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*All is Well With the World* _______________________________ 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 ____________________________________________ Cal-Con Corner (Stories about our two little boys!) Today I learned that I have some strange children...which shouldn't surprise me, considering who their father is. As we were driving in the car, I looked in the rearview mirror to see them playing tag. Yes, my 5-year-old and my two-year-old were playing tag in the car. Now that might not seem too unusual to you, but consider that Connor was in his car seat, and Caleb was exactly two inches away from him, with his seatbelt on. "Tag! You're it!" shouted Connor after he smacked Caleb on the back. "Tag! You're it!" shouted Caleb as he tagged Connor back. Each would turn their bodies, as if to run, every time they tagged one another. Ah yes...my future Valedictorians are off to a good start.... _________________________________________ All is Well With the World Tonight by Michael T. Powers A husband takes his wife's hand and whispers, "Honey, take some time for yourself this evening. I started a bubble bath for you. Don't worry about the kids. I'll take care of getting them to bed..." A high school student hugs her mom and dad tightly and says, "Thanks for making me do my homework this weekend instead of going out with my friends... I know I have a shot at that scholarship now, and I owe it all to both of you." She even offers to do the dishes before turning in early for bed... An elderly gentleman is returning home from his nightly walk when four tough looking teenagers approach him. They walk slowly up behind him, grab him and say, "Sir. We just wanted you to know that you dropped your billfold a couple of blocks back. We are really sorry, but we were unable to get all the snow off your leather wallet. Here it is. Everything is still there. We're disappointed that we couldn't get all the moisture off it before it started to stain... No, we don't deserve any reward, we were just glad we came along when we did." A lonely stray cat limps up to the dark house. He lifts his keen nose and sifts the cold air currents. There is food up ahead. He hasn't eaten in days, and he is cold and growing weaker by the hour... He has been here before and knows the dog chained to the doghouse will not let him near, but desperation drives him on. He draws closer to the appetizing aroma coming from the food dish, all the while waiting for the deep growling to begin. To his amazement he approaches the dish unchallenged and begins to gulp huge amounts of food. The Doberman only watches... When he is done eating and his hunger is satisfied, he hears the dog whine. The abandoned stray walks slowly up to the canine and they sniff noses. Soon they are fast asleep, sharing the warmth that only two can provide. For one night, the ancient enmity between cat and dog has been set aside... A young single mom turns off the TV and walks slowly into the kitchen. She looks longingly at the bottle of whiskey on the counter... This is part of her evening ritual. It's how she deals with her problems. It's how she gets to sleep most nights, but for some reason tonight feels different. The tall bottle doesn't call to her as strongly. She doesn't feel the overwhelming urge to bring the container to her lips, to feel the fiery liquid burn down the back of her throat and make her forget... Instead she gracefully slides over to the kitchen sink and pours every last drop down the drain. "Not tonight," she whispers to herself. Maybe not ever again... She makes her way down the hallway and looks in on her sleeping children. She walks from bedside to bedside, bending down and gently planting a loving kiss on each round chubby cheek. She is in bed before midnight for the first time in a year. She just might make it to work on time tomorrow. "Boy, won't my boss be surprised," she thinks to herself. Just as she is drifting off to sleep, the stillness of the night is broken by the sudden, jarring ring of the phone. "Hello," she says sleepily. She can't believe what she is hearing. She doesn't want to believe. She thinks she is just going to wake up from this dream and none of it will be true. She reaches down and pinches her leg... She isn't dreaming. The voice on the other end of the phone belongs to her husband who left her two years ago. "Honey, I'm coming home, if you'll have me. I have made a lot of mistakes in my life and leaving you and the kids was the biggest..." She sobs quietly into the mouthpiece... "Don't cry honey, everything is going to be all right from now on..." Last night, after 95 long years, the Chicago Cubs finally win a play-off series by defeating the Atlanta Braves 5-1. Yes, All is Well With the World Tonight... Maybe all of these things didn't happen last night. Maybe Michael T. Powers just has an overactive imagination. Maybe... Nah! The Cubbies win and all is well with the world! Michael T. Powers HeartTouchers@aol.com Copyright © 2003 by Michael T. Powers ***** Michael T. Powers, the founder of HeartTouchers.com and Heart4Teens.com, is also an author with stories in 15 inspirational books including many in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. To preview his books visit: http://www.HeartTouchers.com To join the thousands of world wide readers on his inspirational e-mail list just send a blank e-mail to: HeartTouchers-subscribe@myinjesus.com _________________________________________ Thought For The Day: "Two things are hard on the heart - running up stairs and running down people."--Bernard Baruch Verse for the Day: "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." --Ephesians 4:29 Kid's Thought For The day: "Ten minutes is short if it's recess, and long if it's punishment." Parent's Thought For The Day "Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children." Coach's Thought For The Day "The trouble with success is that it is disguised by hard work." Writer's Thought For The Day: "Most people see a glass as half-empty or half-full. Writers see the glass." --Vicki Hinze Deep Thought For The Day: "Men are from Earth, women are from Earth. Deal with it." _________________________________________ PRAYER REQUEST: May I please ask those of you who could and would give of their heart and time to continue to pray for my beloved father, Thomas D. who has lung cancer and diabetes. I have asked this of you before and so many of you let me know you have been praying for him and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. He has come through two severe crises in the last three months and in his own words, he believes that it is the prayers of people like you who "have gotten him this far". And he is very thankful. He is doing "surprisingly" well and this encourages me all the more to earnestly ask for your continued prayer for his recovery. God has shown me this very day just how important it is to keep believing and asking and expecting. And so I humbly come to you to ask for your help in holding him up in prayer. Thank you so very much. May God bless you and yours, Kim Luret Kimluret@aol.com ________________________________________________ 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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