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______________________________________ 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 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: This weekly list contains Heart-touching stories, quotes, links to uplifting web sites, and humor geared towards the teenage crowd. However, parents of teens, grandparents, college students, youth pastors, teachers, coaches, and anyone who just can't read enough inspirational stories will also benefit! What are you waiting for?! Subscribe today to receive your weekly encouragement! _________________________________________ Can't get enough inspirational stories in your life? Would you like to send a unique gift to your friends and family? Then order a copy of the inspirational book: Straight From the Heart "A Celebration of Life" by Michael T. Powers for only $13.95. http://www.booklocker.com/bookpages/michaeltpowers01.html
http://www.HeartTouchers.com/michael_powers _________________________________________
By Rubel Shelly
Joe and Heidi Tomassi are a Kansas couple in their twenties and have two children. Their son, Griffin, has a heart defect that required surgery on July 19 ? one day after he was born. There was another operation two weeks later. The defect was still not repaired, and physicians told Joe and Heidi that their baby had only a few weeks to live. To make a horrible situation still more severe, Joe was fired when he asked for time off from his job to be with his dying child. The Tomassis persevered on Griffin's behalf and found a surgeon at Stanford University in California who performed the procedure that repaired his rare defect and saved his life. With an infant recovering from major surgery, the Tomassi family had $15,000 in medical bills. Tim was unemployed. And the normal and routine debts for shelter, food, and other needs kept on coming. Heidi applied for work at an Applebee's in Olathe, Kansas. On her first day as a waitress, she found an envelope at one of the tables stuffed with $3,300 in $100 bills. Nobody needed it more than Heidi! It was hers for the taking. "I never gave it a second thought," she said on ABC's Good Morning America. "It wasn't my money to begin with. Keeping it wasn't even an option." So she gave it to the restaurant manager for safekeeping until someone claimed it. A man came back the next day, hoping to find the money he had somehow misplaced. It turns out that his family was in bad straits too. He had sold a car to buy Christmas presents for his family. Now they could have Christmas after all. After learning of Heidi's deed and her family's plight, several people have offered money to help them. Thank God! (There was also a cruel crank call to the restaurant from a guy claiming he wanted to donate $25,000 from Las Vegas winnings, but he didn't show up at the time and place he had promised.) I'll use Heidi's story as a case study in my ethics class next spring. How would you have handled her dilemma? Would you have been tempted to have a finders-keepers-losers-weepers attitude toward an envelope of cash? If character is what you are when nobody's looking, Heidi has it. Rubel Shelly Write Rubel and let him know what you thought of his story! (c) 2002 Rubel Shelly. Used by permission. Visit: http://www.faithmatters.com to read more of Rubel's writing or to sign up for his weekly column: FAX of Life. _____________________________ Rubel Shelly has preached for the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ in Nashville since 1978. During that time, he has also taught at David Lipscomb University and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He is the author of more than 20 books, including several which have been translated into languages such as Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Russian. He is married to the former Myra Shappley, and they are the parents of three children: Mrs. David (Michelle) Arms, Tim, and Tom. ___________________________________________
"Seek God first and the things you want will seek you."
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33
"Getting up early gives you more time to play."
"A torn jacket is soon mended; but hard words bruise the heart of a child."--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"Those who coach must above all be able to coach themselves."
"The only certainty about writing and trying to be a writer is that it has to be done, not dreamed of or planned and never written, or talked about (the ego eventually falls apart like a soaked sponge), but simply written; it's a dreadful, awful fact that writing is like any other work." --Janet Frame
"Chaos, panic, & disorder - my work here is done." _______________________________________________ MICHAEL T. POWERS "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 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! __________________________________________ 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-- College Station, TX Let me make you a video from your photos! Check out my video production business by visiting: http://www.hearttouchers.com/video_imagery/ AOL Users click here: 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/ ___________________________________________ "I need a daily source of inspiration and encouragement in my life!" SUBSCRIBE: To become a HeartTouchers.com Member send a blank e-mail to: HeartTouchers-subscribe@myinjesus.com Then get ready to laugh, cry, and be deeply touched by some of the best stories on the Internet! UNSUBSCRIBE: Send a blank e-mail to: HeartTouchers-unsubscribe@myinjesus.com __________________________________________ Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you? http://www.greatcom.org/english/four.htm __________________________________________ 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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