|
___________________________
*An Early Christmas* 12/12/01 ___________________________ If you enjoy this free daily email service, I encourage you to spread the word to family and friends that we may bring inspiration into the lives of many! If you are not on the list and this has been passed along to you, join the thousands of HeartTouchers.com readers around the world by sending an e-mail with the word "Subscribe" in the subject line to: HeartTouchers@aol.com Visit our inspirational web site and read all the past stories in our archives at: http://www.HeartTouchers.com ____________________________________________ Happy Holidays from HeartTouchers.com We wanted to let everyone know that for Christmas 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 any interest in purchasing an autographed copy of the book for yourself, or as a gift for your loved ones, now is the time to get it! But if you want them in time for Christmas, you need to act fast! IMPORTANT! This is only for those orders that come directly to us and not the publisher and we can only accept checks and money orders. For those who still want to order the book by credit card, you can still do so through the publisher at: http://www.booklocker.com/bookpages/michaeltpowers01.html but you will be paying full price and shipping. To order your autographed copy send a check or money order for $13 (We pay the shipping!) for each book made out to Michael T. Powers, and then send it to: Michael T. Powers 1918 Liberty Lane Janesville, WI 53545 Hurry! Time is running out! To preview the book by reading some of the stories visit: http://www.HeartTouchers.com/michael_t__powers/ AOL Users Click below: Straight From the Heart: A Celebration of Life _________________________________________ We are still getting a steady stream of new subscribers and I wanted to take a moment to welcome all of you and let you know a little bit about this family we call HeartTouchers.com. Each day you will receive a heart touching story written by a real person whom you can actually contact via e-mail with your thoughts. "Author Unknown" does not exist on HeartTouchers! Following each story will be thoughts for the day, reader feedback, and prayer requests. When you take the time to e-mail our fantastic writers, consider sending your feedback to HeartTouchers@aol.com also, so that we may share your thoughts with the thousands of readers we have world-wide. HeartTouchers.com is made up of down-to-earth people like yourselves, who share a love for reading inspirational stories and who love making a difference in other people's lives... If you are that type of person, then you have come to the right place! If you haven't checked out our web site recently, be sure to do so. Lots of wonderful stories are stored in our archives and many incredibly inspiring graphics, quotes, soundfiles, and photos await you! (Including a special recorded welcome message by our two young boys Caleb and Connor!) From my family to yours, Author, Michael T. Powers And a very happy birthday to my little sister Christina! Love ya sis! Hope you have snow in Texas for Christmas! _________________________________________ An Early Christmas By Dorothy Casper "Well, thank goodness Christmas will soon be over," the woman in the checkout line sighed to the young clerk. "And if I had my way we would just forget the whole thing, all this gift giving and spending money you don't have". The young clerk was still shaking her head in disbelief. "Forget Christmas, that would be awful", the young clerk said aloud almost as if she were talking to herself. As I approached the checkout counter, the clerk said, "Did you hear that? That lady doesn't like Christmas! I just can't understand anyone who wouldn't want to have Christmas." The rest of my day was plagued with the voice of the older woman and the bewildered face of the young clerk. I too, wondered the same question. There are probably many reasons why some people would like to forget the Christmas holiday Perhaps the lack of resources, which can put gift buying a hard ship and make anyone feel under pressure, or remembrance of a sad time which had occurred on a previous Christmas. But I'm sure we can all remember times when we have received a gift which gave us a warm feeling, a feeling you couldn't quite explain but one you didn't ever want to forget. A feeling that demonstrated to us that we were loved -- that someone thought we were special and even sacrificed to give such a gift. We all have such times in our lives I am sure if we think for a few moments. One such memory took place the year my oldest son was a teenager-about 1963. By Halloween the Christmas music would permeate throughout out the house. I especially liked to listen while I did my holiday baking but my little turntable would only play one record at a time so I was always running to turn the record over. Every fall in the little Idaho town where we lived school would be dismissed for two weeks so the students could help the farmers harvest their potatoes before freezing weather. Those were the days when the potatoes were picked by hand. The farmer would use his equipment called a potato digger which as he drove down the rows would unearth the potatoes and leave them on top of the ground where they were accessible to the pickers. The pickers carried potato baskets which held about 45 lbs. When their baskets were full they would pour them into burlap bags. Each burlap bag held two baskets of potatoes if they were average size. The pay was slim -- 5 cents a basket. However; this year the potatoes were small, and hard to pick and winter came early. It was very cold. We had always taught our children to finish what they start and when they gave their word they were expected to keep it. Our son had worked hard during that harvest and was pleased with his accomplishments and we were very proud of him. One day after the students returned to school Christmas music was playing and I was up to my elbows in flour making goodies to be put in the freezer for the beloved holiday when my doorbell rang. Wiping my hands I opened the door to find a delivery man from the local furniture store. "We have a record player for you from your son and it plays 12 records before you have to do any changing", he said. I stood in total amazement, as he brought it in and set it up. I choked back the tears, all I could think of was all the hours he had put in, in the cold and it would have cost him everything he had earned! As he approached the door to leave I managed a "Thank you ". "Oh, that's quite all right, I might say, you've got quite a son, Ma'am. "I know," I replied. The tears were awfully close to the surface. "He's been working in the potatoes." As he walked down the steps he turned and looked at me. " I have just one question. Do you always play Christmas music before Halloween?" I smiled, "Always", I replied. Dorothy Casper Blueprint4Living@bizland.com Write Dorothy and let her know your thoughts on her story! ________________________________ Dorothy is an avid reader and loves writing stories about the everyday goodness of life. _________________________________________ Reader Feedback! Dear D. Anne, Thank-you for sharing your beautiful Christmas Perspective with us. What a great idea! I am an LPN and was with a new mom while she delivered her still born little girl. I was a student nurse at the time and I will never ever forget the experience. I don't think you doing portraits of people who have died is morbid at all. It is a gift to those who have been left behind. Thanks again, Linda bhaskins@metrocast.net Hello, I just read your story on heart Touchers and I had to write and tell you that you brought tears to my eyes. I felt the need to share with you that I too had a stillborn baby girl, Destiny, (God called and Destiny answered is on her tombstone). The words you wrote rung so true. Destiny's face in her pictures was black also but when I held her, her face was just as pink and perfect as a live child. Only God did that for my husband and I. He's so good to us. My mom was there and said that her face looked that way when I held her, but God put that veil over our eyes to see how she looks now with Him. I now have a 3 1/2 year old, Faith, (see Heb. 11:1), and she is perfectly healthy and VERY trying! Praise God is all I can say. May you and your family have a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. God go with ya, Crystal WV cjhandgarth@yahoo.com ______________________________________ Thought For The Day: It is reported that D.L. Moody's farewell words to his sons as he lay upon his deathbed were: "If God be your partner, make your plans large." Verse for the Day: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." --Philippians 4:13 Kid's Thought For The Day: "When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing ... I told him I wanted to be a real major league baseball player, a genuine professional like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he'd like to be the President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish." --Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States of America Parent's Thought For The Day: GEORGE WASHINGTON'S MOTHER : "The next time I catch you throwing money across the Potomac, you can kiss your allowance good-bye!" 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 faith." --John Wooden, college basketball's all-time winningest coach. Writer's Thought For The Day: "The strokes of the pen need deliberation as much as the sword needs swiftness." --Julia Ward Howe Deep Thought For The Day: "I just got skylights put in my place, the people who live above me are furious." ___________________________________________ REQUESTS: Dear Friends and Prayer Partners, Please forgive my delay in updating you about my daughter Jenny. Jenny is about to undergo a "change of plans" surgery. We just found out last night. Yesterday, Monday, Dec. 10th, Jenny had her evaluation on her first surgery on her ear. The surgeons at UVA have decided that they can combine surgeries, without doing brain surgery. They will shave around her left ear, and go behind her ear, down into the area that is infected and must be removed -- the Mastoid bone and surrounding area. They will, then rebuild that part of the skull. They will then attempt to rebuild her ear canal and fashion her an eardrum. It's very delicate surgery, and they will be working around that tiny filament, that is the facial nerve. They were, then, talking about waking her up and sending her home -- which is nearly four hours away. This will all be done on Wednesday, rather than Friday. On their way home, Jenny and Tommy called us from their cell phone, and, of course, we got very upset -- for them -- not at them. Some of you don't know me, but those who do, know that I can be quite daunting, if someone is not taking care of my children. To be honest, I went ballistic, and did not represent my Father in Heaven very well. I had worked in Administration and have had experience with how HMOs sometimes think, and I was desperate, calling on God, and not listening to Him, at all. In the meantime, Tommy, Jenny's husband and my son-in-law, were power praying, and Tommy called the Chief Surgeon, for more information. The decision to keep Jenny until she is well enough to go home, must be made after surgery is over. Then they must give an explanation, to the HMO, as to why they must keep her, rather than tossing her coat to her, and sending her on her way. I'm thinking that insurance companies have too much power! At any rate, Tommy was assured by the surgeon, that Jenny would be well taken care of, and that she would not be sent home until she was out of danger. Quite frankly, my son-in-law is just a wonderful man, who loves Jenny more his own life, and he loves and trusts the Lord. He's strong and capable, and I am not in charge. So, I ask for prayers for me, that I will not shame my Father in Heaven; nor act on my own authority, which I have none. So, I will be going up to Tom and Jenny's today, drive to UVA with them, and stay there in a small hotel, until Jenny is well enough to go home. Could I also ask a big favor? Could you please email Jenny, if you have the time. She's waiting for a call from the hospital, and we have failed in being able to send her all your messages. She has a Hotmail account, and if you could put in the subject line a reference about praying for her, she would be able to read your uplifting messages while she is waiting. Jenny's email address is jennyrlh@hotmail.com Thank you with all my heart. Jaye Lewis jlewis@smyth.net ___________________________________________ _ /_/\/\ 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 ___________________________________________ The copyrights to the stories that appear in HeartTouchers.com are owned by the authors and are used with their permission. We refuse to run stories without the author's permission and contact info listed after the story. We also refuse to publish stories listed as "author unknown." (All of which violates Copyright Law and the rights of the authors.) This e-mail may be forwarded in its entirety, but please do not cut and paste the stories to be used elsewhere unless you have contacted and been given permission by the individual writer. Thank you so much for honoring the rights of those writers who graciously share their stories with us! __________________________________________ 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! Visit: http://www.hearttouchers.com/video_imagery/ AOL Users click here: Video Imagery ___________________________________________ Would you like to see your story in HeartTouchers.com? Writer's guidelines can be found on our Web site here: http://www.HeartTouchers.com/guidelines/ AOL Users click here: Writer's Guidelines ___________________________________________ SUBSCRIBE: "I need a daily source of inspiration and encouragement in my life!" To become a HeartTouchers.com Member send an e-mail with "Subscribe" in the subject line to: HeartTouchers@AOL.COM Then get ready to laugh, cry, and be deeply touched by some of the best stories on the Internet! __________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: All you have to do is send an e-mail with the word "Unsubscribe" in the subject line to: HeartTouchers@aol.com Give it a day or two to be processed... __________________________________________ Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you? http://www.greatcom.org/english/four.htm AOL Users click here: The Four Spiritual Laws __________________________________________ |
 |
|
Touching Lives - One E-mail at a Time! Author Michael T. Powers - HeartTouchers @ aol.com
|