STORYTIME TAPESTRY

The Newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world

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Aug 20, 2005? 

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We have another new poet to introduce today, Stardustraven, from Amsterdam is writer #237 for Storytime Tapestry.?  She is a bit shy so please send all your comments for her, here at Storytime Tapestry.

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Now on to the good stuff..........

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Today's Queue Stories
~**~**~**~

A True Story
By Gwen Tweedy

I know I was terribly young when it started this shame. I loved for my friends to come and stay the night but there was always this secret dread too of what they would find and think. An ugly word kept coming up into my heart? and mind and this terrible word was selfish.

Oh no not me. I wasn't selfish, I shared, I gave to Jesus and respected my parents at least most of the time. So I tapped this terrible word down hoping it would bury it's ugly head elsewhere because that wasn't me. Or was it?

I could say it was envy or sadness or whatever flimsy excuse I wished to give it but I? was none the less? 

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- Ashamed.

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I was afraid that my friends would step on a bear floor or ashamed that my friends would find a braided rug instead of the carpet in most homes.

- Fearful

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Fearful they would find my home was one level except for a musty basement that I wouldn't dare let anyone see because it had a door that fitted into the back porch as we called it.

You raised it up and went down if you weren't very careful. I knew I was born on the wrong side of the tracks as most would call it.

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-Money

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I'm not even sure what that was.

Then later as I grew I saw beneath that onion skin of veneer that most covered their lives. These perfect people who had perfect lives didn't shine so brightly. There were fusses? in the home drinking and all kinds of things that my mama and daddy would have not approved of. And lots of them? came to me
crying and wanting prayer and not knowing where to turn and they were so alone..

Oh certainly not all fell into this class but the far majority of them did. So what was missing?

- God?

I suspected so and then real tears of repentance and shame flooded my eyes.

So I was selfish. So my thinking was all? shallow.

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I had forgotten the paint stained hands that sacrificed just for me so I wouldn't go hungry.

I had forgotten the fragile hands that sewed some of my clothes when money just wouldn't go around.

I had forgotten the many times things that had been charged on my parent's account to at least see that I was not naked when I went off to Kansas City to school.

I had forgotten the many unkind things I had done to my sister just so I could have my own way.

And not thinking often of the many nights my? brother would make popcorn or home made Pizza just because I wanted it. All of a sudden it didn't matter what my friends thought because if they were real they would be my friends anyway. And somehow in that moment I had riches dollars by the millions! Oh not in money but in love and sacrifice and mercy and kindness from my King Jesus Christ that shown through my family to bring me to God so that I would not be lost forever.

So I'm thinking, I must be rich after all.
The End.

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My Email address is:

gtweedy2@cox.net

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My name is Gwen Tweedy. I reside in mid America?  Wichita, Kansas to be exact.

I grew up as a pastor's daughter and I am 52 years of age. I have one grown daughter Melissa.

She has Cystic Fibrosis and Diabetes so each new day with her family is measured as priceless.

She is now 25 years old.

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My husband's name is Bob and because of some disabling factors is at home.

I presently work at? Envision a shop for?  blind of which I am one, and visually impaired as a power sewing machine operator.

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I enjoy writing encouraging letters from the president on down

and have many I talk, pray for and help as Jesus gives me words and strength.

I enjoy reading and I play piano for my Sunday school class at the imanuel Baptist church here in the city.

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~**~**~? 

Christian Commitment, Christian Connections,
Divine Purpose

Sandra Lewis Pringle
And you, my son, Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father,
and serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind,
for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive
behind the thoughts.?  If you seek Him, He will be found by you;
but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.
I Chronicles 28:9

? ?  As we make our initial commitments to Christ Jesus, we invite the Holy
Spirit to lead us daily into the plans and the purpose of which we have been called.

? ?  Our divine purpose is the goal that God is trying to reach in our lives, while we dwell upon this earth.? ?  It should be the goal that we are attempting to accomplish, as well, so that we are in agreement with God.

? ?  Renewing our minds is the greatest challenge that we face in the world.
It is difficult for most to fathom that God is willing to touch our lives in His supernatural way.? ?  That is a hurdle that most blocks the mindset of mankind.

? ?  If we are living as according to God's will, our minds are more spiritual, than physical.?  We must believe in those things which are not, as though they are.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.? 
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  Hebrews 11:1

? ? ?  Until we can get our minds renewed, to the degree that we are determined to remain on course, regardless of how things may seem or look, around us, we will not be able to accomplish the works that God has
for us.

? ? ?  Our faith is the key element in reaching any goal and our commitment is
the driving force.

? ? ?  We must believe fully, without doubt, in God's Word, that He is able to move and produce within us, the power needed to bring things from the spirit realm into the natural realm, the touchable realm.?  Our connection with God makes it all possible.

? ? ?  We must have vision beyond that which we see in the natural, of course.
We should be able to close our eyes and visualize those things with our spiritual eyes, that we are attempting to accomplish.

? ?  Several weeks ago, I asked God why so many seemingly good marriages
failed . . . . marriages that seemed strong, with strong people.?  Was it truly that they fall out of love with one another?

? ?  He conveyed to me, that a marriage, just like a person . . . .?  since two people have become one in His sight, to work together in singleness of heart and action . . . has a divine purpose.? ?  Not many seek out the divine purpose for the marriage.

? ?  Sadly, whenever one spouse finds the "other", that is where the seeking
so often ends. . . . when, in truth, that is where the real seeking should begin.

? ? ?  They should begin to search their minds and hearts, to see what God has in mind, for their marriage, their home, and their family, where He is leading them to.

? ? ?  I believe that with every person who crosses our pathway, comes a portion of God's divine plan, every experience a lesson to be learned, so that we may grow spiritually.

? ? ?  Some people enter our lives, and remain there for only a brief period.?  I believe that during the interchange, there is a divine purpose to be fulfilled.

? ? ?  Some friendships we have, are divine.?  They last and last through decades, and are as strong as when first formed.

? ? ?  God will use those in our lives to further His purpose for us or for them.?  They either have wisdom that we need, or we have wisdom that they need,
and He will make sure the connection is made.

? ? ? ?  Circumstances will often be the setting for the shapes of our futures.

? ? ? ?  If we are in circumstances that are difficult and overwhelming, it usually creates a desire within, to change them, so we begin to seek God's will and understanding, as to how we are going to be able to do that.

? ? ? ?  He waits for us to seek Him, as He tests us, to see if we will turn to Him, or to ourselves.

? ? ? ?  If any conflicting ideas, events are ongoing, God is telling us through these trials, to produce change, so that there is harmony and peace resulting.
This requires a meeting and agreements of minds, compromise, and His ways to be followed.? ? 

? ? ?  Usually, if we follow His ways, in the light of His love, with a desire to make things better, the right motive, it will happen.

? ? ?  We must be able to have our minds renewed daily. . . . continually seeking, searching, and exploring God's divine purpose in all things.?  Only He possesses that Omniscient wisdom and knowledge to guide and direct all of our pathways, and He is willing to intervene for us, if we only ask.

? ? ?  Whenever His people do that, the world will change, peace will be obtainable, and our lives will be greatly and supernaturally enriched,
prosperous and made whole.

?© 2005?  Sandra Lewis Pringle,
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  Author of Singing Loudly as Lions Roar,
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  Photographs from a Poetic Heart
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? Sandra Lewis Pringle

? ? ? ? ? ?  SLPEnt1@aol.com

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My name is Sandra Lewis Pringle.?  Writing is, and always has been, a favorite pasttime of mine, since a child.? ?  I often would make up little stories to entertain my cousins, and friends, at times we had nothing else to do.

? ?  I wrote poetry at a young age, and then began to write more seriously, as the years passed.

? ?  I began an inspirational greetings site, online, in 1998.?  By that time, I had gathered several people who wished to read poetry, and with whom I had been sending out prayers, in answer to prayer requests.

? ?  The name of my poetry site is "Greetings from the Heart and Soul."
Greetings From The Heart And Soul

? ?  Later, I added my daily devotionals, "Morning Glorythoughts", and that readership has grown by leaps and bounds.? ?  Praise God.

Morning Glorythoughts Daily Devotionals

? ? ? ? ?  And since I also like to play with photography, I have recently added onto the internet, my own gallery of photos, which glorify the Presence of Almighty God all around us.

Sandra's Gallery of Photography

? ? ? ?  I reside in North Carolina, grew up in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, and this is where I call home.

? ? ?  I hope that if you visit any of my websites, you will enjoy and be blessed.

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? ? ~**~**~

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We Are All Butterflies? 

Mark Hughes

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When I was in my early teens I got my first guitar and was taught a few chords (enough to play House of the Rising Sun) by a friends cousin who later went on to be in a chart topping band.

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While he went on to top the charts I carried on learning the guitar and started to write my own songs, which, being honest were never going to set the world alight, but they were okay efforts for a raw 16 year old. Eventually I plucked up courage to come out of my room and announce to my parents that I was going to perform a song to them that I had actually written. I don't remember the song exactly, although I probably still have it somewhere as I've kept every song I've ever written, but what I do remember is what happened in the middle of my performance.

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The lyrics contained the word 'butterfly' and it was normal at the time, as it still is, to sing in what would be described as a 'mid-atlantic' accent. My mother however spoke the Queens English as it should be spoken and when I sang 'budderfly' she gasped in horror and proclaimed "Budderfly! Budderfly! Surely you mean butterfly?"

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I stopped playing, took my guitar back to my room and didn't play or sing to anyone for many years. I became a closet musician, writing songs and eventually playing some to my wife who I knew would encourage me and if anything give me gentle, constructive criticism. Many times I wished I had the courage to play in public as I was sure my songs were good and my guitar playing was not bad. But I had no confidence in my singing and was terrified of public criticism.

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Through the years I worked hard at my job and became successful, owning my own businesses, having children and, as many people do, failing in one relationship but finding happiness in another. I continued to be a closet musician although I'd studied a lot of spiritual philosophy since I was very young and was aware of the many inspirational sayings and stories that tell you if you don't try then you can't succeed. I thought that if you don't try then you can't fail.

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I didn??™t realize that not trying is failure.

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A few years ago we all went off, with a group of like minded friends, to a spiritual retreat on a family week. On the last night we found ourselves sitting around the campfire. The flames were dying as was the atmosphere and I think we were all considering our beds a good option when the leader of the gathering, a resident of the retreat, stood up, announced that he had a song for us and proceeded to sing the most dreadful durge. It actually dragged the atmosphere down if that was possible. He finished singing, stood there proudly, puffed out his chest and said "I wrote that".

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To this day I don't know why I did it but his song seemed so bad that I must have thought I couldn't possibly be worse and if he had the guts to do it then I guess, so could I. I stood up. It was silent except for the crackling of the dying embers of the fire. I quietly announced, almost in a whisper "well, I wrote this". Unaccompanied I sang the first verse of one of my own songs called 'When I Dream'. A song about how the world could be if we all just made our minds up to make it so. I finished singing, sat down and listened to the applause. It sounded good.

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As we walked back to our accommodation people were asking me if I really wrote the song and telling me how good it was. I assured them that I did and one lady, a good friend of ours asked me if I'd come to her house and sing for a group of her friends one evening. Of course I refused. I mean, I was terrified of playing and singing in public. But unlike me she didn't give up. She kept asking and telling me I was good. After a few months I caved in and agreed to take my guitar one evening and play to a few people she knew. She ran a spiritual centre so she spread the word and one evening I found myself sitting there playing and singing to about 15 or 20 people for a couple of hours. I had years of material and I didn't even need too much practice - I'd been practicing for years.

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To start with I was shaking with nerves. But about half way through the second song I began to calm down and by the third song I began to enjoy it. By the finish I was in my element.

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The same friend told me she was going to hire a hall for me to perform and sell tickets for charity. She hired a local hall that held about 80 people, we sold 120 tickets and I played a whole evening. A couple of guys I knew - one played bass and another played keyboards ??“ backed me on some songs to give some variety.?  I made sure that everyone I knew would be there just to get the worst possible scenario out of the way. There were friends and family, work colleagues, customers, suppliers, lots of people I didn??™t know at all and lots of people who knew me but didn??™t have a clue that I wrote and played music. The place was packed. Again, at first it was terrifying but by about the third song I was on my way. After that I started to play a few folk clubs (also terrifying and quite demoralising as not everyone wants to listen to you and not everyone thinks you??™re good), and then played some other spiritual centres. My songs are mostly spiritual and inspirational or about the environmental issues we face, or love songs.

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Incredibly, and once again with the help of the same friend, within about 18 months of my first public performance I found myself on stage at Wembley Arena (a major London venue), singing and playing my heart out to over 5,000 people as part of ???Peace on Earth Day??™, a globally linked concert to help raise the vibration and consciousness of the planet. I even wrote the main song for the event. Following this I received letters from as far away as Australia praising my performance and telling me that one of my songs had changed someone??™s life.

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I??™ve recently come back from the US where I performed at an event there for the first time and in the UK I regularly play at spiritual and new age events and centers where now I not only sing but also talk with the audience about love, belief and anything else we feel like discussing ??“ including positive thinking! I recently recorded my ???campfire??™ song ??“ ???When I Dream??™ for my latest album. One of my songs ??“ The Angel Song ??“ has sold all over the world and been played on radio in the UK, the US and Australia as well as being recorded with the London Community Gospel Choir. I have performed with spiritual leaders and luminaries such as Doreen Virtue, James Twyman, Gary Quinn and Diana Cooper.

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So what I have learned? Sure I??™ve learned that if you don??™t try then you certainly can??™t fail but you can??™t go anywhere either. And I??™ve learned how to encourage my children. I??™ve got three daughters and I know that the way to help them is to listen to them, encourage them to have a go and let them know they can achieve anything they put their minds to. We are all caderpillers waiting to become budderflies.

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Mark Hughes is a singer-songwriter and inspirational speaker who performs and records spiritual and inspirational songs and writes inspirational stories for children. You can find out more and buy his music at www.markhughesmusic.com

hughes_mark@btconnect.com

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Poetry Section

~**~**~

? ~ Oh, Brother! ~

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Excerpts from the Writings of Joyce C. Lock

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~ * ~

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Sticks and stones may break my bones.

But, words come back to haunt me.

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When we're not right with ourselves,

We??™re not right with the world,

And we're not right with our God.

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It happens to the best of us,

Brings out the worst in us,

And affects the rest of us.

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When we tend to our soul,

The tongue takes care of itself.

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~ * ~

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A perfect world is a world without sin.

A perfect church is the one you're not in.

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A mirror is only as beautiful as its reflection.

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God so loved us that we could love each other.

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Changing your world begins in your heart.

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~ * ~

God isn't too proud to rummage through garbage dumps,

As some of His best handiwork is made out of junk.

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God didn't call us to be someone else.

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If we take two steps forward and one step back,

We are still going forward.

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It makes no difference how one is qualified,

As faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it.

For, it is God who builds HIS church.

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God makes all things beautiful, in His time.

Isn't it about time we let Him?

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If you want to know what Jesus would do,

Just ask yourself, "Is it Love?"

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~ * ~

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It would help us all to consider that

(Anytime we are not listening for the Spirit,

Walking in the Spirit, following the Spirit)

We are sitting on God's throne.

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When God decides a matter,

The first place He will start is not upon the circumstance.

He looks upon the heart.

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Know what you believe because you heard it from God.

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Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

Except God gives us the ability to see man's heart, we're way out of our league.

"Judge not, that ye be not judged," is a pretty specific warning for us all.

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Not forgetting we're also human,

Why not give others a break and love them anyway?

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God takes it very personal how we treat His children.

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Those who receive people in meekness have learned a very special lesson.

In the right place, at the right time, under the right circumstance;

There is no sin we couldn't be tempted with.

Only by the grace of God that it isn't me.

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Brother against brother is a testimony lost people notice.

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Without unconditional acceptance, there is no unconditional love.

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Only when we become one with God can we become one with each other;

One in heart, soul, purpose, body, mind, and strength.

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Some build for today.?  Others build for eternity.

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Peace begins once we realize we're all in the same boat

And God gave us gifts to help each other find our way.

Plant God's Seed and He'll grow the Crop.

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~ * ~

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Today's Difficulties are Tomorrow's Testimonies.

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Your life will always be filled with challenges.

It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy, anyway.

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The sun is just beyond the clouds.

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~ * ~

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Were we to ask God to open our eyes, to see ourselves as He sees us;

To examine our heart, actions, attitudes, and motives ...

God would be faithful to show us how we are hurting His cause.

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Once we??™ve found our sin and corrected it,

We can ask God to show us another and, then, another.

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One step at a time, we??™ll be weeding out the flesh and Satan??™s power over us

While winning the world to Christ.

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We can make a difference once we decide to be the difference,

Then do it all for the glory of God.?  It begins within "OUR" heart.

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?© by Joyce C. Lock
http://our.homewithgod.com/heavenlyinspirations/
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? ~**~**~

There Is

Saskia Nienna Streidel

There is a laughter in my soul

Which belongs to you.

There is a tear in my heart

Which belongs to you.

There is a thought in my mind

Which belongs to you.

And there is a dream in my head

Which belongs to us.

Saskia Nienna Streidel

saskiaofthewoods@yahoo.de

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My name is Saskia Steidel, I am born the? 17.10.1981 in Germany. I live in a small?  village in the middle of the woods and love to write. Right now I study learn therapy and music therapy and I just quit my job as a ticket manager in the administration of an soccer club, to have more time to study and to write and to work as a Nanny, what I really love. So far I published poems and some other pieces in different books and published one book called "Am Ende der Nebel". Right now I am writing on a children??™s book.

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? ~**~**~

YOU DID NOT LOSE....

Stardustraven

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You did not lose your heart.

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It still beats softly.

In? the deepest recesses of your soul.

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The vulnerable core.

Gobbled up? and spat out by a fierce dragon.

Grief, despair, anger whirled wildly.

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I know this.

Edgy, passionate heart.

Sitting upon.

A thorny throne.

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Sometimes, a thorn

caressed, pricked me.

Stimulating sting.

Which taught me anew.

You are very dear to me.

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Even all of your

edges

thorns.

Though, I know....

Your heart did not die.

I? have felt? its warmth and strength.

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stardustraven 2005

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Writers Feedback

? For? Ron Gold:

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I thought I had his email address, but I can't find it!? ?  As a fellow lover of old-time radio shows,? I identified with Ron's story today, August 19.?  I remember that "Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons" was on Thursday night, and "The Creaking Door" was on Mondays at 7:00 pm.? ? "The Lux Radio Theater," "The Thin Man," "This is Your FBI," "The Shadow,"?  "Henry Aldrich,"?  "The Green Hornet," and many others fed my imagination all through grade school, before the days of television.

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Like Ron, I have watched loved ones, including family and dear friends, slip away, some suddenly,? but most of them, slowly.?  It's part of the natural order of things, but I don't have to like it.?  Losing someone who has known us all our lives, whether friend or family,? is often? more difficult, I think.?  Shared memories of good and bad times, echoes of laughter and tears, discussions? and arguments: all these things are parts of who we are.?  Memories are treasures,? yes; but there is no? other silence like that of a stilled voice.? 

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Thanks for sharing your friend with us, Ron.? ?  You have made him a part of who we are, too.

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I love reading your stories and articles.?  Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I ponder, but always, I enjoy them.

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Stay well........

Barbara Elliott Carpenter

www.barbaraelliottcarpenter.com

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? SENIOR WRITERS

Chief Writer: Sharon Bryant

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? Agee, Vance;?  Apted, Violet;?  Baker, Kathy;?  Batt, Al;?  Berry, Nell;

Boda, Ginger;? ?  Buhagiar, Victor; Cassady, B.J.;?  Cavalera, Robyn; Crider, Mark;? 

Deming, Barb; Goodier, Steve;?  Harris, Kathy Anne;? Hunt, Sharlette;? 

Jacobson, Gary;?  Kiser, Roger Dean; Kerens, Claudia; Jenkins, Pamela;

Liles, Norma;?  Mazzella, Joe;? Ojeigbe, Georgewaters;

?  Petry, Dianna Doles; Roberts, Susan;?  Shiveley, Debra; Shaw, Bob; Sims, Richard; Swarner, Ken; Vaknin, Sam; Verhoeff, Jan

Walker, Bill;?  Walker, Joe;? Warner, Gorden K;

Whirity, Kathy;?  White, Robert;

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STORYTIME TAPESTRY STAFF

Publisher: Carol Roach-founder

Moderator: Thelma Hartselle-co founder

Moderator: Clara Westerfer

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