STORYTIME TAPESTRY

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

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Jan 9, 2006? 

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Animal awareness series endorsed by Shiloh and Hank our mascots; all stories must receive their approval.

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? Sarah was as I understand it,? a service dog. Any ways she was like so many. A service and companion to Jim. Jim is a Veteran, many service injuries.?  His Sarah meant so much to him.?  I hear Jim is very down in the dumps,? really hurt that Sarah is gone.

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Bill

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Rainbow Bridge Gang.?  Sarah Special.

Tinker and Poo

Tinkerpoo2000.com

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We was setting here resting up form some games, when up the lane came this lovely Dollie puppy .?  We asked her for a name. She said Sarah.?  What a lovely name. Said her care taker name was Jim.

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After some talk we wondered just who was the care taker.? ?  Well that is the case so much of the time.?  We all figure we are the care givers a lot of the time.

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Sarah said she really hated to leave, but the Angels came and took her.?  Told her she would be welcome to join the gang and wait for her Jim.

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Pops and some others went to work making her feel welcome.? Of course that isn't much work, as we all are family.? 

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So Jim, Sarah is here, happy to be here, sad she had to leave you.?  But in the sweet by and by, you will be with her again. We know this. We have been told so. And the Angels are not fibbers.? 

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Sarah will be waiting and watcting for you.?  When that time comes she will run to greet you. Happy Days again to be at your side.? 

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Remember?  Jim, she is not far away, as long as you have her in your heart. Just out of sight. She will return in your dreams every night to be with you.?  And she may be that whip of breeze by you.? 

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Tinker and Poo; The Boys Write

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

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

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ValueSpeak

A Weekly Column

By Joseph Walker

Valuespeak@msn.com

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HEALING THE SOUL

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  It was only a fragment of conversation, a bit of disjointed syntax floating on the ether of multi-linguistic communication of an international airport.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  I didn??™t even hear enough to be able to identify the accent, let alone the actual speaker.?  But I heard enough that I??™ve been pondering the comment ever since.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  ???If there was a God,??? the voice said, ???He wouldn??™t allow such things to happen.?  What??™s the point of praying to a god who lets people suffer??  It??™s a joke.?  It??™s a farce.?  God is . . ???

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  I didn??™t hear the final declaration, but something tells me it was not a statement of belief.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  As a person of faith I am not offended by such sentiments.?  I understand why it is difficult for some people to believe.?  But I am troubled.?  And saddened.?  And I can??™t help but wonder what Drexell Beckman would have said if he had been in that airport.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  Drexell Beckman was the lay leader of our church congregation for several years.?  Then someone else took over the congregation and Brother Beckman became Sunday School teacher to the biggest, baddest batch of 12- and 13-year-olds to ever tackle a Testament.?  There were 25 of us in the class, and we had a reputation for chewing up and spitting out those who tried to teach us.?  I remember one stretch when we went through five or six teachers in about three months.?  We went through Sunday School teachers like Godzilla went through Tokyo.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  It wasn??™t that we were completely unredeemable.?  It was actually, in retrospect, a pretty terrific group of young people.?  But there were so many of us.?  And we enjoyed being together, which meant we were very social.?  And, OK, I??™ll admit it ??“ we boys were just discovering how great girls are, and we wanted to impress them.?  So we were constantly acting up and showing off, like the time George got stuck in the window while trying to climb out of it.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  No, wait.?  That was me.?  George was the one who snuck a puppy into Sunday School.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  No, wait.?  That was me, too.?  But George did some bad stuff too.?  Trust me.?  He did.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  We all did.?  So they split up the class ??“ boys in one class, girls in another ??“ and gave the boys to Drexell Beckman. And that was the end of the trouble.?  For one thing, the girls were in another class, so there was no point in showing off.?  For another, we all knew and loved Brother Beckman, and so he immediately commanded our attention and respect.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  And for still another, his Sunday School lessons were powerful.?  He had a unique way of taking Bible stories and making them come to life.?  His love for the scriptures and for God was palpable, and he touched us with his conviction.?  He talked with us, not at us, about religion and how it applied to our lives in everyday ways.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  One day during a lesson about prayer, one of the boys asked about Nina Brinkerhoff.?  Nina was a member of our congregation who suffered greatly from illness.?  We often prayed for her during church meetings.?  If God was so powerful and loving, the boys wanted to know, why was she still sick?

The wise teacher looked at the ground for a moment as he considered his response.?  Finally he said: ???Having faith doesn??™t mean that you won??™t ever have problems.?  We live in a world where there is illness, where there are tragic accidents, where disasters happen.?  And we live in this imperfect world with these fragile, imperfect bodies, so bad things can happen.?  Faith doesn??™t change that.?  But faith in God and in His eternal promises can give us the courage we need to be able to cope with illness, tragedy and disaster when they happen.???

He paused, then added: ???That??™s what Nina??™s faith has done for her.?  It hasn??™t healed her body, but it has healed her soul.?  And for a person of faith, that??™s the most important thing.???

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  No matter what you may have overheard at the airport.

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Poetry Section

~**~**~

Facets of life

Gautami Tripathy

thoughts, reflections,
tumultuous, yet intriguing;
ever moving, never stopping;
exhilaration, ecstasy, desires;
despondency and angst;
varied facets of life.

living it up with verve
no matter what, no matter how;
despite odds and adversity;
facing it head-on, i get on
with it somehow.

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Mindlessly

Gautami Tripathy

My heart and soul.......
Lost in the ocean of love for you
Everlastingly plummeting deeper
Suffused by your incessant love
Hurtled against the edge of eon,
I wait to unite with you
mindlessly...

c)gautami tripathy 2005

blog:http://firmlyrooted.blogspot.com
e-mail:s_gautami@yahoo.com

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Prayer Requests and Updates

? 1.0!!!? ?  yes, Nikki's white blood cell has hit gone from? .7 to 1.0 overnight!?  David called in tears... he did ask that I mention that she's in so much pain in her back and could prayer be said for that.. but he said she isn't trying to complain about anything...?  God bless you all over and over again... Al

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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; 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;

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STORYTIME TAPESTRY STAFF

Publisher: Carol Roach-founder

Moderator: Thelma Hartselle-co founder

Moderator: Clara Westerfer

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