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{Heart Touchers} *Working Dad* 9/21/01
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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 the EBook, or
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Be sure to let us know who you would like it
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Before we get to today's story by regular contributor
Joseph Walker, I wanted to congratulate my sister-
in-law Kim Conway who accepted a job as a sports
reporter for the Beloit Daily News. And to make things
even better, her first story is about our beloved Lady
Cougars volleyball team of Clinton High School!
An article about the team we love written by the sister
we love! Congrats Kim! We are so proud of you!
For those of you who live in the area (or those of you
who just like sports) and didn't catch the article in
the paper, you can read it at this link:
http://www.beloitdailynews.com/901/clin20.htm
Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Next e-mail heading
your way on Sunday night!
From my family to yours,
Michael
P.S. Lady Cougars! Congratulations on your big win
tonight against Walworth Bigfoot!
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WORKING DAD
By Joseph Walker
It was supposed to be a loving, carefree Daddy-Daughter
Date, with Elizabeth and I sharing fun and games with a
dozen other daddies and their daughters from our
church congregation. But somehow it turned into
a somewhat awkward blind date. And guess who was
the one who couldn't see?
Our Daddy-Daughter Blind Date started out
innocently -- and successfully -- enough with the
Feet Picking Contest. All of the dads lined up
behind a blanket that was pinned so all you could
see was our feet. We took off our shoes and rolled
up our trousers, and our daughters had to pick
whose feet were whose. Then we traded places
with our daughters, and we had to pick which pair
of preadolescent feet belonged to our child. I could
easily spot Elizabeth's feet because she was the
only one in purple toe nail polish. And Elizabeth
picked mine right away because ... well,
there weren't a lot of dads in the group with size 13 feet.
After our success with feet picking, Elizabeth and
I were feeling pretty good about the three-legged race.
And we would have done well in that, I'm sure, had I not
stumbled and broken the string holding our legs
together after two or three strides. The big feet giveth,
and the big feet taketh away. Still, we were having a good
time as we gathered for the final event before lunch.
A number of cartoon pictures of dads doing different
things had been scattered around the bowery in
which we were meeting. The girls were instructed to
look at the pictures, and pick the one that best
represents what their fathers love most to do. I
watched as Elizabeth moved carefully from picture
to picture, picking each one up, studying it, looking at
it, and then putting it down again. Finally she settled
on one and came back to sit by me, smiling
confidently. The girls stood, one by one, and explained
why they selected their picture. There were pictures
of dads playing golf or tennis, or boating, or working in
the yard, or playing with their children. Good stuff. Fun
stuff. The girls said that these are the things their
dads love best. Then Elizabeth stood and held up her
picture. It showed a dad dressed in a suit and tie,
carrying a briefcase and smiling cheerily as he
punches in at a time clock. "This is my dad," Elizabeth
said proudly. "He loves to go to work." At first I was
pleased -- even flattered -- by her choice. It is not
a bad thing to be perceived as a hard worker and
a dedicated employee. In the business world, you
win awards for things like that. But somehow in this
setting it was troubling. All of the other dads were
good, hard workers, too, I was sure. But why was
it that their daughters understood that there were
other things in life that were more important to them
than their work -- and my daughter didn't?
"You DO work a lot," my wife, Anita, said when I
asked her about it later.
"Well, yeah," I said. "But I don't do it because I
love it. I do it because I love my family, and this is
the best way I know how to provide for them."
"I know that," she said. "But kids don't look at it that
way. They think that the best part of being an adult is
being able to do whatever you want to do. And so they
figure that if you spend so much time working, it
must be because you want to."
Which is why I taped the cartoon picture of that
smiling, working dad to the filing cabinet right next
to my computer. It's there to remind me how
I'm perceived by my children, and to motivate me
to do something about changing that perception.
Now if you'll excuse me, Elizabeth and I need to
practice for next year's three-legged race.
Joseph Walker
valuescom@juno.com
Write Joseph and let him know what you thought of his story!
*******
Joseph Walker has been writing professionally since
1980, when he left college to join the staff of a daily
metropolitan newspaper. For 10 years -- including
six as the paper's TV columnist and critic -- he was
part of the mainstream media, and was painfully
aware of the overwhelming negativity of contemporary
journalism. Joe says, "Nobody was looking for real
solutions to the problems society was facing; they
were just looking for someone or something to blame
the problems on." So in 1990 Joe began writing
ValueSpeak, a weekly syndicated column that
attempts to look at contemporary issues from the
perspective of traditional values. Joe and his wife,
Anita, are parents of five children, and one grandchild.
You'll love his new book, "How Can you Mend a
Broken Spleen!" Ordering is simple and fast at the
following Amazon address:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1573453005/qid=972961681/sr=1-6/straighfromthe0a
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God is good and always sends his angels to ease pain....just like it says in 2
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you for caring enough to share these wonderful testimonies that strengthen and
encourage. God bless you and your family.
Paula
brat59@mindspring.com
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Thought For The Day:
"Courage is never to let your actions be
influenced by your fears." --Arthur Koestler
Verse for the Day:
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but
of power and of love and of a sound mind."
2 Timothy 1:7
Kid's Thought For The Day:
"Don't run away from home in the middle of a snow storm."
Parent's Thought For The Day
"Money isn't everything but it sure keeps the kids in touch."
Coach's Thought For The Day
"I always tried to make clear that basketball is
not the ultimate. It is of small importance in
comparison to the total life we live. There is only
one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one
that places faith in the hands of the Savior. Until
that is done, we are on an aimless course that runs
in circles and goes nowhere... It is most difficult, in
my mind, to separate any success, whether it be
in your profession, your family, or as in my case,
in basketball, from religion."
(John Wooden, winningest coach in college basketball history)
Deep Thought For The Day:
"There are two sides to every argument, but I don't
have time to listen to yours."
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REQUESTS:
Michael:
Could you please say a prayer for me as I was told this morning I may have
breast cancer...it is so widespread that he would have to remove the left
breast...the biopsy was performed today and he will get the results on
Friday. Please pray that God will perform a miracle thru me and remove the
cells from invading my body. Also, if this is not God's will, He give me
strength to endure this terrible road of pain & suffering. God bless you,
your ministry, yours & the USA
Linda
ldotson1@msn.com
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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
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video production business! Visit:
http://wwwhearttouchers.com/video_imagery/
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