Chick Nite - Shopping in Chicago!

I had the BEST time last weekend - 3 of my friends and I (Rachel, Lisa and Debbie) got to take 14 girls on an overnight trip shopping at Woodfield Mall in Chicago. It was so much fun and the girls were AWESOME - I enjoyed getting to know every single one of them!

We set out around 9:30 a.m., went straight to the mall and shopped for about 7 hours, then we went to our hotel, ate Hacienda chips and Chicago style stuffed pizza from Pizzeria Uno, played Guesstures, went swimming and soaked in the hot tub, slept in the next day, ate a big ol' breakfast buffet, did a little more shopping and then headed home so we could make it back for Lifeline - WHEW! We had a blast!! The best part was that us "older" folks wore out the younger ones!

Can you believe I get to do this? How lucky am I to have a job that I get to hang out with AWESOME girls, shop, eat AND get paid for it?! Wow, God is so good!

Silly girls!

Lindsay and her new friend Buddy

Lisa, Debbie and Lanette having lunch at P.F. Changs - YUMMY! thanks for the lettuce wraps Deb!

Lindsay, Elena, Hailey, Anne Marie, Jessica and Shawna

I'm thankful for . . .

• Jesus - He's my prince, my saviour, my father, my friend and so many other things. I'm so thankful that no matter what I've done or where I've been, He chases after me and loves me unconditionally.
• A husband that loves me so much he puts an extra blanket on the bed for me every night before I come to bed - plus he lets me put my cold feet on him.
• An adorable son who still lets his Mom tuck him in at night and doesn't let me leave his room until we've prayed together and I've kissed him at least a dozen times.
• My Mom who still wants me to call her when I get in from being out of town and my Dad who says the goofiest things that make me laugh (I'm usually the only one laughing -we have the same sense of humor).
• A Mother-in-law who has never interfered in our marriage and loves me as much (if not more ;0) than her own son. She's also the one who took me to my first tennis lesson.
• My nieces and newphews - Airianna, Kayle, Josh and Shaun - they all have a very special place in my heart and I love them as if they were my own.
• My extended family - as dysfunctional as we all are, we love each other a lot and have a great time when we get together!
• My good friends who are always there for me to make me laugh and smile: Beth, Ann, Debbie, Corey, Brenda, Todd, Giddy Bob and Denise.
• My dog CJ who actually smiles and says "Momma".
• My cat Teddy who hides under the bed and attacks us as we walk by.
• My bed & pillow - it's the best, warmest, softest, cuddliest bed - it's my most favorite spot in the whole world!
• My house - Trent's Dad built it and I swear there are times when you can just feel him all over the house. With the water all around us, all the natural sunlight, and the family history this house has, it has given us a huge amount of healing and peace over the last 3 years.
• My job/ministry working with teenagers. There is no where else I'd rather be and I am so incredibly blessed to be doing what I love and what God has wired me for. I love those kids!
• My church, GCC - Without GCC I might still be lost, broken and hurting. It takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of churches, and I think this is probably the only one that could have gotten me back on the right path.
• My staff family at GCC. It's the only time I've ever worked a job where they get mad at you if you don't take a day off to spend with your sick kid - it's awesome!
• That God restored our marriage 6 years ago and is better than ever. Also that Cody, Trent and I are still a family and will always be together!
• Random stuff like: the sun, beaches, vacations, nature, mountains, avocados, almond joy candy bars, Christmas, tennis, Starbucks, my lighthouse, our shack at Silver Lake, Cody's birthmother, surprise gifts that you don't expect, teenagers that "get it", lazy days when you don't have to get out of your pajamas, Diet Coke with lime, Hacienda, Seashells, Swans that come to my house to be fed, electric bed warmers . . . ok, I better stop now or I could go on all day.

I AM SO INCREDIBLY BLESSED - THANK YOU JESUS, I KNOW IT ALL COMES FROM YOU!

Adorable Mayan kids

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my passion for the people of the Yucatan Peninsula. Well, today while I was looking for a picture to go with a post I was going to do, I came across this one and it brought back such great memories I decided to post this instead.

In May of 2004, Trent and I went to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and on this particular day we were just cruising around in the rental car, going exploring (which is our favorite thing to do). We saw a bunch of people gathered around at the beach, so we decided to stop and see what was going on. It was a fishing contest and it was full of locals, I think we were about the only white people there and we definitely stuck out like a sore thumb! The Mayan people were so kind to us and they liked us being there. They tried to include us in conversation, (which was hard because at the time I didn't know any Spanish at all) and they wanted to show us their fish they caught.

I noticed these CUTE kids swimming, laughing and playing in the water, so I went over to take their picture and play with them a little bit. I have no idea what their names are, but just look at them - they are SO beautiful. I remembered that in my purse I had brought some little tiny toys to give to kids that I came in contact with (a BIG deal to them, since they don't have hardly any toys at all), so I had Trent hold the camera, dug in the bottom of my purse, and fished out little plastic frogs and tiny cross rings to give them. They loved them, but there soon became a little problem. I didn't anticipate all of the other kids on the beach noticing this white lady passing out treats from her purse. They mobbed me! At first they were all reaching at me and kind of going crazy, but somehow I got them to form a line and I passed out every little toy in my purse. When I didn't have any toys left, all I had was Altoids, so I passed those out and they were happy with the Altoids - the poor kids!

It was an amazing day that God blessed me with and I just wanted to share the memory with you. Everywhere you go, open your eyes and be aware of all the divine appointments that God may have for you. You never know what kind of blessing he might have if you pay attention!

Trent with a REAL Barracuda!

Here's a picture of Trent the day we wandered into the fishing tournament in Puerto Morelos. This Mayan guy had caught it and was bringing it to be weighed.

Look at Trent, he is a GIANT compared to them! That's why we aren't afraid to go exploring while in Mexico!

Mayan Grandma - Isn't she beautiful?!

An Incredible, Amazing Love

Today Corey and Judy gave a workshop on student ministry. During their presentations they used all kinds of pictures of our students for their power points. Every time a new picture came up and I knew the student, I would have this rush of emotion - mostly which was an overwhelming sense of love for that particular kid.

As the day went on, the emotions got more intense and when Corey played a video of some of our core students from last year, I got extremely emotional, fighting back the tears - I LOVE THESE KIDS SO MUCH! Every one of them has something unique about them that I adore. Being a Mom of just one child I was never quite sure how you loved more than 1 kid in your family, but now I understand. God gives you a love that is deep and endless. I really think that if I was lucky enough to have 1000 Lifeline kids in my life, that God would give me a love for each and every one of them.

• Do my students have any idea how much I love them, care for them and want the best for them?
• Do they have any idea how much my own family sacrifices in many ways for them?
• Do they have any idea that I don't care what they've done in the past or how they screw up, I will love them the same?
• Do they have any idea that the horrible, bad things that have happened in my life are all worth it when just one of them listens and learns from my mistakes?
• Do they have any idea that I would gladly, without hesitation, take a bullet for them?

This then is salvation . . . when we marvel at the beauty of created things and praise their beautiful Creator. -Meister Eckart

This is one of my students, Jim Ralstin

This is Jim Ralstin, one of my superstar students at Lifeline. Yesterday I had the privilege of attending a ceremony where he was honored as an Eagle Scout. Now, before attending this ceremony, I had no idea what an Eagle Scout was, but it was REALLY cool. Jim has worked for 7 years to achieve this and only 2% of scouts ever get this far.

The really great part was listening to several people talk about Jim and tell stories. (Corey, great job!) It was very refreshing to hear that Jim is really who he professes to be and his faith, character and integrity go with him everywhere he goes. I am so proud of Jim and I can't wait to see what his future holds. I love this kid! If I had a teenage daughter, I'd be talking to his parents about the possibility of an arranged marriage!

Did a hurricane hit in Osceola?

Even though it looks like a hurricane developed on the St. Joe river and made landfall at our house, that's not what's going on here. This is our "little" remodeling project and this is what my house has looked like for the last month or more. YIKES! As bad as it looks, it is very exciting planning the new famlily room and I can't wait to have room to have friends over more.

1st Picture - This picture shows the room that we added on to the back of the garage.

2nd Picture - This shows the inside looking toward the kitchen. In January the blue wall will come out and we will enlarge and remodel the kitchen. Can't WAIT!

3rd Picture - This is the end of the family room where the fireplace will be - this is my favorite part of the room!

Loneliness - Part 2

I'm better now. Sometimes when I get to feeling so lonely like I had been for the past cople of days, I think it is God tapping me on the shoulder and saying "Hey - here I am - rely on me, not people, to make you happy".

One of my favorite worship songs is "More than enough" - part of it goes "and all of you is more than enough for all of me, for every thirst and every need. You satisfy me with your love and all I have in you is more than enough." I WANT to mean that song when I sing it - but I'm letting down my "fig leaf" right now and am admitting that I really don't understand how to do that completely yet. I am a very relational person and I KNOW that one of my traits of desiring deep, true relationships with people is a good thing most of the time, but can be a bad thing at times when I strive and worry about it too much - when people don't respond the way I wish they would.

I will keep praying for God to teach me how to make him more than enough, and I will keep looking to him to fill me up instead of relying on people to do that.

Do you ever feel surrounded by people, but feel incredibly alone? I struggle with this sometimes and it really bothers me. I know that God is there - I'm not questioning that at all - but it's strange how you can have all these people around you, but yet you feel like no one really sees you for who you really are, they only see you for what you can do for them. (Maybe I need to re-read my post on magnifying) :0)

It makes no sense to me - does this happen to anyone else?

Applesauce!

Yesterday Cody was home sick from school, he felt really bad in the morning, but by afternoon he had a "miraculous recovery" - which usually happens. Since I was going to be home from work all day, I figured I'd get something off of my to do list. Last Saturday I went to Farmer's Market and bought about a bajillion pounds of apples to make applesauce, so I figured I better get busy. The bonus was that I had someone home to help me.

The first picture is Cody all excited to help with the applesauce. He was happy because he got to use the Pampered Chef gadget that cuts, peels and cores the apple all at the same time (it is a pretty cool gadget).

The second picture shows how excited he is after peeling about 100 apples. Do you think he'll think twice about staying home from school next time?

What will you magnify?

Every moment of every day has good and bad in it - every person we meet has strengths and weaknesses - every situation has pros and cons. Every event contains both the handiwork of God and the counterattack of the enemy.

The question is: What will you choose to magnify?

Whatever you focus your magnifying glass on will appear larger than everything else. When we choose to magnify the bad, it appears larger than it really is. But when we choose to magnify God, we begin to get a clearer picture of reality.

You can focus on what's wrong with your life and be miserable, or you can focus on what's good in your life and be joyful. The choice is yours!

Affirmation to Recite: I am a blessing to God when I choose to be grateful and hopeful, no matter how difficult my circumstances. Based on Luke 1:46-52.

Challenge: Think of 5 things you are grateful for, write them down and CHOOSE to focus on them today.

From the book "Becoming the Woman I Want to Be" by Donna Paltrow

My friend, mentor and hero - Beth Madigan

Did you ever have one of those friends that you could seriously talk to for days and days at a time and you'd never run out of things to talk about - AND you could tell them ANYTHING? That's my friend Beth Madigan and I when we get together!

Beth was in town for a few days - she just moved to Phoenix, AZ in July, but is in Chicago for a few months helping her daughter and family while Shannon's on bedrest in the hospital waiting to deliver twin baby girls. I had the incredible privilege of getting to see her 3 times and it was so nice!

On Friday we got to play tennis with our tennis buddies Denise and Kathleen - that's us in the picture - then we went to Starbucks and talked for a couple of hours.

On Sunday Beth showed up and hung out with us at Lifeline - it was so great to see her back and the kids were so happy to see her.

On Monday, Beth took me out to a WONDERFUL lunch at Tippecanoe Place, then we came back to my house for tea and conversation. Before we knew it, Beth was out of time and had to go - we had talked for 3 1/2 hours and hadn't even begun to catch up on everthing!

Beth's the best friend I've ever had and I am so blessed to have her in my life - I want to be just like her when I grow up! She's also the best counselor-turned-life coach there is. She has a heart and a passion for helping people become all that God created them to be and she is a genius at that. Check out her website @ http://www.livewithintention.org/

Thanks Beth - I had a blast while you were home and I love you so much!

You won't believe what Trent did to his hair . . .

Early Friday morning, before Trent had to go to work and I had to meet Debbie and Merri for breakfast, Trent decides he's going to give himself a "trim". I told him, don't do it, wait and make an appointment at Debbies, but does he listen? NO! He gets out the cheap trimmers that I bought at Aldi's 4 years ago and proceeds to do a small "trim". I kept griping at him and he totally ignores me, so I leave the bathroom and continue with whatever I was doing.

I go back in the bathroom for something a few minutes later and I can hear the trimmers bogging down in his thick hair. He says to me "Man, these trimmers aren't working very well". Just then I make eye contact with him and I just about have a heart attack. I said "OH MY WORD - YOU TOOK A BIG HUNK OUT OF YOUR HEAD"! He says "No I didn't" and I said "Oh yes you did, look"! He looks and then he just about has a heart attack, then he starts laughing. I was seriously mad (mad really isn't the word for it, but I run a clean blog here).

Then he tells me I have to shave his head - WHAT?! After arguing about it for a few minutes, I finally had to see the humor in it and realize it's only hair and it will grow back. I have never seen him without his beautiful curls and as they were coming off and his scalp was appearing, we just laughed and laughed.

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story!

After I got the top shaved off, I tried to talk him into keeping this sweet mullet, but he wouldn't do it.

This is Trent when it all was finally shaved off. It took us 40 minutes to get it all off - it was like shearing a sheep his hair is so thick and curly. He's trying to look mean here, but I don't think he looks mean - he just looks funny! Oh well, it's only hair and he's still cute!

Thank you for praying - it's working!

Our friend Todd is doing much better - he's still got a long road to recovery, but he is progressing really well. On Friday Trent and I drove up to Grand Rapids to see him. We went into his room and were pleased to see that he was off of life support and breathing on his own. He also was conscious, but he wasn't "all there". His wife Brenda told him who we were and he just looked and looked at us, like he was trying to hard to place us, but he didn't know us. He was so confused couldn't really talk - he would just nod his head and say maybe one word in a whisper. He had no idea what was going on and why he was in the hospital.

As we visited with Brenda, Todd just kept looking at the wires on his arm, and the light (for pulse) on the end of his finger - then he would look at us. Brenda would ask him, "do you know who I am?" and he would nod his head yes, but when she would try to get him to say her name, he couldn't remember it. It was really scary, and Brenda was pretty much freaking out inside.

She told us the entire story which in a nutshell was that Todd went into cardiac arrest, fell face down on the pavement and no one has any idea how long he was without oxygen. His 12 year old son found him, got Brenda and Brenda sent the neighbor kid over for help from his parents (our friends Sherry and Dan). Sherry came over and gave Todd CPR until the paramedics got there. They used the paddles on him several times but it wasn't working - one of the EMT's told Brenda he was gone - they tried again and they got him back. WOW - Todd was actually dead for awhile and he came back. (I've got to pick his brain on that one when he recovers and see if he remembers anything about that experience). Then he got airlifted to Grand Rapids. They have no idea what kind of damage was done to his brain since they don't know how long he was without oxygen.

The good news is that he is progressing much faster than he should be and there's been a huge difference just since we were there Friday night. Yesterday he got out of bed and sat up in the recliner and at soup and jello. He remembered Brenda and he remembered his kids. Today, Trent called and Todd answered the phone in his room - he knew who Trent was and he knew that we have the shack at Silver Lake - so that's INCREDIBLE news.

Our neighbor Wayne is an EMT and he told us that people who go into cardiac arrest only have a 20% chance of being resucitated - so Todd is extremely fortunate. Hopefully it won't be too long before he's back to normal, picking on me, Trent and fixing us a huge dinner around his campfire at Silver Lake.

Please pray for our good friends Todd and Brenda Gilliland. They are GREAT friends of ours from Fremont, MI and we spend most of our summers with them up at Silver Lake - we've known them now for about 10 years.

Last night Todd's 12 year old son, Aaron, found him face down and not breathing. Their neighbor Sherry gave Todd CPR while waiting for the helicopter and he was flown to Grand Rapids. Todd went into cardiac arrest sometime and they don't know how long he was without oxygen. Right now he is hooked up to life support and is not conscious. Needless to say, Brenda, his wife is a mess. We are leaving this morning to go up and be with her.

Todd, Brenda, Nicole and Aaron are amazing people - we have so much fun with them in the summer! Todd is incredibly generous - his favorite thing is to cook a ton of food (at Silver Lake every weekend) and feed about 40 people. Even though he comes off as a big, gruff kind of guy, he's really a big teddy bear inside - he would give you the shirt off his back.

Last weekend was our last at Silver Lake for the year, and we didn't get to see them. They were busy and couldn't come to Silver Lake and we were too busy to go to Fremont and see them. How I wish we had that weekend to do over again and we would have made the time. It's just another reminder of how precious life is and how you MUST make time to enjoy and spend time with the people that you love. You never know when it may be the last time that you see them.

I love you Todd, Brenda, Nicole and Aaron - you are a HUGE part of our lives my life is better for having you guys in it.

I once was lost, but now am found . . .

Teddy, my 4 month old baby cat (he's not a kitten anymore, but he's not a full grown cat either) decided to follow Trent and CJ (the dog) on their morning walk at 6:00 a.m. this morning.

Now understand, my husband doesn't go on little "jaunts" - he covers several miles every day. You also have to understand that Trent doesn't exactly love my cat - he just tolerates him because he loves me. So when he realized that Teddy was following him, he tried to catch him, but Teddy would run from him and hide - and after awhile Trent gave up trying to catch the cat. So about a mile into the walk, the cat has a stare down with some labs down the street - ON VISTULA (YIKES - a very busy road). Teddy won't come, so Trent leaves him, on Vistula. That was the last he saw of him.

Trent comes home, and very matter of factly says " you better go look for your stupid cat - he followed me and then he got lost". WHAT??!! Well, needless to say, Trent is in the doghouse - BIGTIME - and I went out driving in the dark, in my pajamas and slippers looking for my cat.

So this afternoon, I get home from my Dr. appointment and Teddy still isn't home - I'm so afraid that he is smashed on Vistula. So I take off walking calling his name over and over all around the neighborhoods - no luck - I'm so sad - my kitty is lost forever. I was getting closer to home and was already planning his little kitty funeral in my head when I look over and he's playing in someone's yard. He looks at me, mosey's over and let's me pick him up - completely oblivious that he's been lost for almost 8 hours!

Now he's back home and safe for the time being and I am very happy and relieved. This cat is giving me more gray hairs than I already have - Trent is still in the doghouse for leaving him - and I'm very thankful that God loves me enough to care about taking care of my little cat while he was lost.

What the heck is "Yucatec"?

I'm so excited!!! No - it's not Mel Gibsons new "look" that I'm excited about (in fact, that kind of scares me) - it's his new movie that I just learned about from Corey's blog (thanks Corey!). It's called "Apocolypto" and it is being filmed in the original Mayan language (Yucatec). Click HERE for the link.

You're probably asking yourself "Why would Lanette be so excited about a movie that is in some obscure tribal language - Yuc-ah-whatever" . . . Well, it's because my dream/goal is to live in the Yucatan Peninsula at some point in my life and be totally immersed in the Mayan culture for a length of time. Here's what I want to do:

• Be involved in missions work (not sure what, God hasn't revealed that part yet)
• Study the Spanish language at an immersion school that is 3 blocks from the beach and pairs you up with host families. You live in their home, go to school and go to the beach! Click HERE if you want to see it. (I'm taking Spanish now at IUSB)
• After learning Spanish, I want to learn some of the native tongue - Yucatec. That is the true language of the Mayans and I will need that to go into the villages and communicate. The restaurant people in Playa del Carmen tell me that they usually have to learn Yucatec because most of their cooks still speak only that language, not Spanish.
• I'd like to visit all of the mayan ruins around the Yucatan. I've seen 2 small ones and saw the ruins of Tulum from a distance. Their religion fascinates me - they believe in all of the gods of nature, but then when the Spanish came, they brought Catholicism with them. So when you go into a gift shop, you'll see lots of little statues of gods, and then right next to it you'll see Jesus on the cross - HMMMMM?!
• I'd love to study Mayan history in the Yucatan to help me understand the people and because it's very fascinating. It's very hard around here to find books that are really helpful, so that's why it's amazing that Mel's making this movie.
• I want to snorkel or scuba dive every chance I get. The water, the reefs, and the cenotes are the most beautiful of anywhere in the world (in my opinion). If you've never heard of a cenote, they are AMAZING! Click HERE for more info.
• I just want to hang out with the Mayan people - they are so COOL! I'd love to get to know them and find out why they are so happy all the time. Even though they live very simply, they are always happy, smiling and so incredibly kind. Even though they live in Mexico, they are not Mexican, they are Mayan. (It's kind of like our American Indians living here in the United States). They are much smaller than a typical Mexican - we took Cody to the Yucatan when he was 10 and he was the size of most of the Grandmas there.
• And, of course, I want to spend as much time on the beautiful, amazing beaches of the Yucatan coast as possible! Click HERE for some pictures.

Last week when Hurricane Wilma was over the Yucatan just swirling and swirling, I was a mess from worrying. I was on line every hour researching what was going on. I have no idea if I will ever get to fulfill this dream, but I know that God has put a love and passion in my heart for this area of Mexico and the Mayan people for some reason, and I'm ready to JUMP through that door and go if it ever opens!