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Check out our Creation News Section!
Weekly articles, daily Q & A, and a Creation Comic!

http://www.heart4teens.com/

If you enjoy this free email service, I encourage you to spread the word
to family and friends that we may bring inspiration into the lives of teenagers
everywhere! If you are not on the list and this has been passed along to you,
you can join Heart4Teens.com readers around the world by visiting:
http://www.Heart4Teens.com/Heart4Teens

Stop by our web site to view past stories or to browse through the tons of
resources we have there for teens!

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http://www.hearttouchers.com/filter

Finally there is a great filter to block Internet pornography and other
objectionable content! Kristi and I have used this filter for 5 years now
and want to recommend the Bsafe Online filter to you. We absolutely
love it. To find out more and get your own FREE 10-Day Trial,
just visit:
http://www.Heart4Teens.com/filter


_____________________________________

http://www.hearttouchers.com/books

Michael's updated book Heart Touchers "Life-Changing Stories of Faith,
Love, and Laughter," is finally here! ($13.95)

Visit the link below to preview the book. Autographed copies are available
at no extra charge and we will pay the shipping for you. An e-book is also
available for $3.25.

http://www.Heart4Teens.com/books

Be sure to let us know who you would like it autographed for and then allow
about two weeks for us to sign it and send it on its way to you.Credit card,
PayPal, Checks, and Money orders accepted! The book is also available
through Amazon.com, Borders.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Booklocker.com

_________________________________



A Flower for Leourn 


by Kristi Powers

We were out to change the world.  This was our time, our senior year.  My best
friend Beth and I had big dreams... big hopes for our last year in high school.
We had prayed and we were ready for the miracle we knew we would see.
With great anticipation we started the year as I remembered my senior quote:
"But God and I have big dreams and with big dreams you can't give up, you
have to keep pressing on." 

I would like to say that I was the first to notice her, but in my world of "big
dreams" this one small quiet freshman did not appear on my radar.  My
sensitive best friend Beth was the first to notice her.

Kristi did you see the girl standing by us in the lunch line--she looks so
lost, so out of place."  We had heard of a family that had just moved to
our town from the country of Cambodia.  We knew there was supposed
to be a new girl at our school from that family, but we had yet to meet
her... until now.

Leourn was a small dark haired beauty.  She was thrust into a new country
where she struggled with the little English she knew and that made it very
hard for her to get to know people in our small town.  She was starting her
freshman year and was trying her best to blend in without attracting any attention.

We watched in the lunch room from our "Senior Table."  This table was
reserved for our "senior sport jock friends," and no one else.  Leourn would
get her lunch tray with the rest of the students but she always kept her head
down with her eyes focused on the floor.  She would then head to the only
table of girls she recognized... unfortunately it was the table for the most
popular girls in the freshman class.  Every single day Leourn would sit at
the very edge of her seat and eat as fast as she could.  She kept her eyes
fixed on her food and we never, ever saw her look up.  We would watch in
dismay at the interaction of the other girls at her table.  They would make
gestures to one another and laugh at Leourn while she ate.

As we paid attention over the next week we never heard anyone so much
as say "Hi" to Leourn.

We watched as Leourn walked, with her head always down, through the
halls of a high school where most didn't even acknowledge her existence.
She was a girl invisible...

Beth and I prayed and talked -- what could we do to help Leourn?  With
love and faith we decided to try our hardest to let one lonely girl know that
there were people who knew she existed and more importantly, that there
was a God who knew and loved her. 

As the weeks and months passed, Beth and I made an effort to let Leourn
know that we cared.  We sat with Leourn at the freshman girls table. The
other freshman girls tried to let us in on the joke that "nobody talks to
Leourn."  Their lofty glances and laughs were met with death stares
from two upperclassmen.

We sought out Leourn in the halls and said "Hi" and tried to continue to
engage her in conversation.   I would like to say at this point that Leourn
responded to us with smiles and small talk.  But Leourn still kept her
head down and responded very little.  That was okay with us for we knew
that just spending time with Leourn was what God wanted us to do,
regardless of her response to us.

When February rolled around our school would sell carnation flowers that
we could send to one another for Valentine's Day.  I immediately thought
of Leourn and decided I would send her a flower for the holiday.  When I
thought about what to write, it occurred to me that keeping it simple would
be the best for someone just learning our language and customs.  So I just
simply wrote, "Happy Valentines Day, Leourn-- I want you to know how
much God loves you.  Your friend Kristi."

I will never forget that Valentine's Day.

For the first time, Leourn was the one who sought me out.  She found me
in the hall with the carnation clutched tightly in her hands.  Then she did
something amazing.  She looked up.

She actually took her eyes off the floor, looked up at me with beautiful
beaming eyes and in a low choked whisper said two words: "Thank You."

It was a life-changing moment for me.

You see, Beth and I were out to change the world, but instead God was
changing me.  I learned that I may never be president, be famous, or have
a million dollars to my name.  But I learned that what Christ wanted from
me was for me to love Him with all my heart and all my soul so that I could
spread that love to everyone around me -- one flower at a time.

It's like walking out to a pond and throwing in one tiny pebble.  Though
that pebble is incredibly small compared to the pond, it still creates
ripples that affect the water around it.  As I learned my senior year, so
does every word that comes out of our mouths and every action we do
for good -- or for bad.  It affects each of the people around us, whether
we realize it or not.

We ended our senior year not really knowing how many people's lives
we touched. However, Beth and I knew that our two lives were changed.
Leourn went on to graduate from our small high school three years after
us and I went back for her graduation.  As Leourn walked out of the
gymnasium after the ceremony, I gave her a big hug and told her
congratulations.  As she looked up at me the tears streamed down
her face.  I asked her if the tears were happy ones or sad ones about her
graduation.  She said they were both. I gave her another hug and then
she walked off among the crowd.

As I look back, I hope in my own small way that we helped to make her first
year in a new country easier and that we brought a little light into her world. 


As I write this, I am on the other side of the country. Michael and I are in
Alaska to minister to native Eskimo children and teens.  I am here to
spread the love of Christ to each one of them.  Earlier today, I was walking
hand in hand with a little native girl named Angela who asked me about
God's love for her.  I spoke with her about Christ and she gave her life
to Him as she heard His knocking on the door of her heart.  As we
walked slowly back to her cabin it was then that it hit me.  God had
me come all the way to the utmost corner of Alaska, along the Bering
Sea, to tell this little one next to me about God's love for her.  It was
up to me to listen again to God's call in my life. to change the world,
one flower at a time.


Copyright © 2007 by Kristi Powers

Kristi Powers
NoodlesP29@aol.com

Write Kristi and share your thoughts on her story!

Kristi is happily married to Michael and they have three boys. Her writing
appears in seven inspirational books, including many in the Chicken
Soup series, and their own book entitled: Heart Touchers.

Kristi and Beth are still allowing God to work through them to try and
change the world one flower at a time.  This past summer Beth spent
time ministering in the Chech Republic where she met a 16 year-old girl
named Cecil and told her about God's love for her, while Kristi spent time
in Alaska ministering to native Eskimo children and youth.

To read more of Kristi's writing visit: http://www.hearttouchers.com/

______________________________________
 

Creation Q & A

Question: Is it true that monarch butterflies and the
milkweed plant depend upon each other?


A: It is true, and it's really an amazing story.

Milkweed is poisonous. When damaged or bitten into, it sends extra
poisonous sap to the area as a way of protecting itself.

Monarch caterpillars, though, feed on milkweed. However when they
hatch, they're not entirely immune to the milkweed's poison and they
could die from eating their food, especially as the milkweed would send
extra poison to the section being eaten. To overcome this problem, the
caterpillar cuts out a circular section of the leaf that has low concentrations
of the poison, and take it aside to feed on while the plant is busy sending
lots of poison to the wound. As the caterpillar feeds on the leaf section it
had cut out, it builds its immunity to the poison. This enables it to eat the
milkweed without any problems. In doing this, it also becomes poisonous
itself to predators! So, the poison of the milkweed protects the monarch,
and the monarch in return pollinates the milkweed!

This relationship defies evolution--how many monarch caterpillars died
trying to figure out how to become resistant to the milkweed's poison?
Of course, God created it this way!


Source: AnswersinGenesis.org


http://www.hearttouchers.com/Creation_News

Creation News

Click on the Bible above or visit the web site listed below!
http://www.HeartTouchers.com/Creation_News

This new addition to our web site will give you an article on the leading news
in the Creation/Evolution controversy each day.

This section also includes a rotating Question and Answer feature and a
weekly Creation Comic strip from the people at AnswersInGenesis.org.

Be sure to come back and visit each day for an informative article that will
help you keep up to date on the latest news in this controversial area!


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Thought For The Day:

"Love sees through a telescope, not a microscope."


Verse for the Day:

"Love endures long and is patient and kind...it takes
no account of the evil done to it (it pays no attention
to a suffered wrong)." 1 Corinthians 13:4,5 (AMP)


Teen's Thought For The Day

"Don't wait until you have hit bottom before you look up!" -- Michael T. Powers


Parent's Thought For The Day

"If your parents never had children, chances are you
won't, either." --Dick Cavett


Coach's Thought For The Day

"When you help someone up a hill, you'll find yourself
close to the top, too."


Creation/Evolution Thought For The Day

"To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances
for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting
different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical
and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural
selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree."
--Charles Darwin, Origin of Species, page 167.



Deep Thought For The Day

"If it weren't for electricity we'd all be watching television by candlelight."



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 http://www.heart4teens.com/

Author MICHAEL T. POWERS
Contributing Author to Chicken Soup for the Christian Teenage Soul and
26 other inspirational books.

Over 125,000 people have listened to popular Chicken Soup Author Michael T. Powers'
free inspirational message entitled: "Breathing Life into Others". If you aren't one of them
just visit:
http://www.Heart4Teens.com and click on the link to listen to the free
streaming audio message!

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live
in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galatians 2:20

__________________________________________


http://www.faithcommunitychurch.net/Youth

ALL-STAR Youth Ministry

--The Youth Church of Faith Community Church in Janesville, WI
 
If you are in 7-12th grade and live in the southern Wisconsin/northern Illinois area and
would like to check us out, we meet every Sunday night from 6:30-8:00 PM at Faith Community
Church which is located at 2931 Lucerne Dr. in Janesville, WI. (About 3 blocks south-east
of Menard's.)
 
Currently we have students from Edgerton, Fort Atkinson, Milton, Janesville Craig, Janesville
Parker, Marshall, Franklin, Clinton, Beloit Memorial, and Beloit Turner. E-mail me back if you have
any questions about our weekly meetings or would like to come to any of our events that are listed
below... We have way too much fun and then, most importantly, talk about issues that are relevant
to you as a teenager.


This Week:

Continuing in our series entitled: "Demolishing Strongholds"

March 2:  Counterfeit Reality


Next Week:

March 9: Counterfeit Reality Part 2

Visit our youth website to see our topics for 2008!

http://www.faithcommunitychurch.net/upcoming_topics


____________________________
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http://www.faithcommunitychurch.net/Small_Groups

Teen Community Groups

6:30 - 8:00 PM Wednesday nights -- These groups are limited to no more than ten teens
and are split into Jr. High and High School ages. This night is for those teens who want to dig
deeper than what we do in All-Stars, but may not be ready to be a part of the Xtreme Teens.
These cell groups will also be doing special activities with each other as the year goes on to
build community.

Jr. High age meets at 2109 N. Pontiac and are led by Kent & Rachel Martin
(Call 373-0886 if you have any questions!)

High School age are led by Tedi Knox: 1110 Nantucket Dr. (Call 774-2592 if you have any questions!)

Xtreme Teens: Xtreme Teens meet on Wednesday nights from 6:30 - 8:00 PM all year
round at the Powers' house. This group is very extensive with weekly homework,
memorization, service projects, etc. Students interested in this group will have to fill out an
application, provide references as to why others think they should be involved with this, and sign
an agreement as to what is expected of them. Admission into Xtreme Teens is on a case by case
basis. Contact Pastor Michael for more details!

This Week February 27: Faith or Consequences (Why Trust God to Fulfill His Promises?)

For more info on our small groups, visit: http://www.faithcommunitychurch.net/small_groups

___________________________________


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