WiseHearts' Weaving Small Wisdoms Wise = Learning & understanding what is true in life. Heart = Spirit, courage and love. ____________________________________________ Good Tuesday To You! July 23rd, 2002 Wee Wisdom© ^*^*^*^*^*^ I may fall, when hurt comes to call and lay wounded for a while, but my strength will return and my soul will burn to get up and go one more mile. Terri ____________________________________________ Words from a Simple Heart© ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ I sometimes feel like I'm swimming upstream and everyone else is going with the flow - in the opposite direction. Then, I'll spot another upstream swimmer, fighting the current, determined to stay the course, and my resolve is strengthened. Downstream floaters outnumber upstream swimmers, by far, but I prefer the more challenging direction. Floating looks easy on the surface - 'if it feels good, do it' mottos - belief systems created from whatever makes you feel 'warm and fuzzy' on the inside. Yet, anyone who's ever made an impact on the planet, wasn't a floater. Their convictions had weight to them. Their life's message had meat to it. They agitated the waters, swam upstream and swept the world with change. The biggest upstart of all time was a radical named Jesus. The ruling elite, the rich and the powerful regarded Him with scorn and skepticism. He hung out with the untouchables, brought dignity to the outcasts and gave hope to the underdogs. Everything He said and everything He did, went against the grain of the society in which he was born. Yet, more than two-thousand years later, we mark our calendars by everything that happened before and after His birth. His name, whether in love or in vain, remains on our lips - all these years later. Philip Yancey wrote: "Today, people even use Jesus' name to curse by. How strange it would sound if, when a business man missed a golf putt, he yelled, "Thomas Jefferson!" or if a plumber screamed "Mahatma Ghandi!" when his pipe wrench mashed a finger. We cannot get away from this man Jesus." Though the current is sometimes strong and each stroke against it is a struggle, my eye is on the man who swam upstream alone and changed the tide of history. And I press on. Living in love and loving life, Terri McPherson _____________________________________________ Shared Wisdom ^*^*^*^*^*^*^* Pulling off An Adventure ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ A few weeks ago I noticed that half of my son's summer college break was over. Sitting on the floor of his room one night I said, "Let's plan a trip this summer to hike and camp on North Manitou Island." His eyes lit up. "Mike Oatis has done the trip a couple times and maybe he would guide us," I said. Kyle said; "I'll call him." Mike agreed to take us to the island and be our guide. His wife and boys agreed to share him over the long July fourth weekend and the plans came together. When I was a boy I read a lot about backpacking and hiking and camping. I had a Boy Scout Handbook and I wore it out reading about first aid on the trail, how to tie knots that would be useful in the wild and other outdoor skills. I knew how and were to pitch a tent, how to tend a fire. I read all about it. I talked about it. But I never really did it. Sometimes I would go to the school library and read copies of Outdoor Life and Field and Stream and fanaticize about outdoor adventures. I read about men braving wind, rain, cold and other elements. I read about pristine mountain lakes and trails through pine forests. I would imagine myself with others around a campfire, sitting on a log, eating some hearty stew and telling stories. I would dream about lying in my tent at night listening to the owls and crickets. Once I read a wonderful book about a boy who lived in a hollow tree for a whole year. He caught his own food and foraged for berries and nuts. He trained a falcon and made his own clothes from the skins of animals. I thought that would be neat, maybe someday I could do something like that. I read a lot of books and magazine articles about outdoor adventures but I really didn't ever plan them and carry out my plans. I was a victim of dead-end good intentions. Reading is a really good idea. Information is vital. Planning is very important especially if you are going to do something that puts your very life at risk, but you can spend all your time bent over a map or curled up with a book and never get around to actually doing anything. You can let the whole world pass by and never get out of the chair. It is a trap to spend a lot of time talking about doing something, reading about doing something, planning to do something, absurdly enough, even singing about doing something, all the while really never actually doing anything. Well, we planned our trip to North Manitou Island, and we pulled it off. I kept a careful trip journal through the whole wonderful experience. I'll save those stories for another time. But we arrived home Saturday evening with the memory of an adventure tucked in our hearts forever. God has unforgettable adventures for each of us but we have to be careful to do more than just read about them, dream about them, and sing about them. James was the brother of Jesus and the finest of pastors. He knew the traps that rob people of the joyful adventures of faith. He said, "Be doers of the word not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." Sometimes we can fool ourselves into feeling like we really did something when all we really did was read about it, talk about it, think about it, or sing about it. When God has spoken, the adventure does not begin when you read about it but when you pack your gear and hike into the wild with Him. Take it from a guy who knows, on your adventure with the Lord Jesus you will want to keep a journal. You will have your own stories to tell. © 2002 Kenneth L. Pierpont Pine Street Parsonage Fremont, Michigan ken@kenpierpont.com KenPierpoint.Com is the home of Ken's: Stonebridge Newsletter http://kenpierpont.com Ken Pierpont is a third generation pastor, poet, writer, humorist, singer, husband, and father of eight, who likes to play a little harmonica and knows enough guitar chords to put his kids to sleep at night. He has been actively pastoring since he was a seventeen-year-old Junior in High School. _____________________________________________ Shared Verse ^*^*^*^*^*^ A Walk In The Clouds ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* I walked amongst the clouds today and then I took a seat, to try to understand the world that spun beneath my feet. It was the grandest picture my eyes had ever seen. I couldn't make out colors, except for blue and green. And yet, I could see people - a whole race on the run. To tell the truth, from where I sat, they clearly moved as one. With fear, they searched for answers they thought were on the ground. And though they spoke in different tongues, they made the sweetest sound. They had the wrong perspective, with no way they could know: There are no individuals, but just parts of a whole. And so I made a wish for them, that someday they would see: Only when they really love is when they're really free. I'll dance amongst the stars tonight, while others search in vain. For just above their point of view, there's no such thing as pain. © Steven Manchester shmanchester@statestreet.com When not spending time with his sons, writing, or promoting his published books/films, Steve speaks publicly to troubled school children through the "Straight Ahead" program: Straight Ahead Ministries http://www.straightahead.org/ Steve is the President & CEO of: Rising Tide Entertainment http://www.booksmoviesscreenplays.com/id3.htm He is also the author of: The Unexpected Storm An autobiographical account of Operation Desert Storm. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1555715427/heart _____________________________________________ Shared Links ^*^*^*^*^* Recommended by a Listmember: ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ "Words From A Simple Heart" Bookmarks http://wisehearts.com/bookmarks.htm Subscribers to Weaving Small Wisdoms - E-mail me to get your subscriber discount. (available to all current subscribers of WSW) mailto:terri@wisehearts.com Recommended by a Listmember ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Angel Flight West arranges free air transportation on private aircraft in response to health care and other compelling human needs. Our volunteer members are private pilots who use their own aircraft. Angel Flight http://www.angelflight.org/free_medical_transportation.html More than 5,000 illustrations, charts, and diagrams, over 600 maps, 25,000 facts and statistics on every country in the world. World Desk Reference http://www.travel.dk.com/wdr/ This is a beautiful flash presentation by Ishaah. Be Still http://www.ishaah.com/flash/Still2.htm It starts, a note written in tender care on their anniversary each year, to remind him to send flowers to the wife he loves so dear. The Notebook http://rupert.goulburn.net.au/~wendy/notebook.html Visit Bob Perks'Guestbook and Prayer Request site in memory of little Ashley Elizabeth Hewitt, May 4, 1987 - July 13, 2001. Guestbook - Prayers http://www.iwishyouenough.com/PrayerRequests.htm WSW Teamwork ^*^*^*^*^*^*^* Must the colors be vivid and shockingly bright? What volume of sound should one hear? Are miracles crafted of pure solid gold, Or fashioned of jewels so dear? Penny & Ginny - My Miracle http://www.pennyparker2.com/miracle.html Little tattered little worn Been some time since I was born Wings are perfect honestly Perfection in longevity Francine & Bev - Granny's Little Angel http://poetry-emotion.com/Garden_Of_Greetings/Angels/grannyangel.html Today's Authors ^*^*^*^*^*^*^* Ken Pierpont - Stonebridge Newsletter http://kenpierpont.com Steven Manchester - Rising Tide Entertainment http://www.booksmoviesscreenplays.com/id3.htm Steven Manchester - The Unexpected Storm http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1555715427/heart Steven Manchester - Straight Ahead Ministries http://www.straightahead.org/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If any of the following links don't work, send an email to: mailto:tmcphers@mnsi.net and write your request on the Subject Line. For Submission Guidelines send a blank email to: Submission Guidelines To unsubscribe from this newsletter, send a blank email to: Unsubscribe OR, send a blank email to tmcphers@mnsi.net with the word Unsubscribe on the Subject Line. To subscribe to this newsletter, send a blank email to one of the following: Subscribe - Plain Text (Best for some WebTV and all AOL users) Subscribe - HTML (Colored Text & Bold Headings) Subscribe - Large Print (18 Point Arial Font) Editor: Terri McPherson Newsletter Archives Weaving Small Wisdoms http://www.oocities.org/wisehearts/ WiseHearts... Weaving Small Wisdoms Through The Fabric Of Life http://www.mnsi.net/~tmcphers/ All works in WSW are used with Permission from the Authors. Each author owns all Copyrights to their work. You may forward this newsletter in its entirety, but you must receive permission from the author if you want to use an individual piece on its own. Any breach of the above information is in direct violation of International Copyright Law. Please include the following author tag when reprinting 'Words From A Simple Heart' or 'Wee Wisdoms': © Terri McPherson tmcphers@mnsi.net Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

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