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*Following My Heart* 2/22/02 ___________________________ If you enjoy this free daily 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 an e-mail with the word "Subscribe" in the subject line to: HeartTouchers@aol.com Visit our inspirational web site and read all the past stories in our archives at: http://www.HeartTouchers.com ____________________________________________ Happy New Year from HeartTouchers.com From now on we will be offering our book, Straight From the Heart "A Celebration of Life" for only $13 (instead of the regular price of $14.95), and best of all, we will pay the shipping! So if you have any interest in purchasing an autographed copy of the book for yourself, or as a gift for your loved ones, now is the time to get it! To order your autographed copy send a check or money order for $13 (We pay the shipping!) for each book made out to Michael T. Powers, and then send it to: Michael T. Powers 1918 Liberty Lane Janesville, WI 53545 To preview the book by reading some of the stories visit: http://www.HeartTouchers.com/michael_t__powers/ AOL Users Click below: Straight From the Heart: A Celebration of Life _________________________________________ Happy Birthday to Janet DeRosier!!!! Janet, may your day be filled with warm memories and people that love you.... May all of you have a great weekend! next e-mail heading your way on Monday! From my family to yours, Michael _________________________________________ Following My Heart By Becky Holloway Way back when I was in high school, I had definite ideas about what I wanted to be when I grew up. I knew without a doubt that I wanted to be a wife and mother. I was very happy with my decision; and at 16-years-old, I had even met the love of my life and knew that he was the one I wanted to spend my life with and have children with. I felt very good about all this until my senior year in high school. It was then that it became evident that I was going to rank at the top of my graduating class. That should have been something else for me to feel good about, but it seemed to bring me undue pressure. It seemed that every adult I came into contact with wanted to know what my future plans were. I shared confidently that I wanted to be a wife and mother with those who asked and that's when the pressure began. No one seemed to think that my goals were lofty enough. They all urged me to aim high. I couldn't think of a higher calling, but they didn't seem to understand. No one did except for one teacher, my English teacher. She encouraged me by telling me that she trusted my judgment and knew that in the end all would work out for me even if I followed my heart and chose to simply be a wife and mother. I was so grateful for her understanding and encouraging words. Well, life was good as I pursued my goals. I did attend college for 1½ years while waiting for my love, who was serving in the Navy to get back to the States. I knew that I was really just buying time until our marriage, but I had scholarships that took care of the expense, so it seemed like a good thing to do. Finally, we were married, and I was extremely happy with my choice to be a wife. Two years later, we started our family; and again, I knew that I'd made the right choice. Being a mother was so wonderful. We went on to have two more children, and I was blessed by being able to be a stay-at-home mom. It was all I'd ever dreamed of. When the day came that all our little darlings were in school, I began to pray about what to do with the time I found I had on my hands. Through a series of events that could be an entire story of their own, God let me know without a doubt that my next goal should be to become a teacher. I was so excited! I mean, how many people get the chance to grow up and be exactly what they want and then do it again with a new dream? I made preparations and was all set to begin classes in June of 1991. On May 16, 1991, however, things changed. My husband was in an accident that resulted in his having to have his arm amputated. He was left unable to work, and we were left with lots of questions. While it was evident then that we would actually need for me to go to work, we weren't sure exactly how we'd be able to put me through college with neither of us working. Fortunately, when life was good, it was very good. We'd been able to purchase our home while Jimmy was working and the day after his accident I made the last payment on the only bank note we had, so we were debt free. I had postponed starting school in June, but by August we were feeling led by the Lord to go ahead with my plan to go back to college for my degree in education. There were many times that we weren't sure we could "make it". As a matter of fact, it never did make sense on paper that we were able to do what we were doing, but we never went without anything we needed. God always came through just when we needed help. One Christmas we weren't sure about the next semester, so we asked my father if he and mom would buy my books for that term instead of other Christmas gifts. He immediately wrote me a check that covered not just my books but the next semester's tuition as well. Not long after that I was awarded a nontraditional student scholarship and another smaller scholarship that I'd applied for. I wanted to send thank you notes to the companies that funded the scholarships, so I went to the financial aid office to inquire as to whom I could address notes to. What I found out that day assured me that God was in control and that I had been right all along in following my heart. You see, the big scholarship that I was awarded had been funded by the very same teacher who 20 years earlier had encouraged me to do what I knew was right in my heart. Even after all those years, there she was enabling me to fulfill not only one dream in my life, but a second one as well. Thank you, Mrs. D You know you're the best. Becky Holloway jdh@ipa.net Send Becky an email and let her know your thoughts on her story! **************************** Michael, I have to add this note for you, kind of "the rest of the story" My first teaching job was back at the very high school I'd graduated from. Due to recent renovations, my first classroom was in the very spot where I'd stood in the auditorium 20 years earlier to make my valedictorian speech. I had thanked my teachers for all the lessons they'd taught me and said a special thank you to those who had truly believed in me. As I taught that first year, I daily gave thanks for Mrs. D and the encouragement she gave me by believing in me. _________________________ A little bit about Becky: I live in a small town in south Arkansas, where I teach middle school. I am married to the love of my life, and we'll soon celebrate our 26th anniversary. Our two sons are in college, and our only daughter is a senior in high school. They bring us immense joy and keep us very busy following them to ball games and other activities. We are also active members of First Baptist Church of Smackover. _________________________________________ Reader Feedback! "I would like to thank all the wonderfully supportive readers for the emails I received from literally around the world last night and today regarding my story *A Time to Dance* Over the next few days I will answer each of you personally, but I did want to express my gratitude for the outpouring of loving encouragement." Lynelle Dawson ThemesnDreams@aol.com Hi Lynelle, Great story!!!!!! Children are God's true little blessings.................and wait till you have grandchildren, there's nothing like it in this world!!!! My little 5 year old granddaughter, Katelin was visiting me one Friday afternoon, and we were in the backyard swinging...............out of the blue, she yelled at the top of her voice, "Thank You Jesus", she did this several times. I finally asked her, Katelin, what are you thanking Jesus for? She said, in her sweetest voice, for the wind that helps me swing soooooooo high in the air!!!!!!! How precious is that????????? You continue to let your little one, praise God, in any way she can. What an angel!!!!!!! God bless you! Jennifer DeShazo Beaumont, Texas JENNIFER DESHAZO@aol.com _________________________________________ Thought For The Day: "Call on God, but row away from the rocks." --Indian Proverb Verse for the Day: "Wisdom and good judgment live together, for wisdom knows where to discover knowledge and understanding." --Proverbs 8:12 Kid's Thought For The Day: "We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors...but they all have to learn to live in the same box." Parent's Thought For The Day: "Those who do too much for their children will soon find they can do nothing with their children. So many children have been so much done for they are almost done in." --Neal A. Maxwell Coach's Thought For The Day: "Enter the game with class and leave the same way." Deep Thought For The Day: E=mc2 -- "Very nice, Albert. Next time show your work..." --Albert Einstein's Chemistry teacher ___________________________________________ _ /_/\/\ MICHAEL T. POWERS \_\ / HeartTouchers@aol.com /_/ \ "For 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 for 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 pictures or home movies! Check out the web page for Michael's video production business! Visit: 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/ AOL Users click here: Writer's Guidelines ___________________________________________ SUBSCRIBE: "I need a daily source of inspiration and encouragement in my life!" To become a HeartTouchers.com Member send an e-mail with "Subscribe" in the subject line to: HeartTouchers@AOL.COM Then get ready to laugh, cry, and be deeply touched by some of the best stories on the Internet! __________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: All you have to do is send an e-mail with the word "Unsubscribe" in the subject line to: HeartTouchers@aol.com Give it a day or two to be processed... __________________________________________ Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you? http://www.greatcom.org/english/four.htm AOL Users click here: The Four Spiritual Laws __________________________________________ |
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Touching Lives - One E-mail at a Time! Author Michael T. Powers - HeartTouchers @ aol.com
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