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{SFTH} *The Little Angel Bear* 3/22/01
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Quick update on my upcoming TV interview...
For those of you who don't get Wisdom TV in your area and would like
to watch the interview via the Internet, you can go to
www.WisdomMedia.com on Friday night at 6:30 PM Central time and watch
it for free...
I will send out another reminder later in the week as it gets closer...
Michael
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The Little Angel Bear
By Deb Adler
The day rings out in my mind as if it were yesterday. I was a patient
in St. Mary's Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin on full bed-rest awaiting
the birth of my first son. A few friends from marriage group were expected
to come visit that Sunday afternoon.
It wasn't a very pleasant afternoon. The morning had started out with a
migraine. Not a typical one but this one was worse than I have ever
experienced before. I wasn't allowed medication except for a shot of
Demerol. When the Demerol would wear off, the pain was still there.
The pounding in my head was like a jackhammer with no signs of it
stopping! It was definitely not a good time for visitors beings I
couldn't have the light on in my room. But it was too late to call them
off from coming.
As Mary, Laura, and Jill entered the room I felt like the war in my head
had not subsided at all and the room was spinning faster than a
merry-go-round. When anyone would talk even at a normal tone it felt
like an air-horn going off. Sitting up even became a task that couldn't
be accomplished. Moaning and heaving were the only things that were
coming out of my mouth. What my head needed was another dose of
Demerol. For the longest time I did not even realize there was someone
else that was there with the three women. It was Mary's daughter,
Rebecca. I tried to sit up for a short time but it only lasted for
about 2 minutes. The pain just kept intensifying in my head and I would
start to heave once again. But this didn't stop Rebecca, just short of
turning 12 years old at the time, to approach me. With my head spinning
faster than being on a roller coaster, she stepped in front of me with a
little angel teddy bear in her hand. She handed me the teddy bear and
told me that she wanted me to find comfort and proceeded to stand
there. I thanked her but really was not in the mood to sit and chat
with her or anybody else at the time.
As the group was getting ready to leave, I pleaded with them to stay and
pray with me. I desperately wanted to be better company to them. After
all they did drive quite a distance to come and see me and now they were
leaving after only a short visit.
It was a couple of days later that would help me to understand just what
a special gift that Rebecca had given that will forever be ingrained
into my memory no matter how painful my migraine was that day. Jill,
one of the ladies that came that day, called me and told me that she
heard on the way home from visiting me just where that little teddy bear
came from. She proceeded to tell me that the teddy bear that Rebecca
had given to me was actually given to her at one time from her mother
when her great grandmother died. The bear was meant to comfort her
during her time of need.
The Teddy Bear's significance came when Rebecca's great grandmother
suffered a stroke in 1995 and did not have the ability to move or talk.
Her great grandmother became bedridden in December of 1996 and whenever
the family would visit her there would be a tenseness in the room. Mary
(Rebecca's Mother) decided to have a bear in the room that when you
pressed it would say "You're my special friend." Seeing this bear
reminded the kids of the comfort and the talks they would have about
great grandmother going to be with Jesus. When Great Grandmother passed
away Mary wanted to get her daughter Rebecca a bear that had a special
significance to it. This bear was to help her remember her Great
Grandmother.
This beautiful almost 12 year old girl was not afraid to approach me in
the hospital when it looked like a truck just ran me over. She gave me
something that was near and dear to her heart in a generous, caring and
unselfish way to get me through my rough time with having migraines and
being in the hospital waiting for the premature birth of my son not
knowing at that time what the result would be of my son's early
arrival. She not only gave up something that was so precious and
sentimental to her but she gave it to me and did not tell me the story
behind it. She wasn't looking for any fanfare by telling me just what
she was giving up. But instead she humbly came before me acting like an
adult in her thinking and her giving. That little Angel bear sat next
to me in the delivery room as I gave birth to my son. The “Little Angel
Bear” sits in my son Caleb's room today and it reminds me of what REAL
LOVE is.
Today Rebecca (Becca as my son calls her) is a darling 15-year-old girl
that is very good with Caleb as his baby-sitter.
I will never forget the love and sacrifice it took for her to hand me
that Angel Teddy Bear that day.
Thank you Becca for the love that you showed me that day. You will
always have a special part in my heart and Caleb's too!
Deb Adler
hunsun@ticon.net
Send Deb an email and let her know what you thought of her story!
Deb Adler is from Janesville Wisconsin. She loves her job as a Church
Secretary! She has been married for 9 1/2 years, has a son named Caleb
that should have been called "Bruiser" that turned three in December.
Deb loves being a mom to her only son. Although it has it's challenges,
the rewards far outweigh any frustrations. She also loves to write in her
spare time (usually only from life's experiences).
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Thought For The Day:
"If I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of itself."
Dwight L. Moody
Verse for the Day:
"Righteousness guards the man of integrity." -- Proverbs 13:6
Kid's Thought For The Day:
"Silence can be an answer."
Parent's Thought For The Day:
"A mother is a person who sees there are only four pieces of pie for five people
and promptly remarks that she has never cared for pie."
Coach's Thought For The Day:
"Don't mistake activity for achievement." -- John Wooden
Deep Thought For The Day:
"My wife thinks I'm too nosy. At least that's what she keeps scribbling in her diary."
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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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