STORYTIME TAPESTRY

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

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Nov 12, 2005? 

Today??™s Announcements:

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Congrats to all the winners (Halloween Contest)...?  but we're all winners for giving it our best!

God Bless,

Barbara Weymouth

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Happy Birthday Loren Moore, please remember to keep Loren in your prayers as he has had a bout of ill health these days.

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Correction:?  I accredited Maria Doherty with a piece called Beach in the Nov 10^th newsletter, apparently this was in error and the piece actually belongs to a lady by the name of Mayuri, from India.?  My sincere apologies to both parties concerned.

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carol

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

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

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

By: Joseph J. Mazzella

? ? ? ?  There is a wonderful quote from Ben Franklin that always makes me laugh and smile. It goes, "The Declaration of Independence only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself."

? ? ? ?  I know that every time that I pursue happiness I end up feeling like a little boy chasing a butterfly without a net. No matter how quickly I run after it, or how quietly I creep up on it each time I am about to catch it I only end up watching it flutter away.

? ? ? ?  I have found, however, that when I stop chasing after happiness and just relax that something amazing happens. When I stop my pursuit and take a while to just breath deeply, smile, and thank God for this beautiful life I have been given, I find that this wonderful butterfly stops flying away and starts peacefully circling around me. When I then take my eyes off of it and begin to just choose and share love expecting nothing in return, I find that this beautiful butterfly joyously floats down and lands on my head.

? ? ? ?  Maybe we all need to stop pursuing happiness so hard and start just living it instead. God loves each of us and God wants each of us to be happy. We don??™t have to chase endlessly after it. We just have to choose it and share it all though the day, everyday of our lives. When we are thankful to God for this life we have been given we will have peace. When we love God, ourselves, and others we will have joy. When we live the way that we were meant to live we will have happiness. We all may have the right to pursue happiness, but it is best when we just give up the chase and go through our lives with love in our hearts, joy in our souls, a smile on our faces, and a butterfly on top of our heads.

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Joseph J. Mazzella
joecool @ wirefire.com

Joe lives in West Virginia with his wife and three children. Various dogs and cats have adopted Joe and his family for their own. Joe enjoys his family, beauty, love and hearing from his email friends. Joe likes to take the time to smell the roses and enjoy the beauty around him as he goes about his daily life.? 

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~**~**~? 

Pot Of Gold

Christina Hymes

I have never really questioned finding the Pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow, until today. My sister's and I grew up trying to find that treasure. We would go on expeditions through the "forest" in our backyard. I'd follow my older sister who always assured us "we are almost there"; but we were no where near close. It was the excitement and thrill that kept us going. We
wanted to beat everyone else to it and dreamed about a Barbie palace or meeting New Kids on the Block.

We never did find the rainbow. It wasn't until today that I realized that there is not Pot of Gold at the end of a Rainbow. Pot of Gold is treasure and it isn't necessarily objects. It is the experiences, the joy, and hope that things will come out right. So when you look at rainbows and tell your kids about the Pot of Gold at the end, keep on telling them that it's there.
Because one day they will realize like me, that treasure is more then just gold. It is the people you love, the roof over your head, food on the table and life.

CDRC Marketing Assistant
hymc0001@unf.edu

Christina Hymes was born in Bethesda, Maryland on March 4th, 1986. She grew up
with her older sister, twin, and younger sister. In 2002, the family moved to Jacksonville Florida where upon she finished high school in 2004, eight in her
class.
She now attends the University of North Florida and will be majoring in
Nursing and minoring in English. Christina writes on her free time. Her work
is a collaboration of poems that deal with her life and the events around her.

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Are You a Croaker or A Leaper?

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By

Pamela Perry Blaine

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In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out.

It is then burst into flame by an encounter

with another human being. We should all be thankful

for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
??” Albert Schweitzer

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We don??™t often think about the effect that our words have upon others.?  Our words do have power and everything that we say has a positive or negative impact on the people around us.

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There is an old story that is told about an army* of frogs? that went? hopping through the forest one day when two of the frogs suddenly fell into a deep pit.?  All of the other frogs gathered around the? hole to look down on their two fallen comrades.?  They? all began to sadly shake their heads and to croak out dismal warnings.?  ???It??™s too deep!??? croaked one frog.?  Another frog croaked that there was no way that they would ever be able to get out of that pit? alive.

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The two fallen frogs began to continuously jump as they tried to get out of the pit, but the frogs that were watching kept croaking louder at them that they might as well stop because they were as good as dead and just wasting their time.? ?  One of the two frogs finally gave up and?  heeded the pessimistic advice of the frogs at the top.?  He quit leaping and? literally ???croaked??? and died.

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The other frog just kept right on jumping and leaping harder than ever in spite of all the loud croaks of disapproval? from the frogs around the top of the hole. They kept croaking shouts at him to quit jumping and save himself from all the pain and suffering he was incurring as he leaped and fell back down to the bottom of the pit over and over again.

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Finally, he jumped even harder than ever and to the surprise of all the other frogs he leaped right out of the deep pit.?  The other frogs asked him, ???Why did you keep leaping even though we croaked and?  yelled at you to stop?????  It was then that the frog explained to them that he was deaf and he had thought they were cheering for him and shouting?  words of encouragement to him the entire time!

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A little encouragement can go a long way and as Babe Ruth once said, ???It??™s hard to beat a person who never gives up.???

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Our words do have the power to hurt or to heal.?  What kind of frog are you??  Are you a croaker or a leaper?

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By

Pamela Perry Blaine

?© August 2005

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? *Note of interest:?  A group of frogs is called ???an army???.

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e-mail: pamyblaine@blaines.us

My Website:
http://blaines.us/PamyPlace.htm

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Pam lives in Missouri with her husband, Michael.?  She enjoys composing music and writing stories.?  She writes "Pam's Corner" for her local newspaper, The Edina Sentinel.?  Pam and her husband are active in their church where she plays piano and he is music leader.?  They have a CD available called, "I'll Walk You Home".? ?  The title song is about her lifelong friend who died of cancer.?  You can hear this song on her website:? http://blaines.us/PamyPlace.htm
Several of her stories have been published on the internet as well as in books such as The Miracle Of Sons, 2The Heart/People Who Make A Difference,? and A Tribute To Moms.?  Her goal is to write to encourage others and to write stories for her children and grandchildren? so that stories and family history will be preserved.? 

~**~**~

~ Love Never Fails ~

Joyce C. Lock

"Father, forgive them;
for they know not what they do."

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Luke 23:24

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? ? ?  How many times do you suppose we've hurt people and not realized it; to have reacted without thought; to have deemed another not ready, worthy, capable, or spiritual enough; to have picked our favorite over another; to have excluded one who didn't measure up; to sit by one more attractive, popular, or fun; to have been in such a hurry to greet one that we bypassed another; to have closed our heart to someone whose words we didn't want to hear; to think we've done God a favor by getting rid of someone we thought difficult, different, or wrong?

? ? ?  How many times do you suppose this prayer has been prayed for us, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do?"

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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.

? ? ?  Once we've found our sin and corrected it, we can ask God to show us another and, then, another.?  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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Love never fails, I Co. 13:8.?  It's guaranteed!

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?© by Joyce C. Lock

http://our.homewithgod.com/heavenlyinspirations/

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Writers Feedback

? ? Carol, - A Voice Left Unheard

That was a powerful and bittersweet poem.?  How often must we all lose friends when we go against the crowd and walk the road

less traveled.?  Keep up the wonderful work.?  Wishing you every joy, Joe

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Prayer Requests and Updates

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? SENIOR WRITERS

Chief Writer: Sharon Bryant

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

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

Deming, Barb; Doherty, Maria; Goodier, Steve; Halley, Ellie Braun;

Harris, Kathy Anne;? Hunt, Sharlette;? 

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

Liles, Norma; Lilly, Jodi Flesberg; Lock, Joyce; Mazzella, Joe;? Morris, Deepak; Ojeigbe, Georgewaters;

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

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

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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