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*Especially on Monday* ______________________________________ 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 _________________________________________ ESPECIALLY ON MONDAY by Joseph Walker It wasnt a horrible day. Believe me, I know all about horrible days. Ive HAD horrible days. And this wasnt one of them. Not by a long shot. But it was a Monday, and thats usually horrible enough. To start things off, I got up late. Dont you hate that feeling? Youre still sort of out of it and youre not exactly sure where youre supposed to be but you know youre not supposed to be in bed, so you throw back the covers and start hustling until your mind clears enough to figure out where youre supposed to be -- only by then its too late. I hate that. Its an awful way to start the day. Especially a Monday. Then there were computer problems at work all morning long. Too many pickles on the chicken sandwich at lunch. A pushy-but-somehow-obnoxious constituent on the telephone in the afternoon. Traffic jams on the freeway on the way home. Nothing spectacular. Nothing life-altering. Nothing out-and-out... you know... horrible. Just another ho-hum, hum-drum, sorta dumb Monday. Which is why I was tired by the time I got home that evening. Tired and cranky. And maybe a little ornery. So when I sat down to eat dinner with the family I was ready with a shock-and-awe response to just about anything. Except love. I noticed the blue paper under my bowl as I was about to take my first slurp of soup. My first thought was that one of the kids had left some homework undone, or that an art project mess had gone uncleaned. So I slipped the paper out from under my bowl and unfolded it to see if I could determine the guilty -- and soon to be executed -- party. "Dear Joe," the typewritten note inside the folded blue paper began, "you do such a great job of taking care of our family." Still being in my Monday mode, I wasnt quite sure what to make of it. Who was this "Joe" character, and what was he doing taking care of my family? And who, I wanted to know, was taking the time and trouble to thank him for it on my beautiful blue computer paper? "I know that we are constantly on your mind," the note continued, "and I appreciate all the little things that you do to help make our family happy and well." Suddenly a warm feeling enveloped me. It started in my chest, where my heart recognized the words of my wife, Anita, and realized that she was writing them to me. And it quickly spread to my face, where a goofy grin replaced the furrowed grimace that had been plastered there when I walked in the door. "We know we can count on you," the note read. "Whether the need is medication or Godiva ice cream, you are always so willing to make a store run no matter what time it is." My face felt red, and I was sure I was starting to blush so I looked up to see if anyone else noticed. But 13-year-old Elizabeth and 11-year-old Jon were both busy reading notes of their own -- and smiling. As we finished reading, we all folded our notes and tucked them carefully away. We didnt share their content. That wasnt really necessary. But for the rest of the evening the entire family shared the wonderful feeling that comes when someone dear to you takes the time to let you know that you are loved and appreciated. Even on a Monday. ESPECIALLY on a Monday. Joseph Walker valuespeak@earthlink.net Write Joseph and let him know your thoughts on his story! ___________________________ 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, Anita, are parents of five children, and one grandchild. _________________________________________ Thought For The Day: "When you do the things you have to do when you have to do them, the day will come when you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them." --Zig Ziglar Verse for the Day: "Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth."--Proverbs 10:4 Kid's Thought for the day: "Follow the leader is a lot more fun if you're the leader." Parent's Thought For The Day "The more a child becomes aware of a parent's willingness to listen, the more a parent will begin to hear." --Gordon MacDonald Coach's Thought For The Day "Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising everytime we fail."--Goldsmith Writer's Thought For the Day: "Recently, as an experiment, I suppose, in psychic survival, I reread every horrific review I've ever received to see what I would learn. This is what I learned: I'm right. They're wrong." --David Shields Deep Thought For The Day: "He who lives by the sword, should go out and get himself a really nice sword." _________________________________________ 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 to help pay for a life-changing winter retreat and a missions trip to Guatemala this summer! http://www.HeartTouchers.com/books |
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Touching Lives - One E-mail at a Time! Author Michael T. Powers - HeartTouchers @ aol.com
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