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*I Will Let You Choose* 

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Good morning!
We just got back from a week of camping in Wisconsin's North Woods! We had a wonderful time: the weather was perfect, the moon was full, the leaves were turning colors, and each night we fell asleep to the rippling sounds of the Peshtigo River and the haunting yips and howls of coyotes. There is no place that I feel closer to God then when I am out in God's magnificent creation...
Hoping that all of you are finding time to relax, slow down, and "Be Still" before God... From my family to yours, Michael

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I WILL LET YOU CHOOSE

by Max Lucado

There are times when God sends thunder to stir us. There are times when God sends blessings to lure us. But then there are times when God sends nothing but silence as he honors us with the freedom to choose where we spend eternity.

And what an honor it is! In so many areas of life we have no choice. Think about it. You didn't choose your gender. You didn't choose your siblings. You didn't choose your race or place of birth.

Sometimes our lack of choices angers us. "It's not fair," we say. It's not fair that I was born in poverty or that I sing so poorly or that I run so slowly. But the scales of life were forever tipped on the side of fairness when God planted a tree in the Garden of Eden. All complaints were silenced when Adam and his descendants were given free will, the freedom to make whatever eternal choice we desire. Any injustice in this life is offset by the honor of choosing our destiny in the next.

Wouldn't you agree? Would you have wanted otherwise? Would you have preferred the opposite? You choose everything in this life, and he chooses where you spend the next? You choose the size of your nose, the color of your hair, and your DNA structure, and he chooses where you spend eternity? Is that what you would prefer?

It would have been nice if God had let us order life like we order a meal. I'll take good health and a high IQ. I'll pass on the music skills, but give me a fast metabolism ... Would've been nice. But it didn't happen. When it came to your life on earth, you weren't given a voice or a vote.

But when it comes to life after death, you were. In my book that seems like a good deal. Wouldn't you agree?

You've made some bad choices in life, haven't you? You've chosen the wrong friends, maybe the wrong career, even the wrong spouse. You look back over your life and say, "If only ... if only I could make up for those bad choices." You can. One good choice for eternity offsets a thousand bad ones on earth.

The choice is yours.

Max Lucado
ministry@maxlucado.com

Send Max an e-mail and let him know what you thought of his story!

"I WILL LET YOU CHOOSE" is from Max's book: He Chose the Nails © 2000 by Max Lucado (Used by Permission)

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With more than 28 million books in print, Max Lucado has touched millions with his signature storytelling writing style. Awards and accolades follow Max with each book he writes. Max is the first author to win the Gold Medallion Christian Book of the Year three times -- 1999 for Just Like Jesus, 1997 for In the Grip of Grace and 1995 for When God Whispers Your Name.

Max serves as the pulpit minister of the Oak Hills Church of Christ in San Antonio, Texas. But he says his greatest accomplishment is finding a one-in-a-million wife in Denalyn and having three unbelievable daughters: Jenna, Andrea, and Sara.

You can visit his web site at: http://www.maxlucado.com

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REQUESTS:

Hello Everyone,
   My name is Sara Douglas.  I recently became an aunt about a month ago. Which is amazing.  It was a miracle since my borther has crohn's disease and they thought that because of the steroids that he had to take for the disease that he could not have children.  His wife and him tried for months.  Finally after a wait of many years,  Kris became pregnant.  She had a baby boy who was healthy for the first day but the doctors found out that he had a heart disease called Tetralogy of Fallot.  This has been very hard on my family. Well, they were going to wait till he was at least 4 months old to do open heart surgery but I just found out today that he is going in.  Please, Please pray for him. Brent is only 5 weeks old. Pray for God to guide the doctors hands and give them knowledge.  Give strength and comfort to Scott and Kris.  Help the little sister Elizabeth who is only 11 that he little brother will make it through the surgery and recover afterwards. 
 
Thank you.
With all the love,
Sara
P.S. Please if anyone has words of wisdom, please email me at Saintd9@aol.com

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Thought For The Day:

"For peace of mind, resign as general manager of the universe."--Larry Eisenberg

Verse for the Day:

"Be still and know that I am God." --Psalm 46:10

Kid's Thought For The Day:

"Being captain doesn't mean you're the smartest one. It just means you are the one with the boat."

Parent's Thought For The Day

"You know your children are growing up when they stop asking you where they came from and refuse to tell you where they're going."

Coach's Thought For The Day

"Athletics hold the same potential for teaching bad values, bad attitudes, bad behavior as they do good qualities. The equalizer is the coach."--Tom Marshall

Writer's Thought For The Day:

"The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.' --Robert Cromier

Deep Thought For The Day:

"I don't believe for a second weightlifting is a sport. They pick up a heavy thing and put it down again. To me, that's indecision." --Paula Poundstone
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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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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!

http://www.HeartTouchers.com/books

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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