Heart Touchers - If Only Somebody Had Asked Me

______________________________________

{Heart4Teens.com} *If Only Somebody Had Asked Me*

______________________________________

If you enjoy this free email service, I encourage you to spread the word to family and friends that we may bring inspiration into the lives of teenagers everywhere! If you are not on the list and this has been passed along to you, you can join Heart4Teens.com readers around the world by visiting:

http://www.Heart4Teens.com/Heart4Teens

Visit our inspirational web site to read all the past articles in our archives and view the tons of resources we have there for teens!

http://www.Heart4Teens.com/Teen_Stories

_________________________________________

Over 87,000 people have listened to popular Chicken Soup Author Michael T. Powers' free inspirational message entitled: "Breathing Life into Others". If you aren't one of them just visit: http://www.HeartTouchers.com and click on the link to listen to the free streaming audio message!

_________________________________________

IF ONLY SOMEBODY HAD ASKED ME...

By Sam

People say love makes you blind. I think it makes you blind and a little stupid.

I loved Dee. She was so beautiful and fun. And best of all, she loved me too. But maybe that's where the blindness comes in.

See, I was under a Nazirite vow, which meant that if I stayed away from wine, dead bodies, unclean food, and never cut off my hair, I'd be super strong. It made me so strong that one time I killed a thousand guys from Philistia called Philistines. I was so strong that I led the people of Israel for twenty years. Even when the Philistines tried to capture me, I snuck out, and demolished part of their city.

Back to our love story...

The Philistines were pretty ticked at me, so it turns out that they went to Dee and asked her what made me so strong. Since she didn't know, they said they'd give her a bunch of cash if she found out and told them.

Three times she tried to get me to tell her what made me so strong. Each time I lied to her. I don't know why--maybe it was my own intuition, or maybe it was God. But I just knew that I shouldn't tell her what made me so strong.

But boy was she a whiner. She argued, "Sam, how can you say, 'I love you' when you won't tell me your secrets?" Day after day, she nagged me.

Finally, I told her everything. If anyone shaves my head, my strength would hit the road and I'd be like a normal guy.

That night she made me a really romantic dinner. And afterwards, I was so full that I fell asleep. I guess she let some Philistine guys into my house, and one of them shaved my head. They pounced on me, and when I tried to fight back, they beat me up. Normally I could have taken all eight of them with one hand tied behind my back, but this time I was too weak.

So here I sit in prison. All because I told my true love about my true strength.

I wish I had told my friends what Dee was up to. They probably would have been smarter than me and warned me.

And I wish Joey would have hung out more with me and asked me more questions about our relationship. He only lives a few doors down, but he's just so busy.

If only someone had asked me what was going on with Dee. If only someone had asked me how I was doing.

**
If you haven't guessed it by now, Sam is actually Samson, and Dee is actually Delilah. You can red their full story in the Bible in Judges 13-16. One warning: it's not a very happy ending. It'd probably get at least a PG-13 rating. Samson's hair grows back a bit, and when the Philistines take him into their temple, he pushes hard on the temple pillars, and the whole building comes tumbling down. He kills over 1,000 people, including himself. Makes you wonder, "If only someone had asked him...".

Taken from "Mirror, Mirror" by Kara Powell and Kendall Payne, copyright 2003, Youth Specialties/Zondervan. Used by permission.

Order the book here: http://www.youthspecialties.com/product/248868

_________________________________________

Thought For The Day:

"Call on God, but row away from the rocks." --Indian Proverb

Verse for the Day:

"Wisdom and good judgment live together, for wisdom knows where to
discover knowledge and understanding." --Proverbs 8:12

Teen's Thought For The Day:

"Let your first kiss be on your wedding day!"

Parent's Thought For The Day:

"Those who do too much for their children will soon find they can do nothing
with their children. So many children have been so much done for they are
almost done in." --Neal A. Maxwell

Coach's Thought For The Day:

"Enter the game with class and leave the same way."

Deep Thought For The Day:

E=mc2 -- "Very nice, Albert. Next time show your work..."--Albert Einstein's Chemistry teacher

__________________________________________

Let's Go Surfing Dude!

Tips on How to Deal with Sexual Addictions: pornography, cybersex, phone sex, masturbation, etc.

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/sexaddictiontips.html

____________________________________________________

Author MICHAEL T. POWERS
www.Heart4Teens.com

Contributing Author to Chicken Soup for the Teen's Soul on Love and Friendship and 25 other inspirational books.

"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 by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20

_________________________________________

ALL-STAR Ministry

--The Youth Church of Faith Community Church in Janesville, WI

If you are in 6-12th grade and live in the southern Wisconsin/northern Illinois area and would like to check us out, we meet every Sunday night from 6:30-8:00 PM at Faith Community Church which is located at 2931 Lucerne Dr. in Janesville, WI. (About 3 blocks south-east of The Skating Place.)

All-Stars: 6:30 - 8:00 PM Sunday nights! Open to all youth grades 9-12.

The Outlet: 6:30 - 8:00 PM Sunday nights in the Multi-Purpose Room! Open to all youth grades 6-8.

Currently we have students from Edgerton, Fort Atkinson, Milton, Janesville Craig, Janesville Parker, Marshall, Franklin, Orfordville, Clinton, Beloit Memorial, Beloit Turner, South Beloit, and Hononegah. E-mail me back if you have any questions about our weekly meetings or would like to come to any of our events that are listed below... We have way too much fun and then, most importantly, talk about issues that are relevant to you as a teenager.

Upcoming Topics:

New Series! Rewired: Developing a Biblical World View

October 1: Creatures that Defy Evolution
October 8: Have You Lost Your Mind?
October 15: Making Sense of it All
October 22: If We Come From the Ground We're Nothing But Dirt
October 29: Image is Everything

November 5: Special Drama Presentation by the Spring Creek Players! 6 PM start time!

November 12: The Gates of Hell
November 19: Bad to the Bone
November 26: Somebody Save Me

December 3: That's Not Fair
December 10: Prepare to Die
December 17: True to Who?

December 24: No All-Stars -- Spend Christmas Eve with your family!
December 31: No All-Stars -- Spend New Year's Eve with your family!

Visit our youth website to see our topics for all of 2007!
http://www.faithcommunitychurch.net/youth

_______________________________________________

Teen Community Groups

6:30 - 8:00 PM Wednesday nights (September though May)

These groups are limited to no more than ten teens and are split into Jr. High and High School ages. This night is for those teens who want to dig deeper than what we do in All-Stars, but may not be ready to be a part of the Xtreme Teens. These cell groups will also be doing special activities with each other as the year goes on to build community.

Jr. High age meets at the church and are led by Kent and Rachel Martin

High School age are led by Matt and Kristi Kauffman: 4339 Fox Hills (Call 758-1243 if you have any questions!)

Xtreme Teens

Xtreme Teens meet on Wednesday nights from 6:30 - 8:00 PM all year round at the Powers' house. This group is very extensive with weekly homework, memorization, service projects, etc. Students interested in this group will have to fill out an application, provide references as to why others think they should be involved with this, and sign an agreement as to what is expected of them. Admission into Xtreme Teens is on a case by case basis. Contact Pastor Michael for more details!