STORYTIME TAPESTRY

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

? 

? 

Dec 30, 2005? 

Today??™s Announcements:

? 

Happy Birthday B. J. Cassady

? 

? Today is the last day of the Christmas Contest.?  There were 100 submissions.?  I am so pleased with the result.?  Of course it is going to be hard to vote for your favourite author.?  There were so many good stories and poems.?  So like the Halloween Contest, you get to choose up to 5 authors this time.?  Each author gets an automatic vote for themselves to make it fair to everyone and you can choose up to 5 authors.?  Just list the names of the authors you are voting for.?  It is not necessary to mention the pieces they wrote.

? 

The person with the most votes at the end of the voting period will be the winner.?  I will send out the list of authors and stories in a separate email on Dec 31^st, along with the link to the archives so you can review any submission you may like.?  You will have from Dec 31^st to Jan 7^th to send me your votes at: winterose@videotron.ca.? 

? 

I would like to see more readers participating in the voting this time around.?  Our authors work hard to provide stories for you entertainment free of charge.?  They also encourage each other in the contests by voting, we now need more readers to join in as well.? 

? 

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

? 

? 

Today's Final Christmas Stories
~**~**~**~

Christmas and The Great Gift

Bill Walker

wildbill6807@yahoo.com

? 

We all seem to like to give and receive gifts.?  At Christmas time seems like something special takes place.?  Go into about any store, and see people spending money for some special gift for a loved one.

? 

I was thinking of a special gift. It is one of a kind,?  and the thing is one don't have to wait for Christmas to take the gift. It is free.

? 

John 3,16?  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have ever lasting life.

? 

What a gift. Free,?  can pick it up any day or night. It is there for the taking. Believe, ask, and you will receive.?  You can get it any where, any time, any place. You don't have to be nothing but just humble your self, and say Lord God, I except the greatest gift one can receive.?  Walk best you can in the foot steps of Jesus.?  Oh you will stumble now and then. But that is what Jesus came for.?  He will look back, and pick you up and carry you cross the?  sands of time.

? 

Now then take a look at those lines in John 3,16.?  Thank a bit what it says.

? 

I believe God did love the world, after all he made it and everything in and on it. But I think the main thing is he loved us sinners.?  He seen there was no way we were going to make it home.

? 

So he sent the greatest gift.?  His only begotten Son to take the sins.?  There is no other way for us to get home, with out that gift.

? 

Now he gave the gift, but he never forced anyone to take it.?  It is there for the taking. Just except, believe, and follow best you can.

? 

God knows a couple things. Well he knows all things, but these two?  stand out in what is wrote many places in the Bible.?  Man is weak, we fall, stumble a lot.?  Anyone that says other wise is a fool. There isn't a day that goes by the best of us don't stumble a bit. We may think we are as pure as pure can be, but that isn't the case.? 

? 

Sin is every where, in many different forms.?  No one is perfect;? remember that too is in the Bible.? 

? 

The only perfect came on that cold winter night so long ago.?  To pay the price for our sins. Any one who says they are prefect, better look out, might get hung on a tree.

? 

Thank you Dear God for the most wonderful gift of all time.?  Your only begotten Son, JESUS.

? 

All other gifts pale, and fade away.?  That gift will never do so.? 

? 

Tinker and Poo; The Boys Write

http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-35741-5

? 

~**~**~? 

? My Children

Janice Finley

? 

? 

My husband and I had been happily (most of the time) married for five years but hadn't been blessed with a baby. I decided to do some serious praying and promised God that if he would give us a child, I would be a perfect mother, love it with all my heart and raise it with his word as my guide. God answered my prayers and blessed us with a son.

? 

? 

The next year God blessed us with another son.

? 

? 

The following year, he blessed us with yet another son.

? 

? 

The year after that we were blessed with a daughter.

? 

? 

My husband thought we'd been blessed right into poverty. We now had four children, and the oldest was only four years old. I learned never to ask God for anything unless I meant it. As a minister once told me, "If you pray for rain, make sure you carry an umbrella."

? 

? 

I began reading a few verses of the Bible to the children each day as they lay in their cribs. I was off to a good start. God had entrusted me with four children and I didn't want to disappoint him.

I tried to be patient the day the children smashed two dozen eggs on the kitchen floor searching for baby chicks.

? 

? 

I tried to be understanding when they started a hotel for homeless frogs in the spare bedroom, although it took me nearly two hours to catch all twenty-three frogs.

? 

? 

When my daughter poured ketchup all over herself and rolled up in a blanket to see how it felt to be a hot dog, I tried to see the humor rather than the mess.

? 

? 

In spite of changing over twenty-five thousand diapers, never eating a hot meal and never sleeping for mo re than thirty minutes at a time, I still thank God daily for my children. While I couldn't keep my promise to be a perfect mother - I didn't even come close - I did keep my promise to raise them in the Word of God.

? 

? 

I knew I was missing the mark just a little when I told my daughter we were going to church to worship God, and she wanted to bring a bar of soap along to "wash up" Jesus, too. Something was lost in the translation when I explained that God gave us everlasting life, and my son thought it was generous of God to give us his "last wife."

? 

? 

My proudest moment came during the children's Christmas pageant. My daughter was playing Mary, two of my sons were shepherds and my youngest son was a wise man. This was their moment to shine. My five-year-old shepherd had practiced his line, "We found the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes." But he was nervous and said, "The baby was wrapped in wrinkled clothes."

? 

? 

My four-year-old "Mary" said, "That's not 'wrinkled clothes,' silly.

That's dirty, rotten clothes."

? 

? 

A wrestling match broke out between Mary and the shepherd and was stopped by an angel, who bent her halo and lost her left wing. I slouched a little lower in my seat when Mary dropped the doll representing Baby Jesus, and it bounced down the aisle crying, "Mama-mama." Mary grabbed the doll, wrapped it back up and held it tightly as the wise men arrived.

? 

My other son stepped forward wearing a

bathrobe and a paper crown, knelt at the manger and announced, "We are the three wise men, and we are bringing gifts of gold, common sense and fur."

? 

? ? 

The congregation dissolved into laughter, and the pageant got a standing ovation.

? 

? 

"I've never enjoyed a Christmas program as much as this one," Father Brian laughed, wiping tears from his eyes. "For the rest of my life, I'll never hear the Christmas story without thinking of gold, common sense and fur."

? 

? 

"My children are my pride and my joy and my greatest blessing," I said as I dug through my purse for an aspirin.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  Janice Finley? ? ?  Alabama

Finleyj@otelco.net

? 

? ? ~**~**~

? 

Something Special

Norma Liles

? 

Do you all want to know something special??  It is about Christmas and all the beautiful Christmas lights.?  Sound interesting??  Sure does to me!

? 

I love so many things about Christmas but the lights that shine in homes and various business places have always entranced me. At 76yrs of age, you would think that I would outgrow the enthusiasm of seeing the lights again this year but not so.

? 

I do not drive so I was in hopes that a friend or possibly a neighbor would take me past our county courthouse for a looksee but my oldest grandaughter did one better than that.?  She made a special trip to bring me home from our Christmas celebration at her Mothers to be sure that I had my wish fulfilled.

? 

I must tell you that I felt like a kid in a candy store; overwhelmed with the beauty of the Christmas lights display which had to have taken a lot of tedious work but their efforts were so elaborate.?  The courthouse has to be old.?  I am not sure how old but the architecture is beautiful.?  The great dome was decorated to the hilt with lights around and streaming from the it.

? 

All the trees and bushes were heralding the holiday season with their colorful array of many many lights as were all the floors of the courthouse building.

? 

There were characters on the lawn in all different colors but the highlight of the all was the decorated gazebo which just beckoned a ' come sit a spell' but we declined as a light rain was falling as we drove around the? block twice.? 

? 

The only reason that I would think that I enjoy the lights of the season as much as I do is because Jesus is the Light of the World which without Him, it would be forever dark.

? 

It is my prayer that you, too, will enjoy all the glory of this season and be sure to wish your family and friends a 'Merry Christmas' whether it be politically correct or not.

About Me:

Norma Liles is a retired data entryclerk/supervisor who lives in Ohio. Her hobbies
are: writing poetry and stories, reading, her family, living for Jesus and her use of her computer. Her ambition is to add pleasure to those who read her writings as well as sharing her faith.

My writings have been published on Starfish, Driftwood, Sandollar, Morning Spirit Lift,
www.poetry.com, PrayerofGod, Jan Karon's newsletter, American Poetry Writer's league,
Lucy's Inspiration, Faithful Hope reading room, Poetry of Today publishing, Hope in Him,
Bonnie's Place, America will remember and News Moose. Finally, she is a senior writer for Storytime Tapestry.

~**~**~

? 

Wear Your Name Proudly Christian Moody

B.J. Cassady
? 
? ? ? ? ?  I have a friend I have known for about twenty years.?  We worked
together at the Oklahoma Blood Institute and at American Fidelity
Assurance before he moved to the Branson area to seek other
employment.?  I was the Systems Administrator at the Blood Institute
and he was a programmer at both institutions.?  We were also friends,
good friends.?  Greg Hampton and I both are only children.?  Greg came
from Missouri and I from Kansas.?  Greg grew up following KU basketball
as I did.?  We are like Mutt and Jeff.?  Greg is about 6' 3" and I am 5' 4".
However, we are more alike than different.?  I am about thirteen years
older than Greg.
? 
? ? ? ? ?  During the year 2005, life tossed Greg a high hard fastball.?  He was
hit with pain, went to the hospital and was operated on.?  Cancer.?  The
dreaded word cancer.?  Men are supposed to be checked at age of fifty
but Greg was only 48.?  His cancer was wide spread resulting in his colon
being removed.?  His cancer was also in his liver.?  Hospice was needed.
Greg and his wife Janet are fighters.?  They wanted chemo, to attack this
disease.?  So attack they did.?  Greg has lost eighty pounds, and
sometimes is a bit forgetful.?  He cannot work, but has hopes....hope is
what we live for.
? 
? ? ? ? ?  This is December, 2005.? ?  December 19th, my wife and I went from
Oklahoma to Lawrence, Kansas to a KU home game.?  We won by 20.
After the game, I went outside of the KU locker room and asked a KU
official, I explained about Greg...
? 
? ? ? ? ?  Later the KU players started to file out one by one and signed the
game program for Greg, most made comments like, "I hope he gets
well, and sorry".?  One man, Christian Moody, behaved differently.
He looked at me in the eyes, and asked for Greg's full name.?  I told him.
He said he would pray for him that night.?  I believed him.?  The look in
his eyes were sincere.?  Christian Moody did a Christian thing just a few
days before Christmas for my friend, Greg Hampton who was watching
the game on ESPN2 that night.?  Christian Moody wants to become a
surgeon.?  He will do fine in that field I am sure.? ?  I lacked the coach
and two players, probably doing an after game interview.
? 
? ? ? ?  I phoned Greg on the way home and told him he would be getting
my ticket, my parking voucher, the game day program, the autographs
and the grease pen they all used to sign it.?  Also, I mentioned the
special interest of Christian Moody.?  Greg was very thankful.? ? Tis indeed

the season for giving....hope.
? 
B.J. Cassady
Guthrie, Oklahoma

? Day After Christmas

Dianna Doles Petry

? 

It's the day after Christmas and I'm feeling tired,

The guests are still here and the children are wired.

Leftovers can be seen on plates sitting everywhere,

I haven't even had time to run a comb through my hair!

? 

The dogs are chasing a cat through my living room,

I keep swatting at them with each pass of my broom.

Family and friends keep showing up at the door,

Is Christmas about over, I can't stand much more!

? 

I see bits of colored paper under the dining room table,

Along with batteries, ribbon and a piece of TV cable.

DVD's are stacked as high as the eyes can see,

Why do all these people come to visit with me?

? 

I can't wait to take the lights down as soon as I can,

I don't want to bake another cookie or see another pan.

I don't want to hear Christmas Carols playing in my ear,

I'm sure glad that Christmas only comes once a year!

? 

Oh, how nice, I don't hear a single sound outside my door,

No one is shouting I don't even hear a snore.

Something has their attention, they've all become still,

It probably won't last, but I sure hope it will!

? 

It's the day after Christmas at the Petry estate,

People are packing to leave and I can't wait!

I love to see them visit and we all share a smile,

But relatives can wear out my patience after a while.

? 

Tonight I'll pick up the messes and sit in my chair,

I'll take a long shower and really brush my hair.

I'll listen to the silence in the house late tonight,

Then I'll miss all the laughter that made the holiday right.

? 

Oh, I'm just a bit tired and needing my nap today,

I love all the guests, wouldn't have it any other way.

I love to cook the meals that keep them coming to the door,

Sharing love and laughter is what holidays are for.

? 

Love,

Dianna Doles Petry

? 

Dianna59@charter.net

? 

? 

? SENIOR WRITERS

Chief Writer: Sharon Bryant

? 

? 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; Gilbert, Robert Jr; Goodier, Steve; Halley, Ellie Braun;

Harris, Kathy Anne;? Hunt, Sharlette;? Hymes, Christina

Jacobson, Gary;? Kiser, Roger Dean; Kerens, Claudia; Kevin, Tim 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

Weymouth, Barbara; Whirity, Kathy;? White, Robert;

? 

? 

? 

? 

STORYTIME TAPESTRY STAFF

Publisher: Carol Roach-founder

Moderator: Thelma Hartselle-co founder

Moderator: Clara Westerfer

? 

? 

? 

Send all inquires about the newsletter including submission requirements:

?