Dear Michael,
Please take it from a person who has been
there--you can do anything in life again, or later,
anything but raise your children. When our five were
small, we had periods of debt that I thought were
so huge, they would squeeze me to death. I thought
we would never get out from under, much less take
a decent vacation, etc. But we both stuck to our
beliefs that our children needed to be raised by both
of us. I started a little writing business on the side
(how well God provides--little did I know how big it
would grow someday) and my husband's up-and-down
commission work continued to flounder. But we knew
where our kids were, who their friends were, when they
appeared a bit "strange" (a situation to investigate), who
was teaching them, what was being taught, you
name it, we knew it. Our house was always open
to their friends, and I actually learned a lot from those
kids too.
What was the upshot? I hate to brag but I will--five
absolutely wonderful adults, all spiritual, all moral,
all loving us their parents intensely, and planning to
leave the world a better place than they found it.
Lots of family get-togethers with lots of laughter
and reminiscing (next weekend we'll all travel to
Washington DC to surprise one of our sons for his
birthday--last month we met here for my mother's
90th birthday. No one would have dreamed of
missing it.) My cup runs over, due to the seeds
we planted during those early and very crucial days.
And I'm still not on Medicare!
You see, the point being missed by today's
society is this: quality time is defined by a child
as when he needs his mom or dad, not when his
parent can schedule the time for him. A child's
quality time doesn't and can't occur on a schedule.
What about the times when you have to drop
everything and walk a child back to return a candy
bar he just stole from the supermarket? What
about the time a child seems just a little too excited,
and you sense--without knowing exactly why--that
he's involved in something questionable. Parenting by
Proxy (as Dr. Laura so beautifully points out) just
doesn't work. And all those little teaching moments
are gone forever.
We opted to raise our kids ourselves, and a funny
thing happened. All the dreams I deferred, eventually
got satisfied--when the time was better and I had more
energy to devote to them. All the debts got paid, too,
and if my husband and I keep our health, we will be
able to afford some really wonderful trips and
adventures. I have a spirit of complete comfort,
no regrets at all, because I did what needed to be
done at the right time. Best of all, my married son
and his wife, primarily due to the example both
families set, have opted to live the same way with
their daughter. They are both self-employed by
choice, and they work around her, so that one of
them is always taking care of her. She is seven
now and, according to her teacher, the best-adjusted
child in her class. (Is this a coincidence?) And the
seeds of the next generation are sown.
So Michael, I think your intuition (or maybe it's the
Holy Spirit?) may be prompting you to defer your
book for a while, along with those other things that
aren't mandatory, and spend more precious hours
with your family. The book will be there later (or,
if it really nags, you can set up a few hours each
week to work on your own projects, but NO MORE
THAN THAT for now). If you put first things first, and
by the way, that begins with a short period of prayer
first thing every morning, God will find you all the time
you need to do the things He wants you to do.
Sorry about ranting this way--but I just had to do it!!
Joan Wester Anderson
angelwak@earthlink.net
Write Joan and let her know what you thought about her letter!
End Note from Michael:
Joan's words hit me like a Mack truck, but I knew
that God was speaking through her to send me a
message... And so I slowly but surely starting
putting her words of wisdom into practice. I would
love to be able to tell you that God worked
out all my hopes and dreams the very next
week... but He didn't. But as the months went by
I found bits and pieces of time to write my stories without
compromising time with my family. Slowly but surely
I learned to say "No" to people when I knew I wouldn't
have time to do what they were asking of me. I even
began to say "No" to those video jobs that I knew
would demand a great amount of time and stress
both myself and my family to a breaking point...
Slowly but surely my dream of having my own book
came into focus; and then became a reality.
Then, six weeks ago, I was able to walk away from my
third shift job and accept a full time job with our church.
Not only does this job enable me to put all my time
and energy into something that will make a difference
for eternity, I get to work out of my home and spend more
time with my family. Now instead of rushing out of the
house at my children's bed time, to make my 40 minute
drive to work, I get to snuggle with them on the couch
and read them bedtime stories. Something I haven't been
able to do since they were born...
Oh yeah... I forgot to mention that I haven't written a new story
in seven months... and it doesn't bother me in the least bit.
Michael T. Powers
Founder, Heart Touchers
_________________________________________
Joan's 14 books include WHERE ANGELS WALK, TRUE STORIES OF HEAVENLY VISITORS, which was on the New York Times best-seller list for over a year, has sold almost two million copies and been translated into fourteen languages.
Anderson is a graduate of Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and a former adjunct professor at Harper Junior College in Palatine, Illinois. She and her husband live in suburban Chicago, and have five grown children and two grandchildren.
Be sure to visit Joan's brand new web site and e-mail list about Angels
and sign up to receive a new angel story each week!
Visit http://www.JoanWAnderson.com
AOL Users Click Here>
http://www.joanwanderson.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
___________________________________________
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__________________________________________
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
___________________________________________
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