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Check out our Creation News Section!
Weekly articles, daily Q & A, and a Creation Comic!


http://www.hearttouchers.com/

If you enjoy this email service, I encourage you to spread the word to family and friends that we may bring inspiration to the lives of many! If you are not on the list and this has been passed along to you, join the thousands of world-wide readers by visiting:

http://www.HeartTouchers.com

Be sure to check out our inspirational list just for teenagers!

http://www.Heart4Teens.com/Heart4Teens


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http://www.hearttouchers.com/filter

Finally there is a great filter to block Internet pornography and other objectionable content! Kristi and I have used this filter for 5 years now and want to recommend the Bsafe Online filter to you. We absolutely love it. To find out more and get your own FREE 10-Day Trial, just visit: http://www.Heart4Teens.com/filter

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http://www.hearttouchers.com/books

Michael's updated book Heart Touchers "Life-Changing Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter," is finally here! ($13.95) Visit the link below to preview the book! Personalized autographed copies are available at no extra charge and we pay the shipping for you! An E-book version is also available for just $3.25!

http://www.hearttouchers.com/books

Be sure to let us know who you would like it autographed for and then allow about two weeks for us to sign it and send it on its way to you.Credit card, PayPal, Checks, and Money orders accepted! The book is also available through Amazon.com, Borders.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Booklocker.com

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Record Faith

By Irene Budzynski

I couldn't believe what I had just heard! Hands cupped around his mouth so his words wouldn't travel to the ears of eavesdroppers, and flipping his head from shoulder to shoulder to ensure no one would be privy to his divulgence, David repeated his whispered announcement: "I have $500 saved."

This wouldn't be such a shock if it weren't for the fact that David is a mentally challenged adult. Where on earth did he get that kind of money? He pulled me aside and answered my unspoken question, so excited that his words tumbled pell mell off his lips, faster and faster until I could barely keep up with his stream of consciousness. Eventually I got the gist of his monologue.

When he was a little boy he had made weekly trips with his mother to a local department store. He was mesmerized by the window displays and eagerly stood with his nose pressed against the glass until his breath clouded his view. Then came the display which would change his and many other lives 30 years later. It was a Victor Five Victrola, the kind that needed to be wound by hand before placing the needle on the record, the machine which bore the symbol of a black and white dog, ear cocked to its side. Not missing a beat, he expounded on a history lesson about Columbia Records and their music machines, information gleaned from his trips to the library. There was nothing he didn't know about that golden age of music.

His mother died, and he eventually was able to live independently, supervised by an agency. It was through the agency that he obtained work, cleaning toilets of public facilities five nights a week. Every week he squirreled away his paycheck, never forgetting the Victrola. He was on a mission to find and buy a phonograph like the one he had once admired through plate glass.

Visibly exhausted from revealing his secret, David paused long enough to pull out a tattered Polaroid photo from his back pocket. He lovingly waved it in front of my eyes and proclaimed, "There it is! Victor Five!" He had found the object of his desire exhibited at a museum and had been faithfully visiting it every chance he could get. The colored piece of paper was a constant reminder of his goal.

I tucked away his confession into the back of my mind, only to dust it off when I wandered into one of my favorite antique shops a few months later. In the back of the shop, tacked in the corner of a bulletin board over the owner's desk, was a Polaroid picture just like the one David had shown me. I hastily inquired as to why it was there and unknowingly opened the door to a personal witnessing of the triumph of the human spirit.

David had gone to every antique shop in the city and had left a picture of his beloved Victrola with each of the shopkeepers. If any one of them was to come across a Victor Five, he wanted to buy it. Rain or shine, the owner at Century Antiques counted on David to stop at hisWaterbury store at least twice a month to check on the success of his quest. He hadn't put any effort into looking because he honestly didn't think David had the money for such an expensive piece. After all, David was, well, not "like us." Didn't he know that it was next to impossible to find that particular antique? But, being a kindhearted soul, the dealer had taken a liking to David and posted his Polaroid.

I commanded him to take the mission seriously. If David was short the required amount for the purchase, I knew it wouldn't be impossible to find enough people to chip in to make up the difference. There was a core group of people in our church who were fond of him and would dig into their pockets to help him reach his goal.

It took some time, but the antique shop came through with flying colors. For months, the owner's son, Chip, had made phone call after phone call in the tri-state area and eventually struck it rich. A Victor Five had been found! He personally drove to the source, brought the machine back to his shop, and called me with the news. "I can't believe it. It's a miracle that I found one in such beautiful shape, or that I found one at all!"

The cost to David? Not a nickel more than what it had cost the dealer.

The profit for the dealer? The pure joy of seeing David when he flung open the door to the shop, stopping speechless in front of the phonograph, clapping his hands together in prayer, and looking up to heaven and saying, "Thank you, thank you for my Victor Five."

So, if you drive down the street past David's apartment, you will most probably hear music. David will be playing his Victrola, and the world will be a little nicer.

Irene Budzynski, Copyright 2000

irene_budd@yahoo.com

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Irene Budzynski is a Connecticut registered nurse. She writes, "When I see David and ask about his Victrola, his eyes glisten, he claps his hands in glee, and he replies, "Oh, it's the best!"

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Creation Q & A

Q: In England there was an appeal to restore Charles Darwin's house. How is this ironic?

A: There's a very important lesson for us all to learn about Charles Darwin's home being threatened by dereliction.

The roof had fallen in on Darwin's lab; the main house had a leaky roof; the walls of the study were being attacked by dampness and woodworm: without a great deal of effort, this home will eventually become a total ruin.

There's a touch of irony to all of this. Darwin popularized the idea to millions and millions of people that everything has made itself, and that nature has, on a grand scale, organized matter from simple to complex... from chaos to cosmos!

But in reality, virtually every single scientific observation confirms that the very opposite is true. What we observe is that, because of the curse as a result of sin, everything that's left to itself tends to run down--just like Darwin's house!

Darwin's house won't rebuild itself--it will require a lot of intelligence and energy to improve it.

Likewise, the infinite Creator God created the first man from dust. Darwin's decaying home should be a lesson to trust Genesis!

Source: AnswersinGenesis.org

http://www.hearttouchers.com/Creation_News

Creation News

Click on the Bible above or visit the web site listed below! This new addition to our web site will give you an article on the leading news in the Creation/Evolution controversy each day.

http://www.HeartTouchers.com/Creation_News

This section also includes a rotating Question and Answer feature and a weekly Creation Comic strip from the people at AnswersInGenesis.org

Be sure to come back and visit each day for an informative article that will help you keep up to date on the latest news in this controversial area!


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Thought For The Day

"What is the use of praying if at that very moment of prayer we have so little confidence in God that we are busy planning our own kind of answer to our prayer." --Thomas Merton


Verse for the Day

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." --Philippians 4:6


Kid's Thought For The Day:

"When you wave to people in the country, they always stop what they are doing and wave back."


Parent's Thought For The Day

"Advice for the day: If you have a lot of tension and you get a headache, do what it says on the aspirin bottle: Take two and keep away from the children."


Coach's Thought For The Day

"The minute you start talking about what you're going to do if you lose, you have lost. --George Shultz


Writer's Thought For The Day

"Do not put statements in the negative form. And don't start sentences with a conjunction. If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do. Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is. Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague." --William Safire



Deep Thought For The Day

"When I went to college, my parents threw a going away party for me. At least that is what they told me in the letter I got in the mail."


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http://www.hearttouchers.com/Inspired_Audio

Inspired Audio -- Inspirational Audio Message of the Week!

Inspired Audio is a brand new offshoot of HeartTouchers.com. Every week we will offer a different audio message that you can listen to right on your comput as you are surfing the net or just getting things done around the house. Be sure to come back and visit each week!

This Week: "Letting Go" by Jeff Williams


http://www.HeartTouchers.com/Inspired_Audio


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http://www.hearttouchers.com/

Over 110,000 people have listened to popular Chicken Soup Author Michael T. Powers' free inspirational message entitled: "Breathing Life into Others". If you aren't one of them just visit: http://www.HeartTouchers.com and click on the link to listen to the free streaming audio message!

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http://www.videoimagery.net/Video_Imagery


Video Imagery --Michael's Video Production Business

http://www.hearttouchers.com/video_imagery


Dear Michael,

"I just wanted to take a minute to thank you for the beautiful video you made for me! It was so special to see both of my parents in tears as they watched their children grow up in pictures before their eyes! I loved the way you made Estania's part set aside from the rest--that was the part that really got them! The music was beautiful. My mom kept blubbering, "What song is that?" I don't know how you did such a beautiful job with the video in such a short time. I really appreciate your doing it so quickly. You have a wonderful gift, and I thank God that you are using it to create such sentimental memories. I hope that I can find my niche like that in an area that I love. Your video gave us one of our most lasting Christmas memories! I hope yours was filled with moments to be treasured forever!"

Love,
Trisha
Silverhill, AL

Let me make you a video from your photos!
Check out my video production business by visiting:

http://www.hearttouchers.com/video_imagery

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Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you?

http://www.HeartTouchers.com/Life_Purpose






Transfer your photographs or old home videos over to DVD or MP4 files! Give the gift that will touch your family's heart and soul.

You can join the 15,000 followers on his Facebook Nature Photography by clicking on the link above!

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