Here's something that God has been working on with me lately and this morning I found it perfectly worded in the book Captivating, by Stasi Eldredge:

You are a woman - an image bearer of God. The Crown of Creation. You were chosen before time and space, and you are wholly and dearly loved. You are sought after, pursued, romanced and the passionate desire of your lover, Jesus.

You are dangerous in your beauty and your life-giving power, and you are needed!

You speak to the world of God's mercy, mystery, beauty, and his desire for intimate relationship. The eyes of his heart are ever upon you. The King is captivated by your beauty.

You are meant to grace the world with your dance, to follow the lead of Jesus WHEREVER he leads you. He will lead you first into himself; and then, with him, he will lead you into the world that he loves and needs you to love.

His gaze is fixed on you. He is smiling. He cares nothing of the opinion of others. He is standing. He will lead. Jesus is extending his hand and inviting you "May I have this dance . . . every day of your life?"

Ladies, this is an invitation for every one of us - are you ready to dance? I am!!!

I Lost!!!

I lost my tennis match - I think I jinxed myself by putting it on my blog!

The match started out good - I won the first game fast - then my opponent got serious and we battled it out really hard. The first set was sad - 6 to 1 (me being the "1"). The next set I focused even more, used a ton of strategy, and I started out strong. We were neck in neck and I almost had her - we were headed for a tiebreaker so that I could have the second set and at least I could have said we tied - when I threw the last game away - every single ball I hit went out of the court - and I LOST - UGGGHHHHH.

It was at that moment that I SNAPPED and went completely psycho - I don't know what happened to me. I threw my beautiful new Wilson N Code racquet across the court, grabbed my water bottle and headed up to the net. As she came up to gloat and tell me "great game", I just emptied my water bottle right in her face.

She was shocked for a second, but then she grabbed me by the hair and pulled me right over the net - then it was on and we went at it hard. The girls from the other courts came running over and had to pry us off of each other - it was nasty. Roger who runs the South Bend Racquet Club came out yelling and told me that my membership was officially terminated. When I heard that, I turned on Roger and tackled him right on the tennis court and demanded my money back for the remainder of the season . . . . ha ha, got ya! Did you really think that I would do that?! None of the last 2 paragraphs is true!

All of that was just to take your mind off the fact that I lost and am no longer undefeated - but I don't really care, we had a great match. Afterward, my opponent and new friend Minde and I sat around and talked about God, church and babies. We had a great time playing each other and to be totally honest she deserved to win - she's a better player than I am - but I'll get her next season!

Undefeated . . . so far

Some of you know that I LOVE to play tennis (and if you didn't, you know now). I took the sport up late in life, I started about 6 years ago. Since then I have played off and on on leagues, but just recently I started playing competitive singles in a league on Thursday mornings, and let me tell you, it was a stretch - I had never played singles before and it is TOUGH!

The first season I played I got my bootie kicked all over the place - it was very sad. The second season, I made some improvement and started holding my own. This season, my third, I decided to get really serious and bring my average up. Well, we are almost done with the season and I AM UNDEFEATED - can you believe it?!

So I have 3 more players in the league to battle and they are all very, very good. I'm excited to see if I can remain undefeated today. Before I always went for fun and exercise (did you know you can burn off 650 calories from playing an hour and a half of hard tennis?) - but now I just want to win! I'll let you know what happens.

I'm such an . . .

This is a public apology to my dear friend Erin Koczan for missing her birthday. It doesn't mean I don't love you - it just confirms my adult ADD. Sorry for being such a, well, you know . . . I love you and hope you had a wonderful day!

My day off (Monday)

Monday is my day off (normally) and I LOVE my Mondays because I get to stay home and do stuff around the house - in fact, I call it my "Domestic Day". I have the house all to myself and I usually get to have a GREAT quiet time in the a.m. without having to rush around anywhere. Sometimes I take a nap and sometimes I don't even take a shower or get dressed until right before Trent gets home!

Yesterday was a little different, I got to play tennis in the a.m. with my good tennis buddy Denise, who I just love to be around. She's the only person I know that when I get a great serve and ace her she apologizes to me - she's just an all around nice girl - except when she's beating me!

In the afternoon I went and picked Cody up from school to go to an orthodontist appointment with Dr. Long. We've already been to one orthodontist, but we wanted to check out a couple before we committed. We realy liked Dr. Long and he came highly recommended.

Yes - Cody is getting braces, but the good news is that he doesn't need them for very long, probably just about a year or so. Here's the not so good news, I have to get braces too, so we've been going through this together. Can you even believe that I'm 40 years old and have to get braces with my 12 year old? UGGHHHHH. I have some problems with my jaw and a crossbite that is getting worse as I get older, so if I don't want to look like a freak when I'm 55, I need to get it taken care of. The bonus is that I will have a much better smile when they're done, and I have always dreamed of having a nice smile that I'm not ashamed of. So that's the silver lining that I'm going to hang onto.

After the appointment Cody and I went to the mall so that he could spend some of his report card money (he's very smart so the deal that he made with his Dad about getting $20 for every A is really killing his Dad's cash flow). We went to Pac Sun and got to see Hilary Ballard, which was a great treat - I love that girl and miss her so much! It ended up that they were having a really good sale - we walked out with new shoes, new jeans and a new shirt for Cody, but he didn't spend any money - I have no idea how that happened except that he's totally spoiled and lucky he's an only child!

Then it was off to my niece and nephews house to give them their birthday presents (which we bought at Pac Sun). Josh and Kayle turned 14 - I can't believe how grown up they are - It seems just like yesterday that they were born. They are GREAT kids and I love them so much!

Trent came home and we cooked dinner on the grill together and had some great chat time. We had a nice family dinner (I always fix a good meal on Mondays) and then Trent and I got in the hot tub after dinner and watched the sun set on the river. It was a really nice day - Mondays are awesome!

Breathtaking

A Prayer from my journal this morning . . .

God, you are BREATHTAKING and BREATHGIVING. Everything I have comes from you - every DESIRE that I have is yours.

You are more BEAUTIFUL and LOVING than I could ever IMAGINE or DREAM.

I LONG to know you and follow after your amazing and beautiful HEART.

BREATHE your life into me and make me the person that you CREATED me to be.

A Great Weekend

After a pretty tough week last week, we were blessed with a great weekend. Since the weather was so nice we headed up to the shack at Silver Lake to get it opened and cleaned up for Spring.

The first weekend up is usually no fun because it's normally cold and rainy and we have to work our booties off all weekend - cleaning, raking, washing windows, turning everything on, etc. This weekend the weather was gorgeous and we got EVERYTHING done that we needed to do. Now the next time we come up we can just have fun! We are a month ahead of schedule, normally we don't get this stuff done until right before Memorial Day weekend -woo hoo! (Thanks to our friend Gary who headed up the horrible job of wet leaf raking and even has the blisters to prove it).

Todd, Brenda, Nicole and Aaron - and Bob and Denise - our dear friends that we hang out with all summer were up too. Todd is our friend who went into cardiac arrest last fall and was revived - the doctors thought for sure he would be brain damaged because he was without oxygen for a very long time. He is doing really good and only suffers from some short term memory loss - a true miracle. We all have gotten so close over the summers - we do everything together - and it was so great to be together again!

On Sunday we got up at 5:00 a.m., got dressed for church and headed home to catch the 8:45 service at GCC. We made really good time, but we cut it just a little too close and didn't make the 8:45 so we went to 10:15 instead. It was a great service and a great way to start Easter Sunday.

Then my side of the family got together and went to Doc Pierce's for family dinner and it was very, very good and not busy at all. They all came back to my house for an Easter egg hunt for my little niece Ariana and dessert. My cousin Matt and his girlfriend Kristin made a family announcement that they are going to have a baby in October, so that is very exciting that we're going to have another new baby in the family!

Sunday night Trent and I sat on the couch and watched "The Wedding Date" (not sure if I liked it or not - it was kind of weird, but there were some quotes from it that I really liked). Even though I was really looking forward to a Sunday night home with my boys, I wasn't really relaxed because I kept feeling like I should be somewhere (Lifeline) or doing something.

When I look back on the weekend, nothing extraordinary happened, but what made it a great weekend was spending time with people that I love and care about - I am learning that that is truly what life is all about!

This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son.

And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.

God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.

Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it.

And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

This is the crisis we're in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God.

Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure.

But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is."

John 3:16-19 The Message

You are my friends and the greatest love a person can have for his friends is to give his life for them

Jesus speaking to us in John 15:13-17

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

You are my friends if you do what I command.

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

This is my command: Love each other.

Clarify what you want to have, do and be

Most of our choices fall into 3 categories. We can:

* Increase our material wealth (what we have).
* Improve our skills and expand the range of our activities (what we do).
* Develop our being (who we are).

Most people devote an entire lifetime to the first 2 categories. For example, many act as if they are "human havings" instead of human beings. For them, the quality of life hinges on what they have, and they devote most of their waking hours to getting more things. Human havings define themselves by the circumstances of their lives.

Some people escape the materialist trap by adding another dimension to their identities. In addition to living as human havings, they also live as "human doings". Their goal is to do everything well. They define themselves by how well they do their jobs, how active they are and how well they raise their children, etc. Their thoughts and goals are constantly about actions - methods, techniques and skills.

What if we lived our lives as "human beings" - what if we gave as much or more attention to our being - an aspect of our lives that goes beyond doing and having. What if we really focused in on our soul - our passion, purpose and values and lived out our life in the way that God created each and every one of us to do.

Our lives would be drastically different - the world would be radically different.

We are more than just human havings or human doings. We are human beings.

Who are you deep down inside and who do you want to be?

Idea taken from the book "Falling Awake" by Dave Ellis

The Rajski Spring Break Vacation '06

On Thursday a.m. we headed out to catch our plane to Ft. Myers to go visit Trent's Mom for a week in Naples, Fl. It was a great week of lots of sun, sand, surf and relaxation. We can't wait for Spring Break next year! Following are some highlights of our trip.

Saturday - Sea Kayaking to a little island

My baby - he's so darn cute!

An "artsy fartsy" picture I took back in the mangroves

Trent and his Mom, Emma on the beach in Naples

Sunday - Breakfast on Marco Island and Offshore Fishing

This is Cody, Trent and Lanette heading out to go fishing for shark, grouper and whatever else we can catch. Hope we catch something big and tasty for dinner!

We didn't catch any fish, but we got to hand feed a wild dolphin!

This was amazing! A wild 400 lb. bottlenose dolphin would circle the boat waiting for us to catch fish. When we caught them, he would come up to the boat and wait for us to feed him. He was so gorgeous and even though we didn't catch any good fish to eat, we had a great trip!

This is deep sea fishing? I've caught bigger fish in the pond off of our deck at home!

Monday thru Wednesday - The Bahamas

On Monday Trent and went on a little romantic get away to the Bahamas for 3 days and it was AWESOME (Cody stayed with Grandma and Hank). It was extremely relaxing and I can't wait to go back again someday! We'll definitely be dreaming about this place next winter.

This is the inn we stayed at called "A Stone's Throw Away"

This is a beautiful 10 room Bed and Breakfast that is just a year old. It is made to look like an old Bahamian mansion, it sits on a cliff overlooking the ocean on the quiet side of the island, and it is absolutely the most peaceful and beautiful place we've ever stayed at. I would HIGHLY recommend it. The staff treat you like royalty - they even have a chef that makes you anything you want every a.m. for breakfast. Our favorite was the Bahamian coffee and the french toast made out of home made coconut bread - yummmmm!

Trent and I on the "honeymoon seat" in the front of our ferry boat to Paradise Island

The back of the Atlantis hotel from our ferry boat

This is the closest I'll probably ever get to Nicholas Cage (or rather his boat)

Paradise!

Our own private little pool with a waterfall - we're putting one of these baby's in our backyard!

This was the view right outside our window

On the beach in the Bahamas

Thursday - Cody at the Skate Park - just a few blocks from the gulf

It's the end of another great visit to Mom and Hank's house

Middle: Hank
Left to right: Emma (Trent's Mom), Cody, Trent Lanette

We're Back!

We're back from vacation and we had an AWESOME time! The weather in Naples, FL was incredible - sunny and in the 80's every single day. The 3 days we spent in the Bahamas was amazing too - we couldn't ask for any better weather! The best part was that we had lots and lots of quality family time - we went deep sea fishing and got to hand feed a 400 lb wild bottlenose dolphin, we rented sea kayaks and found our own private beach to spend the day on, we played tennis together almost every day, my mother in law cooked for us and spoiled us every single day, we ate a ton of food that was bad for us but tasted really good and we took lots of family walks. It was GREAT! I'll post pics as soon as Cody loads them on the computer.