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*Down But Not Done*

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Before we get to today's story by new writer Ron Reese, I wanted to ask if any of you would be interested in praying for me as I go on a missions trip to Guatemala?

I will be going on a missions trip for eight days to Guatemala with some other adults and youth from our church this next week.  We will be spending half our time helping the missionaries at their Y.W.A.M (Youth with a Mission) base camp.  The other half of the time will be spent doing missions work at hospitals, orphanages, and ministering to those people who live in the Guatemala City dump.  We have set up an e-mail system by which you can receive a daily update on how the trip is going with specific things to pray for each day of the eight-day trip.  For those of you who would like to support our trip in prayer you can send an e-mail to:

paryan@ticon.net

and ask to be added to the prayer list.

Once the trip is done, the e-mail list will be deleted...

My thanks to those of you on this list who would commit to praying for me and the rest of the team of people that will be spending some time in Guatemala as we allow God to work through us to touch lives....

Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Michael T. Powers

P.S.  This also means that I will not be sending out another story until the second week of July...

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DOWN, BUT NOT DONE

By Ron Reese


I remember walking on the trail near my house this past year. My border collie and my son's pit bull/boxer mix caught up with me as I carefully walked over the stepping-stones crossing the creek. It had been a long winter and I was searching for any evidence of spring I could sight as we ventured through the poplars.

While the dogs romped back and forth through the woods I scanned the forest floor for wild violets, jack-in-the-pulpits, and trilliums, but found none. So, together the three of us trudged along the trail, climbing ridges and descending into small ravines. The abundant snows that winter and the recent rains had caused all the springs to bubble forth. As they joined forces they formed several streams that cascaded down the mountainside and created several miniature waterfalls along our path.

Finally, after we had come to the end of the trail, I approached the last spring and searched the landscape for any sign of spring, but regretfully found no sign of a flower, not a one. As I was about to return along the path we had come, I noticed something that my gaze hadn't seen before. It was like one of those pictures that you have to refocus your eyes slightly to see. I hadn't perceived it before, but all the sudden there it was glaring at me, something far more significant to me than merely a sign of spring. For there before my eyes was seen not merely a bit of creation, but a sign of the recreation that God does in all of us. I smiled as I took in this lesson God had sent to me in the form of a ‘Poplar Parable.’

Before me I could see one of the poplars that had toppled in a windstorm a couple years ago. There it lay on the ground, like so many other trees that had gotten knocked down from the remnants of a hurricane. However, there was something drastically different about this tree. Its roots, still attached, were close to the bubbling spring that sent water gushing past it. Not all of those roots had been jerked out of the ground That life-giving liquid gushing past the poplar's roots had kept the tree alive! And on the side of the tree where the branches could still stretch upward, I noticed signs of life as the twigs displayed many buds.

Oftentimes, I search for the parables God has hidden throughout nature. Here was an allegory that I believe we all can identify with in our lives. Many are the times in our lives that we are toppled over like a magnificent poplar, when the winds of strife assail us.

It may be that we lost our job, or that we didn't get the job we had hoped for, or possibly we're heartbroken because we've lost a loved one or perhaps a love relationship dissolved. Many are the times that our lives have toppled over. And yet God sends us His bubbling stream. And as we are watered by the Holy Spirit, we are revived, and with what life force we have left within us we send forth our branches pointing towards the Son of righteousness.

Yes, sometimes in life we may become devastated. We may be dealt a wicked blow. We may be knocked down to our knees, or even flat on our back. Yes, truly, we may be down, but praise God, we are not done!

Ron Reese
rreese50@bellsouth.net

Write Ron and let him know your thoughts on his story!

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Ron Reese, who lives in North Carolina, is sometimes tossed about by the winds of strife that rock his life.  Sometimes he's like the old poplar, he’s down, but he's not done.

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Thought For The Day:

"Find out what you love to do and you will never have to work another day in your life."


Verse for the Day:

"Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your soul."--Jeremiah 6:16


Kid's Thought for the day:

"Nobody can pedal the bike for you."


Parent's Thought For The Day

"It now costs more to amuse a child than it once did to educate his parents."--H.V. Prochnow


Coach's Thought For The Day

"Officiating is the only occupation in sport where the highest accolade is silence."--Earl Strom


Writer's Thought For The Day:

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." --Calvin Coolidge


Deep Thought For The Day:

"Sooner or later, doesn't EVERYONE stop smoking?"

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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
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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

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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/
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Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you? http://www.greatcom.org/english/four.htm

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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 missions trip to Guatemala this summer!

http://www.HeartTouchers.com/books

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