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{Straight From the Heart} *A Little Shot of Appreciation* 8/8/00
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Welcome to "Straight From the Heart!"

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Thanks!
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Want to read more stories by Kristi or Michael? Then check out the following links!

Author Michael T. Powers
http://www.themestream.com/authors/41460.html

Author Kristina D. Powers
http://www.themestream.com/authors/41943.html
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A LITTLE SHOT OF APPRECIATION

By: Joseph Walker

On the surface, it appeared that Nicole had everything in the world going for her.

By any standard of measurement, she was a beautiful young woman. She had a bright, buoyant, bubbly personality that endeared her to teenagers and adults alike. She had lots of friends, and they were active in lots of different things. And she was deeply devoted to her faith.

When you saw Nicole you smiled, mostly because she was almost always smiling her happy, infectious smile. That's just the way she was, and made others feel: happy.

At least, that's how it appeared. But deep inside, she was crying. Nicole has Attention Deficit Disorder(ADD), a neurological problem that is a learning disability. No matter how hard she tries to keep up in her classes, her mind just doesn't make many of the conceptual connections that other students make without even trying. She can understand what's being taught at any particular moment
in time; she just can't put it together with other concepts to form a logical sequence of thoughts or events.

And that makes school pretty traumatic for her, and incredibly frustrating. She tries hard to keep up -- or to at least cover her lack of understanding -- but that just makes her anxious, stressed and, often, depressed. Self-esteem is the first victim in a battle with ADD. Of
course, only her family saw this side of her. She managed to keep up a happy, cheerful front among her friends at school, but her family saw the toll it was taking on her soul.

Her junior year of high school was especially challenging, and the whole family was suffering. They tried family counseling, and it helped a little. But as the start of Nicole's senior year approached, the now-familiar feeling of pressure and dread began building, and the family
geared up for one more year.

One night while Nicole was out with friends, Hannah, her 16-year-old sister, felt an overwhelming desire to communicate her feelings to Nicole. She took a notebook and sat on the front porch and began writing all the things she admired about her big sister, and expressed her appreciation for the important role she had played in her life. Love and
heart-felt gratitude flowed onto the paper, and then Hannah stuffed it into an envelope and placed it on Nicole's pillow.

When Nicole came home, she had an attitude (parents of teenagers know exactly what I'm talking about). The night had not been particularly pleasant, and she just wanted to retreat to her room. She closed the door firmly behind her. Within moments her door burst open and she rushed to Hannah's room, tears streaming down her face and Hannah's
letter clutched in her hand.

"You saw the prayer I wrote, didn't you?" Nicole said tearfully as she embraced her sister.
"No," Hannah replied through her own tears. "I didn't know you wrote a prayer."

Nicole showed her sister what she had written in her journal earlier that day: "Dear God, all I want is for somebody to appreciate me for who and what I am. That's all I want."

It's amazing what little shot of sincere appreciation can do for someone lacking in the self- esteem department. Within a few weeks Nicole was standing in front of 600 peers at a youth retreat, publicly acknowledging her struggle with ADD and expressing appreciation to Hannah -- and to God. And while I won't say that her senior year was easy, she made it, and is now ready to move on with her life looking once again like she has everything in the world going for her.

Whether or not she actually does.

Joseph Walker
valuescom@juno.com

Send Joseph an email and let him know what you thought about his story!

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A little bit about Joseph:

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 wife, Anita, are parents of five children, with their first grandchild due shortly.
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/heart
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Requests and Updates:

From: NLUCRUZ@powr.com (NEKO LYREE U. CRUZ)


Hello. Here's an update on my nephew Hans Raphael whom I requested prayer for.

My great thanks to all of you who prayed for little Hans. You know, God made a miracle for Hans. Last night, after he had his blood transfusion and hours of waiting, our little angel is beginning to be in stable condition. Soon, the doctors will remove two of his three tubes in his
fragile body. After a few days, if all goes well, he will just have one respirator tube. His cheeks and skin color are now pink. That means, he is absorbing oxygen working up his body. I thank all of you who made it possible. Please continue to pray for Hans for his condition and
recovery so that when the operation of his nasal tube goes on schedule, he will make it through.

Again my deepest thanks to my friends and to all of you who cared to say a little pray for our little Hans.

Neko Cruz

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Thought For The Day:

You see things and you say, "Why?" But I dream things that never were and I say, "Why not?"
(George Bernard Shaw)

Verse for the Day:

"Without faith it is impossible to please God."
Hebrews 11:6

Kid's Thought For The Day:

"How do you know you can't make a rocket out of tinfoil boxes and cardboard unless you try?"

Parent's Thought For The Day

"There's a time when you have to explain to your children why they're born, and it's a marvelous thing if you know the reason by then."
(Hazel Scott)

Coach's Thought For The Day

"It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit!"

Deep Thought For The Day:

"I locked my coat-hanger in car. Good thing I had a key."


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 (RKaGe@aol.com) 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!
Video Imagery
http://members.aol.com/Videoimg/index.html



Click below to check out my Home Page!
(This link includes a number of stories that I have written.)
Thunder27's Home Page
http://members.aol.com/Thunder27/index.html


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