Sharon Stevens is an unconfessed alcoholic, hoping liquor will cure her childhood trauma and numb the gnawing regret that she repeated the generational cycle and has an estranged son as proof. Though she is the co-owner of a successful hair salon and is financially secure as a single woman, she can’t ignore the loneliness and lifelessness that drives her to drink…and drink…and drink.
However, when Sharon stumbles upon a local newspaper story of a young girl fighting for her life, she discovers a reason to hope, sacrifice, and, eventually, change.
Michelle Schmitt is battling Wegener’s Disease, a rare condition that not only stole her mother at a young age but requires her to have a liver transplant. Nowhere near the top of the transplant list, Michelle’s prospects at life seem lost. Meanwhile, her father, Ed – battling the grief of losing his wife, the insurmountable weight of medical bills, and the unsustainable pressure to fix his daughter’s illness – has lost all hope in not only his ability to provide for his family but in the Provider of all things to heal what has been broken.
Sharon throws all that she is into raising funds for Michelle’s medical bills and medications. She’s known as a bold, rather abrasive woman, and she refuses to take “no” for an answer, securing not only large sums of money for the Schmitt family but an airplane to transport Michelle to a hospital states away when a liver is available. Sharon is a stranger with baggage, yet God uses Michelle’s life-or-death burden to make this regret-stricken woman an ordinary angel who paves a path of hope for a hurting family.
Ordinary Angels offers a humble yet powerful plot: God calls each of us – regardless of our past, and even our present – to love others. While we are under the law apart from Jesus, by His love, we are given the grace to forgive ourselves and receive forbearance from others, even strangers. Along this journey, we are reminded that God works best in our messes, mistakes, and even anger toward Him. He is the Provider, the Healer, and the Great Miracle Worker.
Sharon’s alcoholism is a prevalent part of the story, presenting several scenes of complete, embarrassing inebriation, and Michelle’s disease is harrowing, including a few heart-breaking sequences. Outside these viewer discretions, Ordinary Angels is a heart-warming, inspiring, high-quality film.
Ordinary Angels is Dove-approved for Ages 12+.
