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{Straight From the Heart} *A Gift From God* 5/5/00
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Welcome to "Straight From the Heart!"
If you enjoy this free daily email service, I encourage you to
forward it on to family and friends. If this has been passed along
to you and you want to join the list, just send a blank email to: Thunder27@aol.com
I appreciate any feedback or constructive criticism, so feel free to
write me (Michael T. Powers) and let me know what you think!
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A very happy birthday to friend Steve Paulson, who turned 31 this
past Wednesday! Steve was the best man at our wedding and I am sure
he would love to get a birthday greeting or two from around the world.
Those of you who feel inclined to do so can email him at:
Paulson@ticon.net
He loves to get email from people so fill his mailbox up!
Thanks!
Michael
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A Gift From God
By Colleen Duval
As I held my precious boy in my arms last night to rock him to sleep, I
could feel the unconditional love and trust my little angel has for me. He
had his arms wrapped around me and he kissed me on the cheek, at that very
moment I sensed a warm peaceful spirit. I realized then in my heart that my
prayers for a child have been answered, and that there is a guardian angel
watching over my son. He is a beautiful little boy with dark hair and big
dark brown eyes. We adopted him when he was four days old and we named him
Eric Daniel.
For many years I dreamed and prayed about becoming a mother someday. I knew
that if I couldn't have any children of my own that I would adopt. My
husband John and I really prayed about this every day during our morning
devotional time. One Sunday morning a lady from church approached me and
told me she had a granddaughter that was planning to give her unborn baby up
for adoption. We met with the young birthmother for dinner and I showed her
a profile I had put together, which included a resume and pictures. After
dinner we went to our house and showed her the nursery that we had already
set-up in a neutral angel theme.
Less than two months later we completed our home study and we were approved
by the adoption agency just two days before Eric's birth. It was a Sunday
morning and we were at church when we got the news and rushed straight to
the hospital. It turned out we didn't have to rush because we waited about
eight hours before they took Eric by caesarian. What an awesome feeling it
is to finally hold your newborn son for the first time.
The next morning when we went back to the hospital we found out that Eric
had to stay in the
hospital because of an infection he had. During the time he was in
intensive care, we got to hold him and feed him, so we bonded instantly. On
the fourth day, Eric was released from the hospital and was able to go home
with us, what a wonderful day that was! When we got home I fed Eric and
changed his diaper (yes, I was immediately baptized by our newborn son) and
I placed him in his new crib. I just stared at this precious angel, I
couldn't believe after all these years that I was now the mother of this
beautiful child.
Looking back at the whole adoption process, I have no doubt that God heard
our prayers and I believe it was God's guidance that helped us through the
adoption. It took 10 months for the adoption to become final, on that day we
stood before the Judge declaring Eric legally ours, I had tears in my eyes,
and when I looked over at my husband John, he had tears too. That was a very
special day for us. It has been over twenty months now since we were blessed
with Eric and I truly have enjoyed every day that I spend as a mother, I
don't take any day for granted. I look at Eric now and I thank God for
giving me the opportunity to take care of such a precious life.
I plan on telling Eric someday that he is adopted and his birthmother loved
him enough to choose to give him life and to give him to a family who
absolutely adore him. Eric will always know that he is very much loved and
cherished. I sure may not have given birth to him, but he grew inside my
heart. He is a gift from God.
By Colleen Duval
Email: duvals@fmsn.com
Send Colleen an email and let her know what you thought of her story!
Colleen is an Accounting Clerk for a private Liberal Arts College in
Southern California. She works in the Student Accounts office. Colleen is
also a happily married mother of two boys Ryan (fourteen), and Eric (two).
Colleen loves to write poetry and she started writing poetry in high school
and has several poems published in various anthologies by the International
Library of Poetry.
http://www.heartwarmers.com/members/?colleend
http://www.thrill.to/colleenspoems
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REQUEST:
From: pardis@shomaran.net (Mohsen Parvaresh)
Hello Michael
I am one of your subscribers, the one from Iran. Now I am requesting for
uploading my appeal for prayers from all the kindhearted who read your
letters. That is for my mother; and my sister and I, because of being
a doctor, suffer more than other members of the family.
Request
My mother a 54 year-old lady is suffering from an advanced breast
cancer. About two years ago she underwent a radical mastectomy,
chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Now that darn thing is back as a
massive pleural effusion and mediastinal and hilar adenopathy. She
will again undergo another heavy course of chemotherapy but only he
over there could help her out through this disease. May this time the
miracle be aimed at my mother. I am at a loss what to write and how to
request from all of you; just say any prayer you can. She badly needs
them.
Thank you very much
Mohsen Parvaresh
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Thought For The Day:
"Every calling is great when greatly pursued."
(Oliver Wendell Holmes)
Verse for the Day:
"I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:14
Kid's Thought for the day:
"You'll have a lot more respect for a bird after you try making a nest."
Parent's Thought For The Day
"Children need love, especially when they do not deserve it."
(Harold Hulbert)
Coach's Thought For The Day
How true this is for coaches and players!!
Someone asked a famous conductor of a great symphony orchestra which
instrument he considered the most difficult to play. The conductor
thought a moment, the said, "Second fiddle. I can get plenty of first
violinists, but to find one who can play second fiddle with enthusiasm
-- that's a problem. And if we have no second fiddles, we have no
harmony."
Deep Thought For The Day:
If my computer performs one more illegal operation, I'm
going to report it to the authorities.
_
/_/\/\ MICHAEL T. POWERS
\_\ / THUNDER27@aol.com http://members.aol.com/Thunder27/index.html
/_/ \ "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
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 suprised 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 (RKaGe@aol.com) 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!
Video Imagery
http://members.aol.com/Videoimg/index.html