Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness around the world.

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March 28, 2006

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Today??™s Queue Stories

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Lessons From A Kitty

Jene Lind

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Another incident was the following summer. We were walking home from school. Again, we had to walk the country mile to get to the one room school. On our walk home that afternoon, it started raining.?  We had our raincoats on, but a little kitten that came out of a yard didn't have anyway to keep dry. We stopped to pet the kitty and he started following us home. Normally when we got home our foster mother was home before us. This day she had cleaned the church and didn't make it in time. However, since she also was walking she was about a quarter mile behind us. She could see us all the way but even though at one point we saw her down the road we certainly didn't think it was her. We kept walking and talking to the kitty and when it would go in the ditch of water, one of us would pull it back out and call it to follow us. When we got home, we could not get in so we waited on the front porch under the roof out of the rain playing with the kitty. We knew she was probably at the neighbor's or somewhere close by. Well, soon we saw her coming up the road. Being little we did not think about her being the one behind us on the road. We just thought of that poor little kitty getting wet but we did know it probably belonged at the farmhouse where it came out onto the road. Our foster mom asked us where we got the kitty.?  We told her it followed us home. Well, it did. But probably only because we called it.?  When we got inside the house, she started yelling at us and telling us God was going to put us in hell for lying because we not only broke that commandment but also we stole the cat. We could not understand how we stole the cat because it followed us home but we also didn't think it was lying because it did follow us home. Deep inside I know I knew I probably should not have called the kitty but I knew I was in a for a spanking. While she was yelling at us, our caseworker knocked on the door.?  In her anger at us for stealing and lying she momentairly forgot he was due.?  She let him in and explained we were little thieves and she was not sure she wanted to keep us. He explained some psychology to her about children having different reasoning and such and left her a book on CHILD PSYCHOLOGY.?  After the man left, she called us to her. She told us it didn't matter what that man said, we still had to pray and ask God's forgiveness and learn that anytime you took anything that did not belong to you, it was stealing and if we ever did it again she would call the courts and tell them to take us back. Then she said, "this book may be a book on psychology, but come here. I will show you what I will use it for" and we each got a spanking with that book!?  We never touched that book either. But I truly do not think I have ever taken anything that did not belong to me since.

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Jene Lind

Imauthor4u@aol.com

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About Me:

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I? have many poems, writings and songs online. One song would touch your heart, especially today with Iraq, but it is my granddaughter at age 5 or 6 singing our Christmas Without Daddy song.?  I wrote it with her one cold December night.?  Another, my nephew is singing for me, and it too, is Patriotic. I was hoping it could be an Anthem for the Air Force. It is NATO's Flying Pride. I have it on a CD as I don't know how to send it online, but I do have the words and a midi of it online.? ? 

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If you ever put me in google search you would find a lot of inspirational poetry but I am not here to brag. I write because the good Lord gives me every thing. He took me from a crippled mother and placed me in a foster home on my 8th birthday. I was raised the way my mother wanted me to be raised. To be a child of God's

for eternity. Me and Joe Mazzella and also Roger Kiser have a lot in common.?  You put some of Bill Walker's things on Tapestry. He is a friend of mine and he visited with me in the past 5 days in my home. He and Leah spent the night and of? course, Lil Girl.? ?  Now on to the two stories of the lessons of life I learned as a child.

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I have read these gentlemen's stories and they are heartening sometimes.

? ? ?  Bill has a very unique way of writing and I enjoy that and it amazes me

? ? ? ? how Roger Kisner has come to be the man he is with the background he has

? ? ?  had. He had it a lot worse than I did. And mine sure wasn't fun. I learned a lot

? ? ?  though and never really thought of writing about them, but I bet they would

? ? ?  be interesting to others.? 

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~**~**~

I Believe

Dianna Doles Petry

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I believe? in a? destiny that waits for our reactions in life,

That she guides us, not in the directions we may choose,

But in the directions she feels will suit us the best,

A path were we have an equal chance to win or to lose.

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I believe? in a quest for love that we often overlook a kind person,

Because we have a mental image of what we think we need,

That we lose out on simple pleasures with someone average,

Because we've filled our days and nights with greed.

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I believe? in a? love? that is? possible no matter what the age,

That it requires a gentle touch and a desire for life,

It takes much more than a? piece of paper or vows,

You must merge body and soul? to truly? become man and wife.

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I believe in a higher power that is not demanding,

It is not a form of punishment or a reward for being alive,

It is a source of strength and hope for those who seek it,

But you decide how much happiness from life you will derive.

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I believe? in my friends,? without? them I would fall and stay down,

I would wallow in the despair of doom and gloom each day,

I would not? reach out to make a difference for there would be no purpose,

I would not write, there would be no one to care what I had to say.

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I believe in using my energy and my talent to make a difference,

That I will keep trying to do my best for those around me,

That I will cherish each thought and each kindness sent my way,

Because I believe in the miracle of life that is ours to see.

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Dianna Doles Petry

?©2006

dianna59@charter.net

~**~**~

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ValueSpeak

A Weekly Column

By Joseph Walker

valuespeak@msn.com? 

A NEW HEART FOR TAYLOR

Taylor is a good kid.

No, I take that back. Taylor is a really great kid.

He??™s a good student. A loving son. A fun brother. A lively and devoted friend. An active participant in his church congregation. A Boy Scout who is "trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind . . ." and all that other stuff. If you didn??™t know him better you??™d be tempted to say he is a really great kid with a good heart.

But if you said that, you??™d be wrong.

Taylor has a bad heart. His family knew that from the day he was born some 13 years ago. His heart was so poorly formed that doctors at that time didn??™t give him much hope of surviving more than a year or two. So right from the very start, Taylor??™s family learned to embrace and cherish every day with him. The result has been a sweet, joyful family that is very close and very appreciative of each other and of each moment shared in their lives together.

While there have been some medical setbacks here and there along the way, Taylor??™s 13_plus years here on this planet have been nothing short of miraculous. He has been able to live a fairly normal life up until this point, and for that his family is profoundly grateful.

But today they??™re praying for one more miracle.

Taylor??™s bad heart is failing. He??™s been in the hospital for almost a week now, and his doctors intend to keep him there until a new heart can be found. His parents have been at his bedside constantly, offering comfort and reassurance and answering his questions ??“ including some questions no parent ever wants to have to consider seriously ("Dad, I don??™t remember Grandpa Hyer??™s voice. If I die, and he meets me in heaven and talks to me, how will I know that it??™s him?"). The rest of us have been praying ??“ for Taylor and for his parents.

For those of us who know and love Taylor, the prospect of a heart transplant is both thrilling and frightening. It is thrilling to think that medical technology has progressed to the point that this life_changing surgery is almost commonplace ??“ even for one as young as Taylor. And it is thrilling to think of what a new, healthy heart could mean to this wonderful young man. But it is frightening because . . . well, it??™s a heart transplant. Enough said.

The first time I tried to pray about this transplant, I had every intention of instructing God about how important this was for Taylor and how it needed to happen immediately (as if He wouldn??™t already know about such things). But as I knelt there, I found myself considering the implications of what I was saying. A new heart for Taylor won??™t really be a "new" heart, will it? I mean, it??™s not like they can go to the supply room and pull out a perfect, never_been_used heart for a 13_year_old. Taylor??™s "new" heart will actually be a used heart, which means that right now someone else is using the heart that will eventually be given to Taylor.

The "hows" and "whys" of that exchange are sort of mind boggling, from a philosophical point of view. The joy that Taylor??™s family will feel at receiving a "new" heart will be countered by the sorrow another family will feel when that same heart stops beating within someone they love and cherish. Will it be someone who has been terminally ill, for whom death will come as a welcomed relief? Or will it be someone who has died suddenly, tragically, unexpectedly? The options are troubling, to say the least.

And so I??™m praying for Taylor and for his family. But I ???m also praying for the person who is now using Taylor??™s "new" heart, and for that person??™s family. We can??™t take away the sadness they are about to experience, but perhaps we can make some sense of it when that heart miraculously brings new life to a really great kid.

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Poetry Section

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The Rose

Joyce C. Lock

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Once, just a sprout, amongst weeds and vines;
Braving nature's storms and winter's cold blight.

Repressed and pierced in the thorns of life,
God sprinkles with dew, replenishing in the night.

Ascending beyond trials, affliction, and strife,
A bud launches growth ... toward God's own light.

Restoring in His warmth (tranquility sublime);
Strengthened in the journey, to continue with might.

Reaching ever upward ... Heavenly inspired;
Divine radiance descends. Sun and flower unite.

A delicate bud (beautified and refined)
Blossoms into a rose, then climbs to new heights.

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?© by Joyce C. Lock

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~**~**~

The Thorn and The Rose

Joyce C. Lock

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One is a thorn, another a rose.
Few are friends. More be foes.

Having compassion, others impose.
Many shed gloom. Less spread glows.

You needn't touch or detect by nose.
Every heart knows a thorn from a rose.

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?© by Joyce C. Lock

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~**~**~

THE VERY BEST CHOICE

Joyce C. Lock

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The Holy Spirit (that voice within)
Will answer us, when we ask of Him.
He is our conscience and our guide.
His word is true and Satan can't lie.

We have confidence, when we ask of Him.
For, His answers are wiser than men.
Thus, when we obey that inner voice,
We know we've made the very best choice.

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?© by Joyce C. Lock

But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you,
and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same

anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie,
and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
1 John 2:27

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Readers Feedback

I do so enjoy the wonderful stories by Loren Moore and Clara and the others...We are so blessed with the writers we enjoy so much and the ones we can reread.?  Thanks to you our dear WinteRose?  God bless and keep you and all you love today and always...hugs? ?  Leona

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; Gilbert, Robert, Jr.; Goodier, Steve; Braun-Haley, Ellie; Harris, Kathy Anne; Hunt, Sharlett; Hymes, Christina; Jacobson, Gary; Kiser, Roger Dean; Kerens, Claudia; Kevin, Tim; Jenkins, Pamela; Liles, Norma; Lily Jodi Flesberg; Lock, Joyce; Marlor, Janice Bumbalough; Mazzella, Joe; Morris, Deepak; Ojeibge, 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, Gordon, K; Walsh, Sue; Weymouth, Barbara J.; Whirity, Kathy;

Wainland, Westerfer, Clara; David; White Robert;

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Storytime Tapestry Staff

Carol Roach - Founder/publisher

Thelma Hartselle - Co-Founder, Moderator

Clara Westerfer ??“ moderator

Bob Johnston - moderator

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