Fw: Miracles still happen

[Guest guest]

Greg, I have a similar story that we experienced first hand-- 24 yrs ago. We'd just moved into a duplex in Paradise, and I was on medical leave from a work-comp injury. Things were past "tight."

Our son was not quite 2, and he won the heart of the "gramma's" in the neighborhood. We didn't have the money for a tree, so was given permission to cut one from a friends property. It was a "sad" tree-- but it was a tree! The Christmas ornaments we had were ones he and I had made-- I had yet to spring for "real" ornaments.

When he got home, he asked the 90 year old gramma in the other apt if we could put it out under her part of the garage, as it was pooring down-- and we didn't want to take it inside yet. she had no car, so it wasn't a problem.

The three of us then loaded up and went to the local variety store, and spent $3 we didn't have-- on lights. By the time we came home, our "sad" tree had a beautiful star on the top, three glass ornaments, and 2 knitted snowmen (those home-made ones that you do around balls of foam).

Torey was so excited-- and and I were speechless. We left that tree outside for another couple of days-- we had to make room for it inside.

Each time we'd leave the house, the tree was decorated a bit more when we got home. It was magic!

I wasn't sure who the "angel" was that was enjoying this tree and sharing what was obviously a history of ornaments-- until I took the garbage out.

There in the window of our 90 yr old neighbors window-- was a third snowman.

We never told her we figured out it was her, we let her enjoy her gift-- and even today-- that star ALWAYS sits on top of our tree, and the snowmen hang from the branches along with the ornaments she gifted to us.

My son, now 26-- still remembers that each year while we lived there -- that it was our tradition to put a tree under the carport-- on her side, and watch the magic.

When he moved out last year, his landlords put their tree outside for a short while, and he was able to sneak down the hill to their porch-- and decorate their tree. Not because they don't have all the ornaments they want or will ever need, but because it is important to him to keep the magic flowing!

Blessings-- count the small ones,

Tracie

NS Co-owner/moderator

----- Forwarded Message ----To: Barry s ; DanaJean ; Darrell Krumme ; jlbloomberg@...; Leighlo ; Randy ; tiodaat@...Sent: Thu, November 19, 2009 10:37:37 AMSubject: Fw: Miracles still happen

This is a nice story thought you might enjoy it. This holiday I am wishing blessings on my friends I know or yet to Know.

Greg

Subject: FW: Miracles still happenDate: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:14:20 -0600

In September 1960, I woke up one morningwith six hungry babies and just 75 cents in my pocket. Their father was gone.The boys ranged from three months to seven years; their sister was two. Their Dad had never been much more than a presence they feared.Whenever they heard his tires crunch on the gravel driveway they would scramble to hide under their beds.He did manage to leave $15 a week to buy groceries.Now that he had decided to leave, there would be no more beatings, but no food either.If there was a welfare system in effect in southern Indiana at that time, I certainly knew nothing about it. I scrubbed the kids until they looked brand new and then put on my best homemade dress, loaded them

into the rusty old 51 Chevy and drove off to find a job. The seven of us went to every factory, store and restaurant in our small town. No luck.The kids stayed crammed into the car and tried to be quiet whileI tried to convince who ever would listen that I was willing to learn or do anything. I had to have a job.Still no luck. The last place we went to, just a few miles out of town, was an old Root Beer Barrel drive-in t hat had been converted to a truck stop. It was called the Big Wheel.An old lady named Granny owned the place and she peeked out of the window from time to time at all those kids. She needed someone on the graveyard shift, 11 at night until seven in the morning.She paid 65 cents an hour, and I could start that night. I raced home and called the teenager down the street that baby-sat for people. I bargained with her

to come and sleep on my sofa for a dollar a night. She could arrive with her pajamas on and the kids would already beasleepThis seemed like a good arrangement to her, so we made a deal.That night when the little ones and I knelt to say our prayers, we all thanked God for finding Mommy a job. And so I started at the Big Wheel. When I got home in the mornings I woke the baby-sitter up and sent her home with one dollar of my tip money-- fully half of what I averaged every night. As the weeks went by, heating bills added a strain to my meager wage. The tires on the old Chevy had the consistency of penny balloons and began to leak. I had to fill them with air on the way to work and again every morning before I could go home. One bleak fall morning, I dragged myself to the car to go home and found four tires in the back seat. New tires!There was no note, no nothing, just

those beautiful brand new tires.Had angels taken up residence in Indiana ? I wondered.I made a deal with the local service station. In exchange for his mounting the new tires, I would clean up his office. I remember it took me a lot longer to scrub his floor than it did for him to do the tires.I was now working six nights instead of five and it still wasn't enough. Christmas was coming and I knew there would be no money for toys for the kids. I found a can of red paint and started repairing and painting some old toys. Then I hid them in the basement so there would be something for Santa to deliver on Christmas morning. Clothes were a worry too. I was sewing patches on top of patches on the boys pants and soon they would be too far gone to repair.On Christmas Eve the usual customers were drinking coffee in the BigWheel. There were the truckers, Les, ,

and Jim, and a state trooper named Joe. A few musicians were hanging around after a gig at the Legion and were dropping nickels in the pinball machine. The regulars all just sat around and talked through the wee hours of the morning and then left to get home before the sun came up. When it was time for me to go home at seven o'clock on Christmas morning, to my amazement, my old battered Chevy was filled full to the top with boxes of all shapesand sizes. I quickly opened the driver's side door, crawled inside and kneeled in the front facing the back seat..Reaching back, I pulled off the lid of the top box. Inside was whole case of little blue jeans, sizes 2-10! I looked inside another box: It was full of shirts to go with the jeans. Then I peeked inside some of the other boxes. There was candy and nuts and bananas and bags of groceries. There was an

enormous ham for baking, and canned vegetables and potatoes. There was pudding and Jell-O and cookies, pie filling and flour. There was whole bag of laundry supplies and cleaning items. And there were five toy trucks and one beautiful little doll.As I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose on the most amazing Christmas Day of my life, I was sobbing with gratitude. And I will never forget the joy on the faces of my little ones that precious morning.Yes, there were angels in Indiana that long-ago December. And they all hung out at the Big Wheel truck stop.... THE POWER OF PRAYER. I believe that God only gives three answers to prayer:1. 'Yes!'2. 'Not yet.' 3. 'I have something better in mind.'God still sits on the throne, the devil is a liar. You maybe going through a tough time right now but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that

you cannot imagine.My instructions were to pick four people that I wanted God to bless,and I picked you. Please pass this to at least four people you want to be blessed and a copy back to me.This prayer is powerful, and prayer is one of the best gifts we receive.There is no cost but a lot of rewards Let's continue to pray for one another. Here is the prayer:....Father, I ask You to bless my friends, relatives and email buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of Your love and power.Amen.I know I picked more than four, so can you Windows 7: It helps you do more. Explore Windows 7.

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------------ Forwarded message ------------Date: Nov 11, 2009Subject: FW: Fw: Fwd: Fw: Miracles still happenTo: Joanna Colella , Bernadette Lovaglio Dave Project Manager, Service & Small ContractsBruce & Merrilees Electric Co. 930 Cass StreetNew Castle, PA  16101Office: , Ext. 515Mobile:  http://www.bruceandmerrilees.com/  This e-mail message, and any attached messages or files, may contain confidential or otherwise privileged information for appropriate use by the intended recipient(s). Any unauthorized use or disclosure of this information is prohibited and may result in legal restriction or sanction. If you received this message in error, please permanently delete it from your system(s) and contact the sender. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by misaddressed or misdirected e-mail. From: Joanna Colella Sent: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 8:41 AMTo: Nick Perrotta; Bernadette Lovaglio; Dave ; Kerr; colella826@...Subject: FW: Fw: Fwd: Fw: Miracles still happen From: Nick Perrotta Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 4:28 PMTo: / Kerr; anita swogger; colella826@...; Ecgc39@...; elveria francazio; jla.bredl@...; Joanna Colella; john augustyn; LYNN FRANCAZIO; LYNNE PERROTTA; marefusco@...; Mickey Natale; NIcole Farone; norieoshea@...; PAUL J LALAMA; reggie-hairdos@...; Russ CarleySubject: Fw: Fw: Fwd: Fw: Miracles still happen Fw: Fwd: Fw: Miracles still happen:In  September 1960, I woke up one morningwith six hungry babies and just 75 cents in my pocket. Their father was gone.The boys ranged from three months to seven years; their sister was two. Their Dad had never been much more than a presence they feared.Whenever they heard his tires crunch on the gravel driveway they would scramble to hide under their beds.He did manage to leave $15 a week to buy groceries.Now that he had decided to leave, there would be no more beatings, but no food either.If there was a welfare system in effect in southern Indiana at that time, I certainly knew nothing about it. I scrubbed the kids until they looked brand new and then put on my best homemade dress, loaded them into the rusty old 51 Chevy and drove off to find a job. The seven of us went to every factory, store and restaurant in our small town. No luck.The kids stayed crammed into the car and tried to be quiet whileI tried to convince who ever would listen that I was willing to learn or do anything. I had to have a job.Still no luck. The last place we went to, just a few miles out of town, was an old Root Beer Barrel drive-in t hat had been converted to a truck stop. It was called the Big Wheel.An old lady named Granny owned the place and she peeked out of the window from time to time at all those kids. She needed someone on the graveyard shift, 11 at night until seven in the morning.She paid 65 cents an hour, and I could start that night. I raced home and called the teenager down the street that baby-sat for people. I bargained with her to come and sleep on my sofa for a dollar a night. She could arrive with her pajamas on and the kids would already beasleepThis seemed like a good arrangement to her, so we made a deal.That night when the little ones and I knelt to say our prayers, we all thanked God for finding Mommy a job. And so I started at the Big Wheel. When I got home in the mornings I woke the baby-sitter up and sent her home with one dollar of my tip money-- fully half of what I averaged every night. As the weeks went by, heating bills added a strain to my meager wage. The tires on the old Chevy had the consistency of penny balloons and began to leak. I had to fill them with air on the way to work and again every morning before I could go home. One bleak fall morning, I dragged myself to the car to go home and found four tires in the back seat. New tires!There was no note, no nothing, just those beautiful brand new tires.Had angels taken up residence in Indiana ? I wondered.I made a deal with the local service station. In exchange for his mounting the new tires, I would clean up his office. I remember it took me a lot longer to scrub his floor than it did for him to do the tires.I was now working six nights instead of five and it still wasn't enough. Christmas was coming and I knew there would be no money for toys for the kids. I found a can of red paint and started repairing and painting some old toys. Then I hid them in the basement so there would be something for Santa to deliver on Christmas morning. Clothes were a worry too. I was sewing patches on top of patches on the boys pants and soon they would be too far gone to repair.On Christmas Eve the usual customers were drinking coffee in the BigWheel. There were the truckers, Les, , and Jim, and a state trooper named Joe. A few musicians were hanging around after a gig at the Legion and were dropping nickels in the pinball machine. The regulars all just sat around and talked through the wee hours of the morning and then left to get home before the sun came up. When it was time for me to go home at seven o'clock on Christmas morning, to my amazement, my old battered Chevy was filled full to the top with boxes of all shapesand sizes. I quickly opened the driver's side door, crawled inside and kneeled in the front facing the back seat..Reaching back, I pulled off the lid of the top box. Inside was whole case of little blue jeans, sizes 2-10! I looked inside another box: It was full of shirts to go with the jeans. Then I peeked inside some of the other boxes. There was candy and nuts and bananas and bags of groceries. There was an enormous ham for baking, and canned vegetables and potatoes. There was pudding and Jell-O and cookies, pie filling and flour. There was whole bag of laundry supplies and cleaning items. And there were five toy trucks and one beautiful little doll.As I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose on the most amazing Christmas Day of my life, I was sobbing with gratitude. And I will never forget the joy on the faces of my little ones that precious morning.Yes, there were angels in Indiana that long-ago December. And they all hung out at the Big Wheel truck stop.... THE POWER OF PRAYER. I believe that God only gives three answers to prayer:1. 'Yes!'2. 'Not yet.' 3. 'I have something better in mind.'God still sits on the throne, the devil is a liar. You maybe going through a tough time right now but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that you cannot imagine.My instructions were to pick four people that I wanted God to bless,and I picked you. Please pass this to at least four people you want to be blessed and a copy back to me.This prayer is powerful, and prayer is one of the best gifts we receive.There is no cost but a lot of rewards Let's continue to pray for one another. Here is the prayer:....Father, I ask You to bless my friends, relatives and email buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of Your love and power.Amen.I know I picked more than four, so can you Windows 7: It helps you do more. Explore Windows 7.

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