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*The Perfect Day* 3/14/02 ____________________________ 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 ____________________________________________ 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 _________________________________________ We welcome a brand new writer to HeartTouchers.com today! Be sure to write to Jerry Miller and give him a warm welcome! From my family to yours, Michael (Who is feeling much better!!) _________________________________________ The Perfect Day By Jerry Miller It was a perfect day, just the kind of October day to go fishing. My 13-year old son Jonathan and I had been planning this trip for weeks, and now here we were sitting on the shore of this beautiful lake. As we looked across the glassy-smooth water we could see the nearby mountains, smothered in green pines and boasting the bright yellows and reds of various groves of Aspen trees. We could hear the loons on the lake, and we watched large flocks of Canadian Geese heading south. We fished and talked, and once when I turned my gaze back to the water, all I saw were ripples where my bobber had been. I waited, thinking it would pop right back up again, but the bobber stayed underneath the water and my heart started to pound. After a few more seconds, my pole was suddenly yanked off the stick it was leaning on in front of me as it was being dragged towards the water. As I lunged and grabbed the pole, I knew I'd hooked a monster! I firmly grabbed my fishing pole and raised up, setting the hook in what I knew had to be maybe the biggest trout I had ever caught. My hopes were confirmed when this magnificent fish rose out of the water in an attempt to throw the hook, and I will never forget to this day the vision of that enormous fish hanging in the air over that cold water, with willows and beautiful mountains in the background. As I began to live every fisherman's dream, I told Jon to grab the net and climb down the rocky bank to the water. He was bouncing up and down like a ball. As Jon inched his way down the rocks, I was doing everything I could to keep from breaking that line. Slowly, I worked the trout towards the shore, where Jon and I got our first real look at him. This fish was huge! He had to be five or six pounds if he was one! My heart felt like it would pound right through my chest! Cautiously I worked the lunker to the bank where Jon could net him. Slowly, my son balanced on two rocks and leaned down to scoop the giant up into his net. For just one second, he lost his balance and reached up with his right hand to steady himself, grabbing the fishing line for balance, and immediately removing the flexibility and elasticity that a fishing pole tip gives fishing line. At exactly that second, our huge trout snapped his body and the fishing line with one motion, and slowly started to swim away. As Jon saw the escaping fish, he tried to lean forward with the net as quickly as he could, but it was too late. In horror we watched our trophy swim away into the deep, cold water. Now I've hooked and lost a lot of fish in my lifetime, but never have I had one like that get away. My mind was racing with thoughts as my heart sank, "Didn't Jon know better than that? How could he have done that? We'll NEVER get a crack at that fish again!" These were the things running through my mind. My eyes fixed on Jon as he clambered back up the rocky bank, shoulders slumped, head down. As I watched him approach, my mind was suddenly filled with one thought and one thought only, "You'd better be careful Dad. If you mess this up, you could wound your son badly!" With that thought now filling my mind, I looked into Jon's tear-filled eyes as he stopped in front of me and said, "Dad, I'm sorry. I'll never be able to make this up." He was on the edge of a sob. Suddenly it was clear to me what I should do. I reached out, put my hands on his shoulders and held him at arms length. The words came out of my mouth almost without thinking, "Jon, how did you feel while I was reeling that fish in? Were you excited?" He nodded and said, "Dad, I've never been so excited in my whole life!" I replied, "Jon, wasn't that about the most fun thing we've ever done together?" and he shook his head in agreement. Then I said, "So why should we let a fish getting away ruin possibly the best experience we've ever had? We had those feelings. They were there whether we landed the fish or not! So let's be happy about the fun we did have, It's okay Jon!" My son looked at me, and throwing his arms around me said, "Dad, I love you so much!" I hugged him back and said softly into his ear, "I love you too, Jon. I love you, too." We never did catch that big old fish. But I've realized ever since then that I didn't let the most important thing get away that day. I'll forever be grateful for a book I had read that talked about enjoying the journey, and not getting hung up on the little things. On that October day a trout took a journey that forever cemented a relationship between a father and his son. It was a perfect day. Jerry Miller milljerr@isu.edu Write Jerry and let him know your thoughts on his story! __________________________________ Jerry Miller was born and raised in the fertile farmlands of east Idaho. He has spent most of his career in broadcasting, and is currently General Manager of KISU-Radio in Pocatello, Idaho. He is the father of seven children, and his son Jon, mentioned in the story, is now married and lives with his wife Laura in Las Vegas, Nevada. _________________________________________ Reader Feedback! Dear Michael Powers, I got your address from Ken Pierpont. I pray God will bless you and cause your ministry to prosper. When you live in the part of the world that everybody refers to as the third world, you learn to appreciate something profoundly. One thing for me is Christ messages being spread through electronic medium and encouragement from brethren I've never met but are ever blessing me with their thoughts and prayers. This tells me the church that Christ is coming for is indeed without a boundary and a prepared army reaching out to one another across the globe. Heaven is no more a figment of imagination but day by day its becoming a reality via e-sermons. Stay blessed and encouraged. Bukky from Nigeria bukkydada@yahoo.com _________________________________________ Thought For The Day: "The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank." (Dante Gabriel Rossetti) Verse for the Day: Only a fool would say to himself, "There is no God." Psalm 53:1 Kid's Thought For The day: "If a lady has a black thing on her tooth, tell her." Parent's Thought For The Day "If you think it's easy to take candy away from a baby -- you should try it." (Henny Youngman) Coach's Thought For The Day "The best place to find a helping hand is at the end of your arm." Writer's Thought For The Day: "I was standing in the school yard waiting for a child when another mother came up to me. 'Have you found work yet?' she asked. 'Or are you still just writing?'" --Anne Tyler Deep Thought For The Day: "If Mike Brady was supposed to be this groovy architect, why did he force SIX kids into TWO bedrooms?" ___________________________________________ REQUESTS: Mike, I read your letter to Mr. Greer and was very touched. There are so many people I consider "hero" in my life and I love your idea. If you could pass along my best to him and wishes for a full recovery that would be great. Dealing with cancer is very difficult, which we unfortunately have learned first hand over the last year. In November of 2001, Matt was diagnosed with Brain Cancer. He has undergone Gamma Knife treatment, Radiation and Chemo, and is doing very well at the time. We will not know how well the treatments worked for quite some time so we are just taking one day at a time. We have created a web site for all our family, friends and others, www.hofstrom.com. It has been a wonderful coping tool, and is an easy way to reach many people with news and developments and it also allows others to "drop a line". We are very fortunate to have many friends and family lifting Matt with their positive energy and prayers. If you could add him to yours and the community of Hearttouchers I would certainly appreciate it. And thank you for your wonderful stories. Joetta Statton-Hofstrom jomerica1@yahoo.com ___________________________________________ _ /_/\/\ 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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