Waiting

      Chapter 9. Everyday Angels

      About the Author

      Copyright

      About the Publisher

      Your Guardian Angel

      You have a guardian angel

      Who watches over you–

      Everywhere you go

      And everything you do.

      This gentle, silent helper

      Is there to be your guide

      To shelter and protect you,

      And for you to walk beside.

      Your angel will always help you

      Whenever things go wrong,

      They’ll be the wings beneath your feet

      As life’s path you walk along.

      Feel this calming presence,

      Be enfolded by its love,

      And let your life be guided

      By a power from above.

      Anonymous

      Introduction: An Angel at my Door

      ‘A house call from an angel can

       heal a broken heart.’

      Anonymous

      Anyone who knows me or who has read my previous angel books, An Angel Called My Name or An Angel on My Shoulder, will know that without a shadow of doubt I believe in angels. I believe that departed loved ones watch over us from the other side and that each one of us has a guardian angel guiding us both in this life and the next.

      I also believe that our guardian angels can manifest their loving presence in a limitless number of ways. On rare occasions they appear in their full-blown glory, complete with wings and halos, but more often than not they prefer to express themselves in subtler, gentler ways. They may appear in our dreams, in a flash of insight, in a hug or in other people who are consciously or unconsciously guided by those in the world of spirit. They may manifest as a gentle breeze, a cloud, a bird, a coin, a song or anything that speaks volumes to our hearts. They may choose to express their love through the spirits of departed loved ones. Last, but by no means least, they may appear or express themselves through children or those with a youthful spirit. Indeed, the ability to live life with the open and trusting heart of a child may well be the vital ingredient angels need to manifest their loving presence on Earth.

      In my previous angel books I gathered together collections of true-life angel stories from people of all ages and backgrounds, and it soon became clear to me that a great many of the stories focused on the experiences of the very young. Another theme I noticed was that regardless of their age, people who encountered angels or believed that angels were watching over them tended to be young in their approach to life. I’ve been researching and writing about angels and afterlife experiences for many years now and looking back I can see that almost from the very beginning this ‘young at heart’ theme was quite literally knocking on my door.

      Opening the Door

      About a decade ago I was in the bathroom when a boy of about eight or nine rang my doorbell. He had my eight-month-old son in his arms. I was stunned, as I had left my son on the living-room rug for just a few moments and he was crawling but not yet walking.

      The boy at my door told me he had found my baby crawling on our porch dangerously close to some steps which led down to a stone path. Wracked with shock, guilt and relief, I snatched my son and hugged him tightly to me, closing my eyes. Then I remembered the boy at the door and how abrupt I must have seemed. I hadn’t even thanked him. I opened my eyes, intending to ask his name and give him some money, but he was nowhere to be seen. Holding my son tightly, I walked down the stairs and looked up and down the street outside our house. I was convinced I would see the boy walking away either to the left or to the right, as the street was straight and there were no bends or turnings he could head down, but there was no trace of him in either direction. He had vanished.

      Whether human or in spirit, this boy will always be an angel in my eyes, as there is no telling what might have happened if my precious baby had fallen down those stairs. Even now, all these years later, I can still picture him in my mind, with his twinkling blue eyes, lopsided smile and mop of dark hair. Many people have told me that he was probably just a kind and helpful child doing a good deed, but why didn’t he linger for a thank you or for some reward afterwards? How on Earth did he disappear so quickly?

      From that moment on, stories concerning babies and children held a growing fascination for me. I was already collecting angel stories from people from all corners of the world, but it soon became clear that stories sent in by children or about children were truly special because children live in a world where angels are real. ‘Grown-up’ doubt, fear and scepticism simply aren’t there. Unfortunately, this innate ability to ‘see’ spiritually declines with age, but as this book will make abundantly clear, it doesn’t have to fade away and we can all rediscover, nurture and cherish the child within.

      Young at Heart

      The term ‘inner child’ is a clichéd one but, like a number of clichés, it resonates with truth. Carl Jung called the inner child ‘the Divine Child’, Emmet Fox called it ‘the Wonder Child’, Charles Whitfield called it ‘the Child Within’ and some psychotherapists call it ‘the true self’. But what is it?

      The inner child is the child you once were, the child who desired to be nurtured, cared for and loved. This child still resides within you, however old you are. It is the part of you that is sensitive, creative, emotional, spontaneous, playful, intuitive, passionate and enthusiastic, but it is also the part of you most in need of comfort, guidance, love and reassurance. Many of us lose touch with our inner child as we leave childhood behind, but it remains with us all our lives. We are all children at heart, innocently searching for meaning in life, and it is through our inner child that our guardian angels reveal themselves to us.

      According to the Swedish mystic Emanuel Sweden-borg there is no need to look outside ourselves to encounter angels, because angels are within us, waiting to be discovered. This book aims to bring together inner child and inner angel by showing that it is through our inner child that angels speak to us. In this way, with love, trust and the open mind and heart of a child, anyone, whether they are eight or 80 years old, can see, hear or sense the nearness of their guardian angel.

      Therefore, in the pages that follow not only will you find miraculous stories about babies and children, but you’ll also find miraculous stories about adults of all ages and at all stages in life. The thread linking all the stories in this book is that the people who submitted them all have the ability to see the world through the eyes of a child, whether they are young in years or not. Seeing the world in this way doesn’t mean being childlike in the sense of being naïve or ignorant of the ways of the world, but it does mean having an open mind and the ability to feel things deeply and