"'elf Expressions Ezine"

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'elf Expressions Ezine

Get Hold of Your Elf!

_{“Get hold of your ‘elf!”}

Your weekly collection of marketing tips, hints, and advice interspersed with humor, inspiration, and other goodies to spice things up a bit. It is offered for entrepreneurs, would-be entrepreneurs, and online marketers, who need guidance, tutoring, advice, mentoring, and inspiration.

The publisher’s philosophy is that most learn faster by taking small bites, rather than large gulps. Small bites are chewed more thoroughly, swallowed, and digested more readily. Keeping that in mind, many features will be solo items. That way, you will not be bombarded or overwhelmed.

Publisher: Mary Wilkey
Volume 1 - Issue 39 - December 18, 2001
Published every Tuesday evening

Hi, everyone! Well, here in the midwest it looks as if Old Man Winter will slip in as quietly as a lamb. For mid-December, we're having surprisingly mild weather. A bit wet, but thank God it isn't the white stuff that requires shovelling!

You will see a few more classifieds than usual in this issue and the next, as your elf has just been inundated with ads, many of them timely for the season, so please bear with me.

By the way, don't miss Audrey Hepburn's beauty tips!

In Remembrance of
September 11, 2001

Our little ezine is growing, and you can help by introducing 'elf Expressions to just one other person. That way we can grow even faster, and the faster we grow, the more everyone benefits from their ads.

"The greatest accomplishment is not in never failing,
but in rising again after you fail."
—Vince Lombardi

CONTENTS:
Ad Contest
Subscriber in the Spotlight
Feature Article
Today’s Chuckle
Today's English lesson
Internet Tips & Hints
Guest Article
Inspiration
Etcetera

AD CONTEST

For our subscribers only:
Be FIRST to submit the correct answer to the following two-part trivia question and receive the next available top sponsor ad FREE! Here's the question: (1) What was the name of the mute clown on the old Howdy Doody TV series? and (2) What was the name of the Indian princess on the same show?

Send to adcontest@elfexpressionsezine.com

A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities,
and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.

—Harry Truman

SUBSCRIBER IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The first subscriber to submit his or her personal profile sharing with the rest of us all about who he/she is, background, family, location, interests, hobbies, goals, dreams, etc., will be spotlighted right here next issue—and yes, an email and/or URL may be included!

Send to readermail@elfexpressionsezine.com

Today's Subscriber in the Spotlight: Mary Ryan.

I began a small business that specializes in Holiday Letters for Children in 1995. I live and maintain my small business in Troy, NY.

I have several nieces and nephews, who actually inspired me to begin my business. They were very small at the time and delighted in my little stories and artwork around the Holidays.

I decided to draft some letters to send them from Santa and The Easter Bunny for Christmas, Easter, and on their birthdays. Needless to say, they loved them. They especially delighted in receiving birthday greetings from Santa at the North Pole!

Since they loved my Holiday Letters, I decided to try and finance my small business. My site is: http://www.holidayletters.com .

I have little capital to finance advertising, so the going is still slow. My customer base is loyal. Their children love my Holiday Letters that are copyrighted and offered only on my site. I keep my prices low and offer a discount for additional children in the same household.

I hope in the near future to offer my new line of Holiday Books for Children from my website. I have completed my first Holiday Book named "The Toymaker's Dream—The Story of Santa Claus."

My dream is to have a successful online business. I would love to work from home doing what I love—making little children happy!

View my Holiday Letters at: http://community.webtv.net/santaletters To order my Holiday Letters Please CLICK ON: http://www.holidayletters.com/santaform.html

Happy Holidays!

One Big Health Mess

Herbs or antioxidants were the farthest thing from my mind to use for improving my health and that of my husband, Steven. My comment to him when he asked me to listen to a tape on colloidal minerals for improving his health was a loud "I do not believe in that junk."
Well let me tell you, I am having to EAT MY WORDS. Some companies may be selling junk but Healing America has the best herbs and antioxidants that have literally turned my health and Steven’s right side up. Listed below are the ill feelings or disease we suffered with and are now healthy and so very excited about telling everyone we meet they too can stop the pain and start enjoying life.
#1. Asthma - Steven has been told by his pulmonary specialist to continue to take the antioxdiant as he has NO asthma in his lungs. *** He is 100 % asthma clear by simply taking two or three eRadicator capsules a day.
#2. Fibromyalgia – (Elvia) I have suffered in pain as if someone is breaking my shoulder when I lift my arms. The pain in my neck and shoulder area was so severe. The muscles and glands in my neck would swell so bad that I felt an earache at times from the swelling. I also felt as if someone had taken my muscles and hammered them on a sidewalk and then put them back into my shoulders. Very excruciating pain
Each day I faithfully awaken to my orange juice and drink up my 3 to 4 Omega 9+ capsules. It took me about 7 or 8 days to be pain free. But I still felt some pain in my shoulder muscles. I had read that Natural Balance Plus would take that pain away....and it DID. I massaged it into my painful spots on my neck, shoulders, arms and in my inner leg and my rump where the sciatic nerve LIVES and lets me KNOW it lives there at the hip and rump joint. I evicted that sciatic nerve pain by rubbing a dab of Natural Balance Plus on it.

Elvia Blake, Irving TX

If you would like to see what has worked miracles in Steve and Elvia's lives, go to: http://goodbody.healingamerica.com

FEATURE ARTICLE

The Big Stretch

When we exercise our physical bodies, each time we try to push, or stretch, ourselves to the next level.
What happens?
Eventually, we reach that next level, and the next, and ...
Next thing you know, we have made real progress. Why? Because of that consistent, persistent reaching and stretching for that which is beyond.
What also is happening while we are doing these physical stretches?
We are focussing on what we are doing, at least physically, and, hopefully, also mentally. And we are, again hopefully, relaxing.
Relaxing is absolutely necessary during the physical activity of stretching, because tensing up prevents the muscles from extending.
So what's the point?
As in everything else that the Lord has set before us (if only we would open our eyes to see), there is a mental corollary to be derived from this example.
In the same way our physical muscles can stretch out with consistently applied effort, so can our mental "muscles" be stretched out and so arrive in that mystical land called "faith."
Faith does not manifest until it is demonstrated. And action, of course, must precede demonstration.
To act your faith, you have to s-t-r-e-t-c-h your imagination.
You first have to picture yourself doing the thing, possessing the object of your desire. The clearer the picture in your mind, the quicker it will come into fruition.
A mild belief is not faith. Praying for the same thing every day is not faith. Faith is praying ONCE for something and then believing that you ALREADY have received it by thanking and praising God for having fulfilled your desires.
Faith comes in believing that, not only is it possible for you to achieve your goal, but that it already has been accomplished, that it is a given. Aside from your physical senses, it is when your reach that point that every other fiber in your being tells you that you already possess your goal.
This is the B-I-G S-T-R-E-T-C-H.

****************

Feel free to reprint the above article with this info intact:
Article penned by Mary Wilkey, publisher of 'elf Expressions Ezine: http://elfexpressionsezine.com
To subscribe, email me at subscribe@elfexpressionsezine.com

A BIBLE RIDDLE

What is the GREATEST statement of love found in the Bible (next to God so loving the world) of one person concerning that of another. (There might be many answers to this riddle but see how close we all come.)
ANSWER: My personal bests are:
Genesis 29:20 "And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her."
1st Samuel 18:1 ". . . the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul."
Ruth 1:16-17 "And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me."

Ninety percent of those who fail are not actually defeated.
They simply quit.
—Paul J. Meyer

TODAY'S CHUCKLE

SCIENCE FARE
5th and 6th grade responses to science questions on tests

——There are 26 vitamins in all, but some of the letters are yet to be discovered.
——Genetics explains why you look like your father, and if you don't, why you should.
——Vacuums are nothings. We only mention them to let them know we know they're there.
——The cause of perfume disappearing is evaporation. Evaporation gets blamed for a lot of things people forget to put the top on.
——Water vapor gets together in a cloud. When it is big enough to be called a drop, it does.
——Mushrooms always grow in damp places, which is why they look like umbrellas.
——Momentum is something you give a person when they go away.
——A monsoon is a French gentleman.
——The word "trousers" is an uncommon noun because it is singular at the top and plural at the bottom.
——To keep milk from turning sour, keep it in the cow.
——When planets run around and around in circles, we say they are orbiting. When people do it, we say they are crazy.
——For asphyxiation, apply artificial respiration until the patient is dead.
——Thunder is a rich source of loudness.
——One of the main causes of dust is janitors.

Relieve insect bites—with Ban deodorant.
"I was suffering from mosquito bites and had nothing to put on them.
It occurred to me that antiperspirants might work to stop itching.
I was right. Ban works better than the usual medications."
—Casey C., Portland OR

TODAY'S ENGLISH LESSON

Seeing the same elementary mistakes over and over again has prompted this publisher to write an English lesson each issue.

Since this week's feature article is all about stretching, why not stretch our vocabularies this week also?
"Egregious" is a word that keeps popping up, and for myself, I just never seem to retain its meaning, so I thought there might be others out there who also have trouble remembering.
"Egregious" means something that is outstandingly, or blatantly, bad, something outrageous and set apart from the herd as such. Maybe that's how the term "black sheep" got its bad connotation ...

Okay, so that's our word for the week. Make a note of it, put it up on your refrigerator or mirror where you'll see it every day, and try to use it in a sentence several times for the coming week. (I'll do the same.) And then maybe it will stick!

Strengthen fingernails—with Jell-O. Mix strawberry-flavored Jell-O with enough water to make a paste. Then paint the mixture on your nails. The gelatin in the Jell-O makes your nails grows longer and stronger. Also, the strawberry powder stain your nails red so you don't have to paint them—and they smell great all day.
Knox gelatin, taken internally, also works great.

INTERNET HINTS & TIPS

"Validate your HTML pages"
HTML and other Internet related standards are evolving so fast, it's becoming harder to keep up with the latest. You may want to validate your HTML pages from time to time, just to make sure that you're not off the charts as far as the latest HTML standards goes.
http://www.resource-a-day.com/resources/validate.html

Practice making everyone feel important—
even if you think they can do nothing for you.

Don't take life too seriously—it's not permanent!

The following was written by Audrey Hepburn, who was asked to share "beauty tips."

1. For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
2. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
3. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
4. For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.
5. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.
6. People, even more than things, have to be restored, revived, reclaimed and redeemed; never throw out anyone.
7. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find them at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.
8. The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.
9. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode, but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows.
10. The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years.
Please send this to five phenomenal women today in celebration of Women's History Month. If you do, something good will happen...You will boost another woman's self esteem.

GUEST ARTICLE

The Beauty of Difference
©2001 by Sharon Dalton Williams

~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~

Every morning I start my day with some quiet time in my office. I have a nice comfy recliner I curl up in with my cup of coffee. My chair faces the window to east, so every morning I get to watch the day dawn.
Some mornings I am there so early that the sun hasn't risen yet. I enjoy watching the stars twinkle in the pre-dawn. Slowly the sun begins to rise, and light begins to push back the darkness. The process is fascinating.
Some mornings I am treated to a spectacular sunrise scene. The colors bouncing off the nearby clouds give me a pleasing light show. I watch the colors change from pink to purple to orange to yellow.
Other mornings it's stormy outside, and all I see are storm clouds angrily racing across the sky. There's magnificence in the power of the storm as it marches through affecting everything around.
And then there are the mornings where nothing particularly spectacular is going on. The sky is clear, and as the sun rises, it quietly bursts forth onto the scene lighting the earth.
I sat there in my quiet chair enjoying the view outside my window recently and realized how blessed I am to look out the same window and see so many different skies. Each sky, so very different, has its own intrinsic beauty. The skies don't try to look like each other. They don't try to be anything they are not. They are different, and they are beautiful.
The dictionary defines difference as:

* The quality or condition of being unlike or dissimilar.
* A specific point or element that distinguishes one thing from another.
* A noticeable change or effect.
* Discrimination in taste or choice; distinction.

Each one of us is different. Each of us has our own personality, talents, gifts, and ideals. When we take what is uniquely us and use it to build our businesses, we end up with products or services that are noticeable, distinguished, and distinct. And there is tremendous beauty in that.
Don't try to be like everyone else you see. Take time to find out what your passion is and pursue it. Find that element in you that makes you stand out from the crowd and develop it. Do not be afraid to be unique. As you nurture your individuality, your business will be noticed because no one can do it just like you.
There is beauty in difference.
~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~

Sharon Dalton Williams is the author of "How to Succeed and Live a Full Life." Learn how to reach the goals you have set for your life and business. Surf to http://www.sdwassociates.com to order your copy.
Learn how to use what is uniquely you in building your business. Subscribe to *Out From the Crowd.* mailto:oftc-subscribe@topica.com.
Permission is granted to reprint the foregoing article as long as no changes are made to the text and the byline, copyright information, and the resource box is included. Minor format editing is allowed to fit your website or ezine. 411 words
When you publish this article, I would love to receive a courtesy copy of your ezine or a website link. Please contact me at mailto:sharon@sdwassociates.com. Thank you.

INSPIRATION

The Visit

Ruth went to her mail box and there was only one letter. She picked it up and looked at it before opening, but then she looked at the envelope again. There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address.
She read the letter:
Dear Ruth:
I'm going to be in your neighborhood Saturday afternoon, and I would like to visit.
Love Always, Jesus
Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on the table. "Why would the Lord want to visit me? I'm nobody special. I don't have anything to offer. With that thought, Ruth remembered her empty kitchen cabinets. "Oh my goodness, I really don't have anything to offer. I'll have to run down to the store and buy something for dinner."
She reached for her purse and counted out its contents. Five dollars and forty cents. "Well, I can get some bread and cold cuts, at least."
She threw on her coat and hurried out the door to the store, where she bought a loaf of French bread, a half-pound of sliced turkey, and a carton of milk, leaving Ruth with grand total of twelve cents to last her until Monday.
Nonetheless, she felt good as she headed home, her meager offerings tucked under her arm.
"Hey lady, can you help us, lady?"
Ruth had been so absorbed in her dinner plans, she hadn't even noticed two figures huddled in the alleyway. A man and a woman, both of them dressed in little more than rags.
"Look lady, I ain't got a job, ya know, and my wife and I have been living out here on the street, and, well, now it's getting cold and we're getting kinda hungry and, well, if you could help us, lady, we'd really appreciate it."
Ruth looked at them both. They were dirty, they smelled bad and frankly, she was certain that they could get some kind of work if they really wanted to.
"Sir, I'd like to help you, but I'm a poor woman myself. All I have is a few cold cuts and some bread, and I'm having an important guest for dinner tonight, and I was planning on serving that to Him."
"Yeah, well, okay lady, I understand. Thanks anyway."
The man put his arm around the woman's shoulders, turned, and headed back into the alley. As she watched them leave, Ruth felt a familiar twinge in her heart.
"Sir, wait!" The couple stopped and turned as she ran down the alley after them. "Look, why don't you take this food. I'll figure out something else to serve my guest." She handed the man her grocery bag.
"Thank you lady. Thank you very much!"
"Yes, thank you!" It was the man's wife, and Ruth could see now that she was shivering.
"You know, I've got another coat at home. Here, why don't you take this one." Ruth unbuttoned her jacket and slipped it over the woman's shoulders. Then, smiling, she turned and walked back to the street ... without her coat and with nothing to serve her guest.
"Thank you, lady! Thank you very much!"
Ruth was chilled by the time she reached her front door, and worried, too. The Lord was coming to visit, and she didn't have anything to offer Him. She fumbled through her purse for the door key. But as she did, she noticed another envelope in her mailbox.
"That's odd. The mailman doesn't usually come twice in one day." She took the envelope out of the box and opened it.
Dear Ruth:
It was so good to see you again. Thank you for the lovely meal. And thank you, too, for the beautiful coat.
Love Always, Jesus
The air was still cold, but even without her coat, Ruth no longer noticed.

ETCETERA

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elfbutter@erinet.com

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