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{Straight From the Heart} *Putting the Fish Back in the Water* 1/16/01
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Just a quick reminder to everyone that we did a major overhaul on the website this weekend! Come check us out to see the new and exciting changes!
You can check us out at:
Straight From the Heart
http://www.storiesfrommyheart.com
We have added lots of new photos, including a great one of Connor hanging loose in his stroller with his sunglasses on our main page!
Remember that the web site gets something new added to it every week, so check us out often!
Michael
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Putting the Fish Back in the Water
By Danny Mann
The sun had just begun to make its daily appearance over the tips
of the majestic pines as the father and his son untied the rope
that held the boat to the pier. With a gentle push, the father
used an oar to move the small boat away from the dock.
The setting was almost surreal. As the sun continued its climb on
the eastern horizon, the thin blanket of mist covering the surface
of the lake seemed to glitter like tiny diamonds. The only sounds
were those of the oars cutting through the water and the gentle
lapping of the lake against the front of the boat. As the world
continued to awaken, the piercing caw of a crow echoed through the
pines, only to be followed by another - and a new day was born.
The boy sat in the front of the boat, soaking it all in. This was
his first fishing trip. A slight breeze made a few strands of thin
blonde hair tickle across his forehead. He shivered, partly from
the morning chill, but mostly from a barely contained sense of
excited anticipation. Sleep hadn't come easily to him last night.
And waking early, normally a "real bummer," had been no problem.
Preparations had begun days in advance - a trip to the store to
find just the right rod and reel, just the right lure, and his own
small tacklebox - red plastic with a shiny silver latch.
The previous evening, the boy had followed his dad around the
garage as he searched through one closet after another, gathering
the equipment they would need for the next day's excursion. Then,
having located all the rods and reels, the ice chest, the net,
which looked to the boy like a tennis racket with really loose
strings, they loaded it all into the truck. They were ready to go.
They spent an hour in the backyard practicing with the rod and
reel. The boy seemed to have a knack for casting and the father's
eyes twinkled with amusement, and more than a little pride, as he
watched his son. He was as excited as the boy. What a great day
it was going to be.
After ten minutes of moderate rowing, the father found just the
right spot. He pulled the oars in and carefully lowered them to
the floor of the boat. He held his finger to his lips reminding
his son to be quiet. He pointed to the spot where he thought the
fish might be and whispered, "Try over there."
The boy lifted the tip of his rod over and away from his shoulder.
With a flick and a zing, as if he were a pro and not a boy on his
first fishing trip, he let fly the lure and it splashed down in
just the right spot. He let it sink just a bit and started
cranking the reel. And then it happened - on his first cast, on
his first fishing trip, the rod jerked in his hands and the bass
broke the surface of the lake as it began it's losing battle.
After a brief struggle, the boy was staring in wide-eyed fascination
at the flopping, glistening bass. It was beautiful - the pulsing of its
gills, the hundreds of different shades of gray and green and blue, the
big dark eyes - the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
The father slipped the hook from the bass's mouth and let it slide
back into the water. This was no surprise to the boy. He knew
that a fish out of water was a fish that would die. He didn't want
it to die. He just wanted to catch another one.
Worship is for people what water is for fish. Without it, our souls
will die. In worship, the physical world intersects with the spiritual
world. In worship, the beating of our hearts are melded with the yearning
of our souls. Without worship, we're like fish out of water.
Come. Drink deeply at the fountain of worship. There really is relief for
the parched and thirsty soul.
Danny Mann
102110.141@compuserve.com
Send Danny an email and let him know what you thought about his story!
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Danny, single and 40 years old, has recently resigned his position of full
time ministry in San Antonio, Texas. He is going to spend the next few
months trying to make a go of it in the wild world of writing. Any help from
anyone out there in cyberspace would be greatly appreciated. You can write to
Danny at 102110.141@compuserve.com. He would love to hear from you.
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Attention writers! Important info on Chicken Soup for the Grandparent's Soul.
Hanock McCarty, who is in charge of putting this book together emailed me this past weekend and asked if I would pass along the following info to all of you!
He is still looking for story submissions for this book!
Submissions can be emailed to Hanoch McCarty at: hanoch@bestspeaker.com
Quick Note about Grandparent's Soul: It's due out in August. We would love people to watch for it then. Also they can call 1-800-KINDNESS to pre-order (credit cards not charged until the day it ships) and they'll get the first off the press AUTOGRAPHED copies! Also (last minute since deadline is end of January) if they have a story ---it must be true, it must be under six pages, and it has to have a POINT (not a 'moral' in the sense that Aesop's Fables always ended with "and therefore we should always.....") but a punch line, something main character learns, or grows from a life experience. Especially we need FUNNY stories about grandmas, grandpas or grandkids.
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From the Email Box!
From: kathie@iccnet.org (Kathie)
Michael,
I want to share something with you that may be an encouragement to others that need the reassurance or need to know that Christ is always there with us.
I work in NYC - midtown and I thank God for the rain the other day, instead of more snow. Since it was not raining for the morning commute, many people were looking for umbrellas to borrow to go home with. I always have an abundance of umbrellas in the office. There is a building across the street from us and hidden between the window and the person's desk is an umbrella which I am sure is forgotten. I can see this view from where I sit. The desk is an organized mess, I'm sure, but it appears to be very sloppy from someone looking in from the outside. Well, the same goes for our lives. Our lives can be mayhem and just when you need God most, whether we can see Him or not, He is always there and ready to help us through. I was able to use this application to witness the Gospel to many people asking for umbrellas that day. I told them to look across the street and see the "hidden" umbrella. That person probably doesn't even know it is there, yet it never leaves that spot. God is the same, when we don't see or feel His presence, it is not Him who left us. It is "us" who need to get in tune with God and keep our focus on Him to see us through. As people returned the umbrellas the next day to me, I had three people thank me for the reminder to go to our Maker and experience His love to get them through whatever they are facing. I prayed for each one of them and God blessed them.
I love your stories and hope this can someday help someone who needs it.
In His Grip,
Kathie
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Thought For The Day:
"A person may sometimes have a clear conscience simply because his head
is empty." - Ralph Sockman
Verse for the Day:
"In the last times some in the church will turn away from Christ...their
consciences won't even bother them." - 1 Timothy 4:2 TLB
Kid's Thought For The Day:
"Mommy and Daddy's bed is always warmer than yours is."
Parent's Thought For The Day:
A MOTHER'S PRAYER
"Oh Lord, give me the patience when tiny hands tug at me with their small demands.
And give me gentle and smiling eyes; Keep my lips from sharp replies.
And let not fatigue, confusion or noise keep me from sharing my child's
new found joys.
And most of all, help me to look above when at times I think I have no love.
For you have promised to bear my load as these precious lives unfold."
Coach's Thought For The Day:
"I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my
mental ability." - Bruce Jenner
Deep Thought For The Day:
"Smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics."
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_
/_/\/\ MICHAEL T. POWERS
\_\ / THUNDER27@aol.com
/_/ \ "For I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but
\_\/\ \ Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live for the Son
\_\/ of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20
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video too! Thanks again!"
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Video Imagery
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Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you?
The Four Spiritual Laws
http://www.ccci.org/laws/index.html
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