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*Heroes Among Us* 3/6/02 _________________________________ 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 _________________________________________ A Very Special HeartTouchers edition today! Way back in August of 2000 we challenged those on our list to write a letter to someone in their life they admired or respected in the hopes of starting a ripple effect around the world that would let people know that they are loved. I started the ball rolling by sharing a letter I had written to my hero, a man named Bill Greer, who has had a profound influence on my life. Numerous letters were written and mailed and some amazing things happened -- the most amazing being a letter written by a daughter to her father. Here is the e-mail I received from the daughter: Dearest Michael, I cannot thank you enough for you encouraging us to write letters to our heroes. Yesterday I got a letter back from my dad to whom I had sent my hero letter and I can't believe the timing. He had become very depressed because he has a heart condition and basically the Dr. said there is nothing more we can do. The Dr. also told him he needed to limit his driving, which affects his independence, can you see where all this is going? The letter I received from him said, "Thank you for sending me such a nice letter. The timing was perfect and kept me from doing something stupid." Thank God I sent that letter when I did and thank you Michael for suggesting it. The Lord truly does work in mysterious ways. (Name withheld by request) ******* There are thousands of you HeartTouchers.com members from all over the world reading this right now... Can you just imagine the ripple of love that all of us can start today? Don't put it off, for even a day... you never know who really needs to hear from you! And pass this e-mail on to everyone in your address book! Ripples, ripples, everywhere!! From my family to yours, Michael P.S. We would love to hear what happens with your hero letters! Consider letting us know what happens in the days and weeks to come! P.S.S. For those of you who have been praying for the mentor in my life who had cancer, be sure to read the special message at the end of today's story! _________________________________________ Heroes Among Us By Michael T. Powers I have a challenge for you. Do you have a hero in your life? I want you to take a few moments and write about him or her. Yes, that means you have to stretch your fingers out and do some typing or better yet, make it a hand-written note. When you are done, send it to your hero. That simple act will not only make that person's day, but it will also be your way of thanking them for all they do in your life. To start the ball rolling, I thought I would share a letter that I wrote to my hero. Everyone knows that my wife is my hero, but there is someone else who has been my hero since sixth grade, when I moved from the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois to the small town of Clinton, Wisconsin. Here is a letter I sent out to Bill Greer this past winter. He is someone who has had a tremendous positive impact in my life as a teacher and coach, and now as someone I coach with at Clinton High School. Dear Bill, You have been and always will be a role model for me and literally thousands of students and players who have been influenced by you as a teacher and a coach. From the first day I met you when we moved here in the sixth grade, I have watched you, copied you, and taken many of life's lessons from you. While I only had you for a coach one time when you subbed for baseball, I have watched, listened, and "stolen" coaching methods, ideas, and mannerisms from you. My whole coaching style and philosophy is 90% Coach Greer and 10% everyone else. My respect for coaches was incredible when I first started coaching in 1989. I was totally overwhelmed when I realized the tremendous "POWER" that coaches have to influence a student's life for good or for bad. It was almost too much for me when I realized how I could totally destroy a player's self-confidence by uttering a single word, or even by giving the wrong facial expression at times. I remember praying and asking for help so that I would always keep the players and what was really important in their lives first, and then worry about wins and losses second. One of the coaching quotes that has always meant a lot to me and has always reminded me of you is: "Coaching is to create the best person we can out of the athletes we meet. Our secondary goal is to make them the best athlete we can." My goal for any team has always been that the players can look back on their year and say to themselves, "Those were some good times." If a team has a great year record-wise, then that is a bonus. Ten years from now not many people are going to remember who won the conference, or which team went to state, but if they built relationships with each other that lasted, felt like they accomplished something personally, and can look back and laugh about the fun they had, then I feel like I have done my job as a coach. That is something that you have done remarkably well. Besides having an incredible win-loss record in every sport you have taken on, you have taught so many "life lessons" that have affected players for the rest of their lives. My wife has story after story of things you did when she had you as a coach. It seems to me that the things she remembers most are those that had little to do with basketball and everything to do with life. Athletes play their hearts out for Coach Greer, not because they fear him, but because they don't want to disappoint him. When athletes play out of fear, or to show up a coach, their whole heart is not in it, but when an athlete plays hard for herself and because she doesn't want to disappoint a coach, then she is playing with her whole being. When that coach continues to build confidence, she begins to play hard not only for herself, but also for her teammates. I respect you most for that. I have heard many a player reflect those same thoughts about you. When I first started coaching at Clinton High School, I was intimidated out of my mind. I will always remember my second practice. We were scrimmaging your team, and you were the only one who was talking, teaching, and coaching. I was too afraid to say anything in front of you for fear that I would be wrong. You pulled me aside and said, "You know, Mike, you can start saying things to your players anytime now. Just relax and be yourself." The legend had given me permission to talk, and it was okay to do so! I have a long way to go as far as basketball knowledge is concerned, but I have been learning that, and what is most important in life, from you. Thank you for who you are, what you stand for, and for being someone I have always looked up to. I look forward to the future, except for that sad day when you decide to hang up the whistle for the last time. I hope and pray that day is far from now, but wanted you to know that you have touched so many lives that anytime you walk away from the game, you can hold your head up high and be proud for being willing to let the Lord use you in so many ways. Besides my dad when I was growing up, you have always been the man I most respect and admire in life. Very Sincerely, Michael Who is your hero? Take some time this week and write to him or her. You never know, it might make all the difference in the world to hear from you! Michael T. Powers HeartTouchers@aol.com *** The story above is from the book Straight From the Heart "A Celebration of Life." For a sneak peek or to join the thousands of readers on his daily inspirational e-mail list, visit: http://www.HeartTouchers.com **** If you have comments or encouragement for Coach Greer, you can e-mail them to me at: HeartTouchers@aol.com and I will pass them along to him. He could use some encouragement right now as he is at home recovering from major surgery... read on... Special Message from Michael: I wanted to thank all of you who have been praying for the mentor in my life who was diagnosed with cancer recently. I wanted all of you to know that his surgery was successful and that the doctors expect a full recovery! You will never know how much I appreciate all the prayers that went up on his behalf, since the man you have been praying for was Bill Greer, my hero from the story above. When he e-mailed me this past fall and told me he had cancer I cried, unashamedly in front of my computer. He did not mention the type of cancer or how bad it was, and all I could think of was that I was going to lose a man who, in so many way, was a father to me... When my wife Kristi read the e-mail from him, she also began to weep. She lost her dad about five years ago, and Mr. Greer is her father figure also... Thank you so very, very much for lifting Bill up in your prayers. We are touched daily by the caring and loving people who make up HeartTouchers.com. Again, if you have comments or encouragement for Coach Greer, you can e-mail them to me at: HeartTouchers@aol.com and I will pass them along to him. _________________________________________ Thoughts for the Day: For those of you who only read the thoughts for the day due to not enough time in your schedule... would you consider reading today's story and then writing your own hero letter to someone you love? _____________________________________________ 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 _ /_/\/\ 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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