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*Welcome to My Menagerie * _______________________________ 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 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 a blank e-mail to: HeartTouchers-subscribe@myinjesus.com Visit our inspirational web site and read all the past stories in our archives at: http://www.HeartTouchers.com/Archives Be sure to check out our brand new inspirational list just for teenagers! Heart4Teens.com To subscribe, send a blank e-mail to: Heart4Teens-subscribe@myinjesus.com or visit: http://www.Heart4Teens.com _________________________________________ Welcome to My Menagerie By Janet Seever Summer had faded into fall in the small Minnesota farming community, bringing hoards of eager and not-so-eager students back to school. Golden fields of wheat were now great grasshopper-filled expanses of stubble. Ripened apples hung on the trees, waiting to be picked. As a young teacher in my second year of teaching, I planned as much hands-on experience as possible for my 5th and 6th grade science classes in this rural setting with its abundance of plants and animals to study. Not all animals make good pets, of course--some are best left in the wild. However, all can be used to teach respect for all of God's living creatures, great and small. At least that was my theory. One beautiful fall day, I took my students on a nature hike to a nearby lake where they collected the local flora and fauna. A few brought back frogs, so we looked at the characteristics of amphibians. Someone picked up a fat white, yellow and black caterpillar on a milkweed plant and we marveled at the pale green Monarch chrysalis in the jar within a few days. One of the boys brought in several garter snakes, which were common in the area, so we placed them in a large glass aquarium with a mesh screen lid. "These garter snakes are reptiles," I said as I picked up a squirming snake and held it up for my science class to observe. "They have scales and are not slimy like some people think. They are completely harmless." The girls in the class were totally unconvinced and did nothing to hide their dislike for the creatures, to the delight of the boys. Between class periods, the boys were continually drawn to that aquarium. I was delighted that they were taking such an interest in the snakes, until I later realized just why those snakes were attracting so much attention. As the boys observed the snakes, they made sure they left the lid slightly ajar, allowing the snakes an exit if they found it. "There's a snake on the floor," screamed one of the girls, jumping up on her chair as others around the classroom gasped and squealed. The boys found it difficult to contain their glee. After that I kept an eye on the snake cage whenever the boys were near it. One day, however, I wasn't observant enough. I heard a commotion and some screams from across the hallway. Soon there was a knock on my door. Flanked by the principal, Sister Ann pulled herself up to her full height of five feet one inch. Normally a placid person, she now had fire in her eyes. "Either those snakes go . . . or I go!" Her voice was ominous. "One of your snakes just crawled under my door and terrified my first graders." By noon that day the snakes had won their freedom in a nearby field. Some time later one of my students approached me. "We have some gerbils in a large cage at home," said Terri. "My mom says I can bring the cage to school and we can keep them in our classroom." "Great! That's really a generous offer," I said, looking up from the paper I was correcting. "Tell your mother we would love to have them." Little did I realize just how generous the offer was. Gerbils are cute, friendly and prolific. The huge metal mesh cage, which was on a metal tray, soon became the center of attention. With many eyes peering in and hands reaching into the cage, the five gerbils became a bit nervous, and were no longer prolific. What messy little creatures they turned out to be! They acted as paper shredders, happily chewing anything that landed in their cage. All the students were happy to oblige. Many of the homework papers they turned in now were stamped with characteristic teeth marks in a corner, much as we would stamp "received" or "paid" on our paperwork. If a student had a bad test mark, he would accidentally slip the test paper into the cage and presto, it was gone. There was nothing left to take home to his parents. One day after school, the custodian paid me a dreaded visit. My heart sank as I saw him walk into the room with a grim expression on his face. Leaning his metal hook hand against his large industrial dust mop, Mr. Broussard chose his words carefully. "As I sweep up the paper scraps your animals leave behind, static electricity makes them cling to my dust mop, and I end up getting them all over the building." He paused, glaring at me. "I will no longer be cleaning your room. You will need to clean it yourself." So I added sweeping my classroom to the list of tasks I needed to do each afternoon before I could go home. One day some weeks later, I called Terri up to my desk. "Thanks so much for bringing your gerbils to school so we could see them. We've enjoyed them for a couple months, but now I think its time for them to go back home." I'll bet her mother was ecstatic to get the news. I could almost hear her cheering clear across town. Janet Seever, © 2003 jseever1@shaw.ca Write Janet and let her know your thoughts on her story! ******* The mother of two adult children, Janet Seever lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with her husband, Dennis. She writes for Word Alive magazine, a publication of Wycliffe Canada, and has had articles published previously on HeartTouchers.com. The students in her story are now 40 years old. You can find more of her writing at www.inscribe.org/janetseever _________________________________________ Thought For The Day: "Laughter is the brush that sweeps away the cobwebs of the heart."--Mort Walker Verse for the Day: "A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones." --Proverbs 17:22 Kid's Thought For The Day: "It feels a lot colder when you're shoveling snow than it does when you are building a snow fort." Parent's Thought For The Day "Mother means selfless devotion, limitless sacrifice, and love that passes understanding." Coach's Thought For The Day "A coach's true value, and that of sport, is ultimately measured by what was learned rather than what was won." (Bill Elias Jr.) Writer's Thought For The Day: "Always remember you are your first reader. Sit down at the computer and take yourself on an adventure. Make yourself laugh, cry and fall in love with the hero. Sometimes I find myself working late into the night on a story because I can't wait to see how it's going to end." --Jodi Thomas Deep Thought For The Day: "Why is it that when you're driving and looking for an address, you turn down the volume on the radio?" _________________________________________ MICHAEL T. POWERS www.HeartTouchers.com "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 __________________________________________ Video Imagery --Michael's Video Production Business Dear Michael, I just wanted to take a minute to thank you for the beautiful video you made for me! It was so special to see both of my parents in tears as they watched their children grow up in pictures before their eyes! I loved the way you made Estania's part set aside from the rest--that was the part that really got them! The music was beautiful. My mom kept blubbering, "What song is that?" I don't know how you did such a beautiful job with the video in such a short time. I really appreciate your doing it so quickly. You have a wonderful gift, and I thank God that you are using it to create such sentimental memories. I hope that I can find my niche like that in an area that I love. Your video gave us one of our most lasting Christmas memories! I hope yours was filled with moments to be treasured forever! Love, Trisha Silverhill, AL Let me make you a video from your photos! Check out my video production business by visiting: http://www.hearttouchers.com/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/ __________________________________________ Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you? http://www.greatcom.org/english/four.htm _________________________________________ 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! ___________________________________________ Reading Books, Changing Lives! For those of you who would like to purchase the books from the HeartTouchers.com bookstore via your credit card, you can now do so! You can now order a number of different autographed best-selling inspirational books for the same price you would get them in the store, the shipping to you is paid for, and you are helping change the lives of teenagers and those they come in contact with! And best of all, every penny from the book sales are going to youth ministry! http://www.HeartTouchers.com/books _________________________________________________ A number of people have written to us asking what an EBook is, since our book is being offered in both print and EBook versions. An EBook is a book that can be downloaded and read right on your computer. The advantage of ordering the EBook is that is costs less, $8.95 (No other charges), as compared to $14.95 + shipping and handling for the print book. Plus you can download the EBook and begin reading the stories in a few minutes! EBooks are read via Acrobat Reader, which is software that most of you already have on your computer. And if for some reason you don't, it can be downloaded free of charge at the web site. So for those of you who don't want to wait for the print book to be delivered, check out this web site to order the EBook version of Straight From the Heart "A Celebration of Life." http://www.booklocker.com/bookpages/michaeltpowers01.html |
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Touching Lives - One E-mail at a Time! Author Michael T. Powers - HeartTouchers @ aol.com
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