This is a story I told during Heritage Sabbath. You'll have to excuse the simple way the story is written because it is from "Long Ago and Far Away" published in 1955--a grade 3 reader in the Adventist reading series. You've probably heard or read this one before, but it's still a good one.

Charlie and the Angel
by Ruth Wheeler

Elder James White and his wife knew that God wanted them to go to interested people to tell them more abut the things God commanded His people to do. But when they had their first baby, Mrs. White thought she must stay at home.

Traveling by themselves was hard enough, but traveling with a baby was just too much.

The stagecoaches went so slowly and stopped so often that it took hours and hours to go only a few miles. People had to wait a long time whenever they changed coaches. The trains were few and nearly as slow as the stagecoaches.

It was winter. Surely God wouldn’t insist that they travel any distance with their young baby!

But God did insist. Their baby became very sick. He was barely alive. Elder and Mrs. White prayed for their son. They promised God that if He would make the child well, they would go wherever God desired them to go. God made the baby well.

Sometimes they took the baby with them, but often they left him with a neighbor.

When their next son came, they were prepared to go any distance to help others. Sometimes Mrs. White would be too weak and sick to sit up. But when the calls came, God always helped he to make the journey.

One day after Mrs. White had talked with some people for a long time, a woman said to her neighbor, “I’m worried abut Mrs. White. She looks tired and sick.”

“Yes,” said the neighbor. “She and Elder White travel nearly all the time. I’m afraid they’ll wear themselves out.”

One of the women repeated her worried thought to her husband.

“I’ve been a bit worried about both of them,” he answered. What they need is a good horse and buggy of their own. Then they could travel much faster and safer than by stage. They could stop when they pleased, and go across country if they wanted to. It would save much time.”

He began at once to talk to other men who were at the meeting. “A horse and buggy is what they need,” he told them. “They are too poor to buy one for themselves. Why can’t we raise the money and get one for them ?”

The idea struck them all as beign just the right thing to do. In a short time they raised nearly two hundred dollars.

Three of the men who had horses to sell agreed to bring their best horses to a certain place in the hollow on Monday morning. Then Mr. And Mrs. White could decide which one they desired to have.

Of course, the tired workers were very much surprised and delighted to hear that they were to have a horse of their very own to drive. None knew better than they how tiresome it was being jarred about riding on the train and in the stagecoach.

That night, when everyone was asleep, God sent an angel to tell Mrs. White exactly which horse to pick. The angel showed her a group of men waiting at the crossroads. They were holding three horses which they had brought for Mr. White to see.

The first man’s horse danced about excitedly. Said the angel, “Not that one.”

The next man had a large, mousy gray horse. It was lazy and seemed barely alive. Said the angel, “Not that one.”

The third man showed them a beautiful nut-brown horse. It was a very fine, wise-looking animal. Said the angel, “This is the one for you.”

The next morning, Elder and Mrs. White went to the crossroads to meet the men. The same three horses were there–the prancing one, the lazy one, and the brown one. It wasn’t at all hard for the Whites to pick out a horse for themselves.

Soon Charlie, the nut-brown horse, was hitched to a good buggy.

Elder James White and Ellen were delighted with their gift, for Charlie was exactly what they desired in a horse. God had prepared a way for His faithful workers to travel more easily.

None were happier than the Whites as they wenr on their way over the beautiful countryside. They were not only happy because they had Charlie and a new buggy. But they were also cheered by the fond thoughts of the good people who showed how much they loved them.

Charlie helped them visit hundred and hundreds of people all over New Hampshire and many other places. Charlie, the helper an angel picked out, became the first Seventh-day Adventist missionary horse.