Heart Touchers

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{SFTH} *The Shoe Man* 6/25/01

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Michael's long awaited book Straight From the Heart: "A Celebration of
Life," is finally here! Close to 200 pages of true short stories filled
with love and laughter await you! Visit our web site to order your copy!
You can also read some sample stories from the book here!

http://storiesfrommyheart.com/michael_t__powers/

To order your autographed copy at no extra charge, send a check or
money order for $18 ($14.95 for the book and $3.05 for shipping and handling)
made out to Michael T. Powers, to:

Michael T. Powers
1918 Liberty Lane
Janesville, WI 53545

For two books add $4 for shipping and handling and for three books add $5 for shipping and handling. If you want four or more autographed copies of our book you only pay $5 for shipping and handling. We'll pay the extra shipping costs!

Be sure to let us know who you would like it autographed for and then allow about two weeks for us to sign it and send it on its way to you.
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We have another week of great stories in store for you!

I especially wanted to thank all of you who take the time to e-mail those writers
who graciously share their stories with us. This list is known for
the great feedback that you provide and I wanted to thank all of you
for the encouragement you send their way...

May you have a wonderful week!
Michael

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The Shoe Man

By Cheri Lee Funk

I had twenty-one three-year-olds in my Florida Pre-Kindergarten class.
They were beautiful bright children who were eager to learn. Most
of the children were from single-parent homes. Wages in Florida were
terrible and some parent's felt lucky to have enough money left over
during the week to buy groceries much less anything extra. Due to
Florida's mild climate, parents could save lots of money on clothing for
their children. So shorts and tee shirts were the uniform on most days.

Now shoes were another story. The children would come in with all
kinds of footgear. Some of the children came to school with their older
brother or sister's shoes outgrown shoes on. Too little for the older
sibling but still too big for the little ones. Others came in wearing what
we used to call flip-flops, those little rubber thong type sandals that
many of us wore to the beach to keep the sand from burning our feet.
Though we lived in Florida and we were blessed with many hot, sultry
days, there was many a day when the weather would get a little too
cool for these types of shoes.

Seeing these children day after day at school with such desire to learn
was a wonderful experience and they brought me much joy. I was always
trying to think of something I could do for them that would give back
some of the love they had given me. Thus, the Shoe Man was born.

One day after leaving school, I stopped in the local department store and
looked at children's shoes. Wow!! The prices were out of sight! In shock
and not sure how I was going to pull this off, I headed to our local Target
store. I went straight to the Children's Shoe Department and almost fell
over a huge table filled with shoes they had just marked down to Clearance!
My goodness, my guardian angel was looking over me that day!!

I started filling my basket with all kinds of shoes, little pink ones with
bows, sandals, boots that either boys or girls could wear and athletic shoes.
By the time I was done, I had over 30 pairs of shoes! As I was throwing the
shoes in my basket, I was trying to add up the prices, to get an idea of
how much this was going to cost. Finally, I gave up trying to add the
prices up in my head; I had just gotten paid, so it didn't matter what the
cost would be. The Shoe Man was in business!!

When I rolled up to the checkout counter with my basket filled to the top
with shoes, the clerk did a double take. She then asked me how many
children I had. I proudly looked at her and said, "Twenty-one three-year-olds, Ma'am!"

You could see her thinking about that. She was left speechless and just
shook her head. She bagged my purchase and as I turned to go, she was
still standing there and shaking her head.

The next morning the teacher assistant, twenty-one little students and I
headed off to eat our breakfast in the cafeteria. The assistant and I
decided that after breakfast she would take the children the long way
back to the classroom so I would have a few extra minutes before they
arrived. I went to the front of the room and sat down on our floor. The
children filed in, went to the front of the classroom and sat down on the
rug forming a circle around me.

In front of me sat three huge bags, but no one said a word. I began by
telling the children that I had a visit the day before by this very kind
old man who made shoes. The man had come to me because he knew I
had the smartest group of three-year olds in Sally Jones Elementary. And
he had lots of kid's shoes just lying around his workshop that he didn't
know what to do with them. He came to me thinking I might have an idea.
With a big grin on my face, I looked out at twenty-one little faces filled
with wonder and amazement that there was such a thing as The Shoe Man,
and told them, "Yep, I knew what you can do with them. You could give
them to me!" With that, I opened the first bag and pulled out some shoes!
And with a hand full of shoes, I told the kids, "And now I am going to give
those shoes to all of you!"

You would have thought it was Christmas for these children. We grabbed
some extra pairs of socks that the Shoe Man just so happened to include
and everyone started taking off what gear they were wearing on their feet
and started helping each other put on the new shoes!! We had enough
shoes to go around for everyone and even had a few extra pairs that could
go home to siblings. My guardian angel was at the Target Store that day!!

This was such a wonderful and rewarding experience and brought so much
joy to my heart. It is something I will not soon forget. I hope that
everyone out there realizes how much joy they can bring to a child's life by
doing something as simple as creating, The Shoe Man.

By the way, if you find the Hat, Coat and Mitten Man or the New Clothes
for School Man, would you send him my way........

Send Cheri an e-mail and let her know what you thought of her story!
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Cheri lives in North Carolina where she enjoys writing poetry, short stories
and a group of online e-zines called HeartTalk. She uses her writing to
share her life experiences in order to help others. Cheri can be reached
through her web page at http://www.angelfire.com/nc3/HeartTalk/ or her email
at cher_428@hotmail.com

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Thought For The Day:

"You can always tell a real friend: When you've made a fool of yourself he
doesn't feel you've done a permanent job." --Lawrence J. Peter

Verse for the Day:

"He who covers and forgives an offense seeks love, but he who repeats or harps on a matter separates even close friends." -- Proverbs 17:9 Amp

Kid's Thought For The Day:

"Don't wait for someone to ask if you're hungry."

Parent's Thought For The Day

"Any kid will run any errand for you if you ask at bedtime." --Red Skelton

Coach's Thought For The Day

"This department requires no physical fitness program. Everyone gets enough
exercise jumping to conclusions, flying off the handle, running down the
boss, knifing friends in the back, dodging responsibility, and pushing their luck."

Deep Thought For The Day:

"In elementary school, in case of fire you have to line up quietly in single-file
line from smallest to tallest. What is the logic? Do tall people burn slower?"
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REQUESTS:

Update on the twins:

Just a quick update about Patrick and Mary. Mary is back home again as of Tuesday, 6/19. She is on IV antibiotics, she is doing well. Patrick is still in the hospital on antibiotics as well. He is doing well, but he is still not eating as he should be because of his earlier intestinal infection. Please continue to pray for Dave & Jeannie and Michael as they prepare to have both babies home, and continue to praise God for his wisdom and the blessings of these miracles.
Thank you
Susan
susanmcd@ameritech.net

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Dear Friends and Family,
My son Dee will be going to surgery to have his other arm fixed on Wednesday next...My daughter Neva will be traveling here tomorrow to visit...Please remember them in your prayers....Thank you and God bless you...
Becky & Russ
russ@bearriver.net

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A tornado devastated the little village just six miles south of me. Just had to pass along these stories.

I have been working in Siren for the past couple of days. We just sort of do whatever needs doing. I don't use a chain saw, but I did help a young mother take her family's clothes out of the remaining trees.
Today I was walking with a young mother carrying her three month old. We were trying to find anything that might belong to her. We found two teaspoons and pulled some of her clothes out of trees a block from where her house stood. That is it. Nothing more. Still, she did not cry one tear. All she talked about was planting flowers and bushes when they get this mess cleaned up. The spirit here is amazing. In our walk we came upon a wall...just one part of a wall really. There use to be four walls and it use to be a house. Nothing fancy, but someone's home. Now, only a part of a living room wall remained. Seated at the window in a lawn chair that she found was an 86 year old woman. Just sitting there as she did almost every single day. She sat at the wall, with no other walls and watched the world go by out of her living room window, out of what use to be her home.
Then there was the woman who was sitting on her front steps. There was no house behind her, but she still had her steps. I asked her if I could help her and she just smiled and said..."Yes, tell me where to begin".
I can't say enough about the spirit of these people. When all is surveyed it was not as horrible as we thought. About 25% of the buildings can be saved and rebuilt. The rest have to be started from scratch. A lot of the people of Siren live away from town and they are basically fine. The town homes are gone and more than half of the population is looking for temporary housing. As you drive into town from the West there is a sign that someone put up. It says..."Welcome to what was Siren, WI. Thank God we are alive to welcome you." That is true spirit.

A footnote. I don't know if anyone heard, but I know it has been on the National News. The siren that would have warned the village about the tornado was hit by lightning about three weeks ago and because the village had no money in the budget until July for repairs...it did not work. The only warning was the police chief in his car with lights and siren going as he used a megaphone to tell people to take cover. Pretty heroic, but then there are lots and lots of heroes here. I am truly inspired and humbled by their faith and spirit. They don't talk about what happened, they talk about rebuilding. What they called the "renaissance town" because of all of the building and refurbishing that has gone on in the past two years will have to start again. The truth is ....they have already started again. There is an Ecumenical service for the tornado victims tonight. Got to get going. Would not miss this for the world. They don't have much left, but they sure want to thank God for what they do have.

I know this is not a prayer list, but please...just a quick tiny prayer for a little village in Northwestern Wisconsin that will recover.
Thanks.
Barb
bblogget@centurytel.net

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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 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 video production business!
http://members.aol.com/Videoimg/index.html

AOL Users click here: Video Imagery
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Writer's guidelines can be found on our Web site here:
http://storiesfrommyheart.com/writer_s_guidelines/

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Purchase your copy of Michael T. Powers' new book! For a sneak
preview, visit:

http://www.storiesfrommyheart.com/order_our_book_

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AOL Users click here: The Four Spiritual Laws
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http://storiesfrommyheart.com/michael_t__powers/

AOL Users Click Here: Straight From the Heart: A Celebration of Life

To order your autographed copy at no extra charge, send a check or
money order for $18 ($14.95 for the book and $3.05 for shipping and handling)
made out to Michael T. Powers.
To:

Michael T. Powers
1918 Liberty Lane
Janesville, WI 53545

For two books add $4 for shipping and handling and for three books add $5 for shipping and handling. If you want four or more autographed copies of our book you only pay $5 for shipping and handling. We'll pay the extra shipping costs!

Be sure to let us know who you would like it autographed for and then allow about two weeks for us to sign it and send it on its way to you.