Heart Touchers

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*Moon Walks* 2/11/02

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Before we get to today's story by HeartTouchers favorite
Kenneth L. Pierpont, I wanted to ask all of you to pray
for two men: Bill, who will be going in for surgery (cancer)
tomorrow, and Duane, who will be going in for surgery (cancer)
next week. I would greatly appreciate it if you would lift
them and their families up in prayer. Thank you from the
bottom of my heart!

From my family to yours,
Michael
P.S. A very special happy birthday to Amanda Dietz! I believe
we only have two or three more days of safety before she will be getting
her driver's license! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

We love ya Amanda!

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Moon Walks

By Kenneth L. Pierpont

In our local library is a delightful children's book called Owl Moon
by Jane Yolen. It's about a little girl and her daddy walking through
the snow on a winter night to see an owl. Somewhere, in some city, a
grown-up girl thinks about her daddy years ago bundling-up his little
girl and making a memory while field on field of fresh snow reflected
the moon's luminous glow. She writes her memory down and adds full-
color illustrations and thousands of us enjoy the walk with her. A
wise man. A blessed little girl.

We have a tradition in our home. We call it the "moon walk," but it's
not what you might think. It is not a dance step (we're card-carrying
Baptists and don't go in for any kind of dancing. When I was a boy I
would even get a note to excuse me from square dancing in gym class.
The first Baptist preacher, John the Baptist, lost his head at a
dance so, you see, we Baptists have a healthy aversion to them). The
deal is, I promised the kids that on full-moon nights they don't have
to go to bed until I take them on a walk by the light of the moon.
They love this tradition. I love it more.

It started years ago on a cool fall night when Yoder, our beagle, now
gone to his doggie reward, was just a tiny pup. It was a Saturday
night and I picked up my walking stick to go out into the night and
pray and prepare my heart for the Lord's day. Kyle asked to go along.
Yoder insisted on coming to. The moon was big and bright and the air
cool. We walked past tall corn ripening for harvest along a wide
grassy waterway. We talked to the Lord as we walked. We followed a
lane cut through a wood like a dark tunnel shaded from the moonlight.
It opened into an arch of misty light at the other end.

I made the comment on the way back to the house, "We ought to take a
walk every time there is a full moon." That was it. It became a
cherished family tradition.

When dozens of things that we spent hundreds of dollars on are long
forgotten, we will all still remember our moon walks. King's Island
and Cedar Point don't have anything like that. I have a snapshot in
the album of my memory of a path of light cast by the moon on a
surface of a mountain lake a few years ago.

I think the reason we love our walks so much is simply because we
love being together. I love to be with the children. And most of all
I love it that they love to be with me, talking quietly or just
walking along in sweet quietness until the sounds of the night calm
our spirits. Usually we just tramp along pulling cool night air into
our lungs. On our moon walks words aren't always needed to
communicate. Dozens of delightful things engage our senses as we walk:

The music of a spring leaping from a hillside in the springtime
Cricket and frog duets in the summer
Leaves crumpling underfoot in the fall
The crunch of frozen ground in winter
The wind blowing across an open field
Stirring in the leaves of a big Oak beside the road
A plane droning it's way across the vast night sky
The lonely sound of a truck grinding its way across the valley
Walking sticks tapping on the road.
Blinking fireflies
The perfume of new-mown hay

But these little delights are extras. The real joy of the full-moon
walk is just being with those we love. Listening to each other and
listening with each other. I love to be with them and I love it that
they love to be with me. And sometimes on our night walks I peer into
the endless night sky past a thousand stars and out into the place
where God dwells alone and I am awed that He loves to be with me and
that he loves it that I love to be with Him!

Write Ken and let him know your thoughts on his story!

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Ken Pierpont lives with his wife and eight children
in Fremont, Michigan. He is a pastor who loves to
tell stories, You can meet him on-line at www.kenpierpont.com
or write him at ken@kenpierpont.com. Every Monday
morning he starts the week by sending a
new original story to about fifteen hundred friends
who receive the Stonebridge Newsletter. If you
ask real nice he will add you to the list.

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From now on we will be offering our book,
Straight From the Heart "A Celebration of Life" for
only $13 (instead of the regular price of $14.95), and
best of all, we will pay the shipping! So if you have
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To order your autographed copy send a check or
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Thought For The Day:

"Man who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth must wait very, very
long time." --Chinese Proverb

Verse for the Day:

"The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is weary of bringing it to his
mouth again." --Proverbs 26:15

Kid's Thought For The Day:

"Forget the cake! Go straight for the icing!"

Parent's Thought For The Day:

"To be in your children's memories tomorrow, you have to be in
their lives today."

Coach's Thought For The Day:

"We can't win at home. We can't win on the road. As general manager, I
just can't figure out where else to play."
--Pat Williams, Orlando Magic general manager, on
his team's 7-27 record, 1992.

Writer's Thought For the Day:

"As a writer, or a storyteller, try to tell the stories that only you can
tell. Try to tell the stories that you cannot help telling, the stories you
would be telling yourself if you had no audience to listen. The ones that
reveal a little too much about you to the world." --Neil Gaiman

Deep Thought For The Day:

"The food that you get in art museums is institutional revenge for the art
that you get in restaurants."

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_
/_/\/\    MICHAEL T. POWERS
\_\ /    HeartTouchers@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 Imagery --Michael's Video Production Business

"I thought of you first after my family sat down to watch
the video we gave them. They loved it, to say the
least! Within thirty seconds my mom was crying
and my dad did too. They said it was the best
Christmas gift we could have given them!! You
did such a beautiful job! They were so surprised
and so touched--they really, really, really loved it.
Thanks for helping to make it so special to us all.
My mom mentioned how the songs were perfect
for the video too! Thanks again!"
Kelli-- College Station, TX

Let me make you a video from your pictures or
home movies! Check out the web page for Michael's
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