I have been blessed this year with an opportunity to coach football at a school that has never been to the play-offs in school history. They also had never won a Homecoming game, and had only 1 winning season (5-4)in the history of the football program.

I am proud to announce that we won Homecoming 42-14. We have a 6-3 record going into the play-offs. Two of our losses came early in the season to non-district competition, who by the way were schools in a bigger classification than we are. We lost 7-6 and 14-8.

Our only loss in district was to the #2 ranked team in the state. Hopefully, we will continue making history Saturday as we play the school's first ever play-off football game. It is our goal to keep winning and possibly have a rematch with the team that beat us. That rematch of course, would be for the State Championship.

It has been a fun year watching the players become believers that they CAN WIN. It has also been rewarding watching the parents and community get excited about their Football Team. Pray for us that we keep making history, but most of all, that we give God all the glory.

It never ceases to amaze me when people share their spiritual testimonies backed with the words of Christ that so many people begin attacking them with harsh words of being control freaks and etc.

What is most interesting to me though is that these people's problem is with God and Jesus, not the person they are attacking. When an individual quotes the words of Christ and you attack them, you are essentially attacking Christ. Peace.

I have a kinfolk that is a minister (but does not accept wages, he builds homes for a living) for a local church. He also travels with a Gospel Quartet and performs at numerous concerts. He has a real gift for writing songs and most of the songs he writes are inspired by real life events.

A few years ago, he was surprised when he got a phone call from a friend that said his music had inspired his son to believe in God. The father went on to tell him that his son had asked to borrow the car for a date (or for some reason) and because the father had been listening to that CD when the young man got into the car this music was on.

The father was so grateful that his son had been reached through the music that he asked the Quartet to come and sing for his son live. As the young man was on his way to finally meet in person the Quartet and the writer of the music that brought him to Christ he was killed on the way in a car accident. Thus my kinfolk wrote another song and dedicated it to the boy and his family:

With all our good intentions,
We make plans for everyday.
But we forget about our Saviour...
In the garden as He prayed...
"Take this cup of suffering from me,
but it's Your will I must do..."
and his Father answers softly,
"I have other plans for you."

Chorus: I have other plans for you...though not
the road that you might choose.
I have other plans for you...I'll give you
strength my will to do.
If you will trust me as I lead you,
I will surely take you through...
I'll never leave you or forsake you,
I have other plans for you.

Verse 2
With no warning loved ones leave us,
They are often called away...
to their mansion up in Heaven
In that land as bright as day.

And with tear-dimmed eyes we listen,
to His word so clear and true,
"Come home, my child, I love you,
I have other plans for you."

Sing Chorus again

God bless!

I remember as a child walking in the house one day, when my mom was copying this onto a big poster board. She hung it upon the wall later that night and it still remains there today.This is what it said:

"You don't love me!" How many times have your kids laid that one on you? And how many times have you, as a parent resisted the urge to tell them how much?

Someday, when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a mother, I'll tell them:

I loved you enough to bug you about where you were going, with whom, and what time you would get home.

I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover your hand picked friend was a creep.

I loved you enough to make you return a Milky Way with a bite out of it to a drugstore and confess, "I' stole this."

I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your bedroom, a job that would have taken me 15 minutes.

I loved you enough not to make excuses for your lack of respect or your bad manners.

I loved you enough to ignore "What every other mother" did.

I loved you enough to figure you would lie about the party being chaperoned but forgive you for it... after discovering I was right.

I loved you enough to let you stumble, fall, and fail so that you could learn to stand alone.

I loved you enough to accept you for what you are, not what I wanted you to be.

But most of all, I loved you enough to say no when you hated me for it. "That was the hardest part of all."

Thanks for loving me mom.

As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.





Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she rev iewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners... he is a joy to be around.."

His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle."

His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn't show much interest, and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken."

Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class."

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on he r wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to."

After the children left, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets.."

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in life

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer.... The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD

The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he had met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.

They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference."

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you."

(For you that don't know, Teddy Stoddard is the Dr. at Iowa Methodist in Des Moines that has the Stoddard Cancer Wing.)

Warm someone's heart today. . . pass this along. I love this story so very much, I cry every time I read it. Just try to make a difference in someone's life today? tomorrow? just "do it".

Random acts of kindness, I think they call it!

"Believe in Angels, then return the favor