The first e-zine service I used to post my stories worked great. Daily, new

members signed up to have my writing delivered directly to their e-mail inbox. Within

two years, I gained more than 1600 confirmed readers.

I was thrilled.

A year and half later I noticed a problem. My stories failed to appear in my own

inbox. Soon after, when I sent e-mails, I'd receive a response back within thirty seconds, "I'm afraid I was not able to deliver your message to the following address. Your messsage has been blocked. Every one of my recipient's e-mail providers had

marked my messages as spam.

I e-mailed my wife Ginny. It bounced back - undeliverable. I e-mailed myself,

again, the response was "Undeliverable". My frustration grew. I felt mute. I had a story

to tell, a message to deliver, something to touch their hearts and brighten their day, but I

had no way to communicate it to them.

I changed my e-mail address and was able to get my messages out again, but

only for about a week. The problem popped up again. I tried dropping my signature

from my e-mail - Voila! My e-mails started to go through. "

"What about your stories?" Ginny asked me. She had a point. It wasn't my e-mail address. It was the service I used to post my stories that was blocked. Every

message with a link to their service was blocked by e-mail providers around the world.

My messages were sent, but they weren't received.

A week later, I switched to a new system to send my stories. The first time I

used it, my stories were delivered. The next day, I received several e-mails from loyal

readers, "Mike, I am so glad to receive your story today. I haven't seen a story from you in a long time. I was worried about you." One lady wrote.

I e-mailed her back. "I'm sorry. I was sending my messages, but you just weren't getting them."

As soon as I sent that message, I received one. It was like God reached down and slapped me in the head. How many times, when things are tough, do we look to the sky and pray, "Lord, where are you?"

His message was clear. "Now you know how I feel, Son. I've been sending my

messages too, but they're just not getting them."

Michael T. Smith msmith4@nj.rr.com