Skip to main content
#
HeartTouchers.com
Touching Lives Across the Globe -- One E-mail at a Time!
Archives
Hope and Encouragement For Teenagers!
Author Michael T. Powers
Author Kristi Powers
Inspired Audio
Creation News
The Most Touching, Heartfelt Gift You Can Give -- Guaranteed!
Give the Gift of Inspiration to Others... And Yourself!
Christian Nation?
Inspirational books for sale!
Heroes Among Us
Even writers need inspiration!
HeartTouchers.com readers share their hearts on this fateful day
Interviews with some of the best writers on the Internet!
HeartTouchers.com Writer's Guidelines
Ways to Help You Honor your Pastors
State Champions
IwoJima
Life Purpose
Site Map
E-Mail Help

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


http://www.hearttouchers.com/

If you enjoy this email service, I encourage you to spread the word to family and friends that we may bring inspiration to the lives of many! If you are not on the list and this has been passed along to you, join the thousands of world-wide readers by visiting:

http://www.HeartTouchers.com

Be sure to check out our inspirational list just for teenagers!

http://www.Heart4Teens.com/Heart4Teens


___________________________________

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! Personalized autographed copies are available at no extra charge and we pay the shipping for you! An E-book version is also available for just $3.25!

http://www.hearttouchers.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 WAY OF LIFE LONG AGO

by Milly Geisler

If I were to count my blessings, name them one by one, ranking high on the list would be the gift of growing up on a small mid-western farm during the first half of the twentieth century.

Farming in those days was a mode of living--a way of life. Farm families, committed to their life on the land, enjoyed a special relationship with the earth--a relationship that shaped their way of thinking and molded their pattern of living. They lived in harmony with nature and took pride in being trustees of the land. I do not care to live long enough to see this attitude toward farm life abandoned.

The farm family was a cooperative of sorts, sharing a unique working agreement. Dad was first in command with Mom as his able assistant. Completing the co-op were sons and daughters, Rover and Tabby, horses and cows, pigs and chickens, all joined together, each contributing his share to make their little world relatively independent and self-sufficient.

Yesterday's farmer was his own tool maker, mechanic, veterinarian, wood-chopper, weather-forecaster, speculator and best of all, his own Boss.

His equipment consisted of horse-drawn plows, harrows, planters, mowers and binders and hand-held axes, saws, scythes and shucking pegs. His horsepower was not equipped with headlights so his field hours began at dawn and ended at dark. He practiced crop rotation and knew the value of legumes. His fertilizer came from the spring cleaning of the barns and was applied to the ground with a manure spreader.

A good farmer could break a colt to harness without breaking his spirit. Making friends with the animals was as important as making friends of his neighbors.

His input was hard labor and his output was food for his family and feed for his livestock. Like magic, the DeLaval separator poured thick yellow cream into five gallon cans and the Leghorn hens filled the nests with eggs to be packed into thirty dozen cases. Hauled to the nearby produce store, these products provided cash flow to buy the necessary staples to stock the pantry shelves. Items such as flour, sugar, oatmeal, cocoa, flavorings and seasonings were needed to turn the homegrown fruits and vegetables into appetizing dishes. Any extra cash from the produce paid for clothing and other essentials.

The farmer and his wife delegated chores to the youngsters, knowing that these responsibilities were character builders. It was pump water, carry wood, feed the pigs and chickens, gather eggs, hoe the garden and pick vegetables, pick berries, mow the yard, and fetch the cows (usually from the far corner of the pasture) at milking time. Inside chores included helping with the cooking and canning, cleaning and laundry, ironing and mending.

Nature passed by, sometimes gently, often harshly, season after season, dictating the work to be done. Springtime meant working the soil and putting the seeds in the ground. Summer called for cultivating, fighting weeds, and filling the barns with hay. Work reached its peak in July with the cutting of the wheat and oats. Watching the bundles of wheat being stacked into neat shocks, row by row across the field until the last bundle was tossed on as a protective cap, was an unforgettable experience. Excitement filled the air as the crew arrived and set up the big machine for threshing day. Bundles of grain were hauled from the fields on flat rack wagons and pitched into the hungry machine. The grain went into wagons to be scooped by hand into granaries and the straw was blown into carefully contoured stacks. These stacks became mysterious playhouses for the kids and shelter from stormy winds for the animals.

At noon, a rural banquet, a meal that took hours of preparation, was served to the tired and hungry crowd. Roast beef, ham, vegetables, salads, home-baked pies, cakes and cookies loaded the tables. Not only were the workers nourished and refreshed, but also given time to visit and catch up on the latest news.

Wheat was drilled in the fall and on frosty October mornings the farmer headed his team and wagon to the cornfield. Expert use of the shucking peg was somewhat of a competitive art and there were undeclared contests as to which man could fill a wagon in the shortest time.

Winter days found the farmer in the woods, chopping down trees which were sawed and split into firewood for the stoves. Always there was the care of the animals, repair of harness, wagons and machinery, fence building and upkeep of buildings.

Creativity, although not a commonly used word in those days, played an important role in early American farm life. Clothing, rugs, curtains, quilts and comforters, and home decorations were homespun and hand-sewn. Many toys and some pieces of furniture were hand crafted. Recreation was self-designed and self-directed to suit the season: mushroom and wild flower hunts in the spring; ball games, wading, swimming, fishing and picnics in the summer; hay-rides and barn-dances in the fall; sledding and ice skating in the winter. Holidays were observed with appropriate celebrations, some planned with great imagination.

The farmer of bygone days did not get his know-how from textbooks or seminars. Rather he relied on experience and experiments. He was often guided by intuition and traditional practices handed down from the previous generation. An old adage told him if he planted his corn when the oak leaves were the size of squirrel's ears he could count on it being knee high by the Fourth of July. Upturned maple leaves, red sky in the morning and the melancholy call of the rain crow meant rain was on the way. Sometimes he consulted the Farmers Almanac and occasionally he could feel a change of the weather in his bones. He learned many lessons of life from the land and its creatures and had faith in the natural order of things.

Times and life styles have changed dramatically and the modern farmer has kept pace with the times. Of necessity he must have some knowledge of many areas: chemistry, agronomy, accounting, and complicated mechanization. He is still the eternal optimist with an amazing capacity for speculation. He has no less love for the land and no less respect for nature than did his forefathers. Yesterday's farmer, who can watch with awe, appreciation and acceptance as a duplication of his own best effort is transformed into something undreamed of in his day, is a man of peace. He knows that the land is not ours. We come from it, we care for and conserve it, we go back to it. It is the beginning and the end.

Man has a kinship with the land but the land belongs to the Lord. His favor rests gently on the caretakers of His Creation.

Milly Geisler

mgeisler@adams.net

Write Milly and let her know your thoughts on her story!

My name is Milly Geisler and I live in west centralIllinois. I am a retired farm wife in my eighties so I have lived through many changes in farming, the most dramatic one being the ability to harvest 220 bushels of corn per acre. I love to write and have had another story or two on Heart Touchers.

______________________________________


Creation Q & A

Q: If mountain climbers need oxygen tanks to climb Mt. Everest, how was Noah able to breathe if his Ark floated above the highest mountains?

A: There are a number of aspects that need to be considered. First, mountains like Mt. Everest were not necessarily the height they were during the time of the Flood. In fact, the earth's highest mountains have fossils of sea creatures at their tops, showing they were once under the sea. Either the sea rose to cover the mountains, or the mountains were once under the sea and have risen out of the sea--or both things occurred.

Second, measurements indicate that Mt. Everest is currently rising at six inches per year. This movement was probably much greater in the past--particularly at the end of the Flood--so its formation can easily be explained from the time of the Flood.

Third, as the water rose during the Flood, the atmosphere would have risen as well. The difference in pressure for Noah's family would have been equivalent to standing on top of a 100 foot-high building.

Skeptics try to discredit Noah's Flood, so it's so important to know how to defend its record in Genesis.

http://www.hearttouchers.com/Creation_News

Creation News

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

http://www.HeartTouchers.com/Creation_News

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!


_____________________________________

Thought For The Day

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." --Walter Bagehot


Verse for the Day

"For with God nothing is ever impossible." Luke 1:37 AMP


Kid's Thought For The Day

"Don't pop someone else's bubble."


Parent's Thought For The Day

"I have found the best to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it." --Harry S. Truman


Coach's Thought For The Day

"One of the hardest parts of practice is the criticism a player takes from his coaches. Some players think a coach has it in for them when a flaw in style is pointed out...I know that when things start going wrong, for one, I get the coach to keep his eye on me to see what I am suddenly doing wrong. I can't see it or I wouldn't be doing it in the first place." --Willie Mays


Writer's Thought For The Day

"Of all the ways of acquiring books, writing them oneself is regarded as the most praiseworthy method." --Walter Benjamin



Deep Thought For The Day

"Sometimes I wonder why there are so many computers in the world today, but then I remember that there are also a lot of camels too, so everything just sort of works out."


_____________________________________

http://www.hearttouchers.com/Inspired_Audio

Inspired Audio -- Inspirational Audio Message of the Week!

Inspired Audio is a brand new offshoot of HeartTouchers.com. Every week we will offer a different audio message that you can listen to right on your comput as you are surfing the net or just getting things done around the house. Be sure to come back and visit each week!

This Week: "Awesome God" by Sean Christensen


http://www.HeartTouchers.com/Inspired_Audio


____________________________________

http://www.hearttouchers.com/

Over 100,000 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.HeartTouchers.com and click on the link to listen to the free streaming audio message!

____________________________________________

http://www.videoimagery.net/Video_Imagery


Video Imagery --Michael's Video Production Business

http://www.hearttouchers.com/video_imagery


Dear Michael,

"I just wanted to take a minute to thank you for the beautiful video you made for me! It was so special to see both of my parents in tears as they watched their children grow up in pictures before their eyes! I loved the way you made Estania's part set aside from the rest--that was the part that really got them! The music was beautiful. My mom kept blubbering, "What song is that?" I don't know how you did such a beautiful job with the video in such a short time. I really appreciate your doing it so quickly. You have a wonderful gift, and I thank God that you are using it to create such sentimental memories. I hope that I can find my niche like that in an area that I love. Your video gave us one of our most lasting Christmas memories! I hope yours was filled with moments to be treasured forever!"
Love,
Trisha
Silverhill, AL

Let me make you a video from your photos!
Check out my video production business by visiting:

http://www.hearttouchers.com/video_imagery

____________________________________________

Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you?

http://www.HeartTouchers.com/Life_Purpose

Transfer your photographs or old home videos over to DVD or MP4 files! Give the gift that will touch your family's heart and soul.

You can join the 15,000 followers on his Facebook Nature Photography by clicking on the link above!

Touching Lives - One E-mail at a Time!
Author Michael T. Powers - HeartTouchers @ aol.com
Site Powered By
    BizStudio Site Manager
    Online web site design