Who wants to go to Cancun and Playa Del Carmen with me in February or March???

Here's a video from our friend Pastor Doug in Playa del Carmen who is building an incredible ministry in the Mayan village of Chan Chen.

I'm in the beginning stages of forming a team to go in February or March to work with Back 2 Back Ministries with orphans in Cancun, do some work with Pastor Doug in the Mayan village of Chan Chen AND also experience some awesome beach time and personal growth time. WHO WANTS TO GO???

What is a Butterfly?

“Tell me Sir, what is a butterfly?” asked Yellow the caterpillar.

'It’s what you are meant to become.

It flies with beautiful wings and joins the earth to heaven.

It drinks only nectar from the flowers and carries the seeds of love from one flower to another.”

“Without butterflies the world would soon have few flowers.”

“It can’t be true!” gasped Yellow.
“How can I believe there’s a butterfly inside you or me when all I see is a fuzzy worm?”

“How does one become a butterfly?” Yellow asked pensively.

“You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”

“You mean die?” asked Yellow.
“Yes and no…What looks like YOU will die, but what’s really you will still live.”
“Life is changed, not taken away. Isn’t that different from those who die without ever becoming butterflies?”

(From the book "Hope for the Flowers" by Trina Paulus)

God, I don't want to live falsely, in self-imposed prisons and fixed,
comfortable patterns that confine my soul and diminish the truth in me.
So much of me has gone underground.
I want to let my soul out.
I want to be free to risk what's true, to be myself.

Set free the daring in me…
the willingness to go within, to see the self-lies.
I'll try to run away, but don't let me.
Set me on a journey toward wholeness.

I'm scared, God. Make me brave.
Lead me into the enormous spaces of becoming.
Help me see your face shining in the night of my own soul.
Help me to break free and risk becoming the person you created me to be.

Tomorrow I may regret these words, but tonight I speak them,
for I know that you're somewhere inside them…
I know you love me and won't leave me alone in their echo.

(Adapted from a prayer by Sue Monk Kidd)

I Wanna Set The World on Fire

A couple of years ago I made this video as a way to express a prayer to God that I couldn't seem to put in words...so I used pictures. Most of the pictures are mine and are from mission trips to Mexico and India. I meant this prayer from the bottom of my heart and I kind of forgot about it until today.

I'm amazed at how 3 years later all of the things I was asking God for were set in motion that day and are starting to come to happen! Pay attention to your dreams. God has put them there for a very special reason!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mexico Update

Hello Friends!

As you know, Trent and I are hoping to do missions work in Mexico (specifically the Riviera Maya) some day soon. We went in February to start the process of figuring out what we are supposed to do and are planning on continuing to go back until something develops. We were thinking we were going to have to start our own missions agency, which we have no idea how to do, but are trusting that God will make a way.

Well, God has made an amazing thing happen! My good friends Matt and Julie Cooper are opening a second site of Back2Back ministries in Cancun to serve the orphans and the children who are left to raise themselves while their parents work 12 - 16 hours a day in the hotels. These kids are being preyed on and used in human trafficking and Matt and Julie are going to move to Cancun to help fight against human rights violations. Now Trent and I don't have to figure out what we're supposed to do in Mexico, we have an awesome organization that will be in place that we can bring teams to without having to start our own!

B2B is the mission organization I worked with in Monterrey, Mexico when I took teams of high school students on mission trips. We are very excited to be able to partner with friends and a mission agency we love and trust! My favorite part of taking those teams to Mexico was watching the transformation that happened in just one week when kids were removed from their comfort zone, removed from video games and cell phones and were able to focus on and serve others...to see that it's not just about us in here in America...there's a whole world out there that needs us to get out of our bubble and help! Amazing, amazing things happened in people and changed them forever! That's what I hope to have a part in someday soon!

Family Christian Book Stores has offered to match any donations they receive up to $15,000. Could you find it in your heart to help Matt and Julie with their move so they can get started right away in this global fight against human rights violations? $5 turns into $10....$25 turns into $50....you get the idea. Any amount will help them and it will also help us (The Rajski's) in our mission.

You can read more about Back2Back or make a donation at www.back2backministries.org . Trust me, there isn't a better mission organization out there...I'm so excited to get the opportunity to partner with them and hope that you will help!

Love and Peace, Lanette

P.S. I'm hoping to form a team and be one of the first to go to Cancun to help Matt and Julie get started. Let me know if you're interested. We'll do some mission work and we'll do some vacationing and sightseeing too!

New Back2Back Ministries site in Cancun!

Blog post by Julie Cooper, Back2Back Ministries
(See the original article HERE)

This fall, Back2Back will be expanding, by opening a second site in Mexico, specifically in Cancun. Staff will help in the fight against human rights violations against children and provide “care for today, hope for tomorrow” to orphans in need. Below, Julie Cooper, who will be heading up this site with her husband, Matt, explains how the idea began:

My husband, Matt, with two siblings from San Jose Children's Home in Cancun, during a visit to the area in March. I want to share with you a little bit of the story behind us going to Cancun. This won’t cover every angle but mostly that which involves us personally. In the fall of 2008 one of our SMCA (the school on campus) teachers held a fund raiser to help an organization that works in areas where human rights are being violated. I was interested to learn more about this organization so I visited their web site to see what kind of work they were involved in. I was struck by an article about the great need in Cancun and how poor and street children are at incredible risk there. It just kind of became a burden to me. I thought a lot about the kids and their needs and began to wonder if Back2Back could maybe someday be “back to back” with the work that was going on in this city.

Later in the fall of 2009, Back2Back decided that it was time to branch out and begin work in another Mexican city. By this time, I had shared with pretty much everyone what I had read about Cancun. However, back in the US office while researching options, our team was unable to find even a word about Cancun on this organization’s web site. Apparently, they don’t even work there! Whatever it was that I read over a year ago, was clearly God’s way of bringing this area of Mexico to our attention. Many associate Cancun with beaches and hotels – not with the thousands of children in need. Some are living in children’s home but many, many more are at home unsupervised while mom is gone twelve hours a day trying to earn a living working in one of the hotels. Older kids often turn to the streets. Below is first-hand insight into the situation in Cancun, as reported by Chris Hawley, of Republic Mexico City Bureau:

Cancun is a place of brilliant turquoise waters and cool white sand, tropical breezes and icy margaritas, glittering hotels and immaculate streets. That’s the Cancun seen by some 4.6 million visitors a year, making this tiny island one of the world’s biggest tourist destinations, a major source of cash for Mexico and the model for new resorts from Tunisia to Thailand.

But there’s another Cancun just beyond Kilometer Zero, the place on Kukulcan Avenue where the vaunted Hotel Zone ends. And things are not so idyllic there. It’s a city of 500,000 struggling with the social ills of a frontier boomtown: crime and poverty, drugs and gangs, political unrest . . . It’s a place of gritty “superblocks” where hotel workers live in cinder-block houses, and of even poorer areas where squatters build shanties out of scrap wood and old advertising banners.

“If the tourists knew where we live, they’d understand what Cancun is really like,” said María Eternidad Jiménez Orinano, standing in the door of her scrap-metal home in the Tekach neighborhood.

Back2Back will work to meet the needs of the children in the area and offer opportunities for short-term mission teams to partner with us as we serve.

God has worked in His own time and I am encouraged by that as I think about the obstacles that still stand in our way. I’m going to write about it in my journal right now, so that next year I can look back again at our Faithful God who supplies all of our needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus and see how He was again faithful!

Video Story about our trip to Mexico

Earth Day 2010 - Powerful Video

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In a world filled with hate
we must still dare to HOPE

In a world filled with despair
we must still dare to BELIEVE
-Michael Jackson-

You can’t wait for the world to change,
YOU must do something about it

Stay with the video all the way to the end - it's worth it!!

We can all make a difference if we work together!

10 Easy Things You Can Do To Help Save The Planet

So you want to help the environment but think there’s not much you can do?
Rubbish!

Below is a list of just ten things you can do in and around your home that will help.


1. Take a four minute power shower

2. Take reusable bags with you when you go shopping

3. Turn off lights and appliances at the switch when not in use

4. Sign up to Green Power with your electricity supplier

5. Buy the most energy and water efficient appliances you can afford

6. Put your food or plant scraps in the compost or worm farm

7. Look for products without unnecessary packaging

8. Walk, cycle or use public transport when you can – and leave the car at home

9. Grow plants native to your area in your garden

10. Go green when you clean


Read the entire article from "Sustainables" HERE - it has click throughs that explains each item on the list

Today is Cancun's 40th Birthday

Today is Cancun´s 40th birthday! And still the youngest city in the entire country… It's hard to believe that it's only been around 40 years. 20 years ago we went to Cancun for the first time, so we've known it half it's life - lol.

Here are some interesting facts:

Kaank'uun is a Mayan name that means “nest of viper snakes” (yikes!)

Cancun was a desolate island inhabited by a small group of Mayan fishermen.

In the 1970’s the Mexican Government decides to build a tourist destination funded by a 27-million dollar loan from the Inter-American Development Bank. During the 70’s there were hardly any tourists in Mexico.

Today Cancun has over 27,522 hotel rooms operations, hundreds of bars and restaurants, exclusive golf courses, marinas, eco parks, museums, shopping centers, cultural richness, entertainment, and more.

You can read the entire article and see a very cool slideshow of old pictures of Cancun HERE.

Article provided by www.cancungreatvacations.com

Beauty in the Mayan Riviera

Here's a montage of my best shots from my photo shoots in Mexico - Sit down, relax and ENJOY!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Live Every Day Like It's Paradise!

My step Father-in-law Hank DeValk passed away last Tuesday after suffering from Alzheimers. He was a great man – a gentle and kind man with a quiet dignity, a positive and happy attitude and a laugh that would light up the room. Having him in my life was such a blessing and I’m so grateful for the time we got to spend with him.

Hank and Emma spent the winters in Naples, Florida and every year my family would take a trip down to visit them. You know, you never really know someone until you live with them for a period of time, and I felt like I really got to know Hank during those visits.

Hank would always wake up happy and smiling. He would come out of his bedroom dressed, shaved and looking so sharp for the day. He would come out to the lanai where we would be drinking coffee, whistling all the way. As soon as he would see us he would get a big smile, tell us good morning, then look around outside of his lanai and exclaim “Just Another Day in Paradise”. He would stand there for a little bit and take it all in – the grapefruit and orange trees, the water flowing by in the channel, the groomed palm trees in his yard, the pelicans flying by – he savored and enjoyed it all and that is how he started his day.

I’ve adopted that saying, “Just Another Day in Paradise”, and I have it hanging outside our door at our cottage. It’s just 5 words, but through those 5 little words, Hank taught me a lot . . .

• Choose Paradise - It doesn’t matter what you’re going through or what struggles you have, waking up in the morning and starting your day with a positive and happy attitude can make a big difference in your life and in the lives of people around you. We can choose to live every day like its paradise or like its hell on earth – I choose paradise and hope to spread that around to people.

• Stop and Notice -There’s paradise everywhere, all around us, if we would just take the time to look around and notice it. Stop and take time to breathe it in and enjoy all of the beautiful moments that happen every day.

• Your Extreme Self - A teacher that I love, Erwin McManus, says that as we get older we become “extreme versions” of ourselves. Meaning that as we age, our true essence comes out more and more. You’ve seen older people who are bitter and mean, right? That’s an extreme version of who they were when they were younger – there was a little bitterness there, and as they got older it grew until it became extreme. You’ve probably also seen elderly people who are very gentle and kind too, that is an extreme version of what was important to them when they were younger. As Hank’s Alzheimers progressed, there were some symptoms of that terrible disease that were not him. But mostly what oozed out of him was kindness, love and respect. When he was at his worst, he still was so sweet and grateful, always quick to say thank you for whatever it was you were helping him with, even if he didn’t remember your name. One of Hanks last acts of kindness when he was so weak was to rally up enough strength to bring Emma’s hand up to his face and kiss it. I want to be very aware and very careful of what I carry with me as I age. I want my “extreme self” to be extreme with good and loving things, not bitterness or selfishness.

• No Regrets - Hank’s 3 children did not live close to him and there was some concern when he married Emma because his wife of 55 years hadn’t been gone very long (understandable). No one from Hanks side of the family attended the wedding. The first time both families were all together was at his memorial service last Saturday. They had lost 9 years of time and building memories with their father … and not just any years, his final years. I learned a very big lesson from this – I want my friends and family to know how much I love them and value them while they are alive. I don’t want hurt feelings and disagreements to come between us and fester. I don’t ever want there to be regret when it’s time for someone I love to end their journey here on earth. In deep, connected relationships there is pain and risk – but even though it’s hard, I’m going to commit to pushing through the mess, have those tough conversations and work hard to build memories and connect with my loved ones on a deeper level.

• Integrity & Commitment - Hank was the kind of person that if he said he was going to do something or said he would be there, you could count on him. It seems like we have lost this kind of integrity and commitment. Come on people – if someone cares enough to invite you to something, then GO! If you say you’re going to do something, then DO IT! And for heavens sake, if someone takes the time to invite you to something, could we have some manners and at least RESPOND to it instead of ignoring it? Be a person your friends and family can count on. We’re all so wishy-washy, it’s just a shame (myself included). The older generation had such great manners and respect for people. I think it’s time we learn from them and get some of our manners and respect for other people back.

• Happy Hour - I learned the beauty of “Happy Hour” from Hank. When we were in Florida we would always have Happy Hour – a glass of wine (or for him it might be a little scotch on the rocks) and some shrimp cocktail or some kind of snack. What’s valuable about this is not the drinking – we could have had Diet Coke or Iced Tea and it would have been just as good. It was about stopping what was going on for a little while, connecting, telling stories and having fun together. How great would life be if we would put “Happy Hour” into practice more? Again, it’s not about the cocktails, but about doing some thing that makes us happy . . . spending time with people we care about laughing and enjoying each other.

I still have a lot to process through all of this. I’m so grateful for every person that has crossed my path because through them there is always something to learn. Right now I am processing what kind of friend I plan to be and who I want/need to invest in for a deeper relationship. It is so true that in tough times you find out who your friends really are.

Thank you so much to my friends and family who supported us through the last week. Gary and Donna, thank you for being more than friends to Trent and I, you are like family. Uncle Bruce and Dani, thank you for taking time to be there for us, we love you and appreciate you. Debbie, thanks for the phone calls and the offer to help, it meant so much. Thank you Beth and my Mom for checking in on me and making sure we all are doing okay.

Thank you, Hank, for teaching me so much about life in such a short time. I promise I will live every day like it IS another day in paradise, no matter what my circumstances.

Toy Drive for Needy Children of the Yucatan

Here's one of our Charity Projects we are partnering with while we're in Mexico. The town of Akumal has organized a Toy Drive every Jan. 6th in honor "Three Kings Day" - here's more info from their website:

"Día de los Reyes Magos, “Three Kings Day” or “Epiphany”, is the most special day of the year for children throughout Mexico, and historically portrays the arrival of the Wise Men in Bethlehem bringing gifts to baby Jesus.

However, many children in the Mayan rural villages have never experienced the joy of receiving a toy from the Reyes Magos. Help us change this!!

This past January 6th, vacationers brought a toy to donate, money was collected to buy toys, and over 500 children received a special gift from the Reyes Magos which they normally would not have."

If you would like to be part of this project, we would be happy to shop for you while we're down there and deliver your toy(s) to Akumal. (We are not taking toys with us. Instead we will purchase them while we're down there because the American dollar is pretty high right now AND because of the high cost of taking extra luggage on the airline.)

Let me know if you're interested in participating and I will take care of the rest! Message me at revolutionchick@comcast.net .

The kids will be soooooo happy and grateful for your support - you can make their day and let them know they are loved with just $5 or $10!!

Akumal Toy Drive web page - http://www.akumaltoydrive.com/index.htm

A New Year's Prayer for 2010

God of our yesterdays, our today, and our tomorrows.
We praise You for Your unequaled greatness.

Thank You for the year behind us and for the year ahead.
Help us in Your new year, Father, to fret less and laugh more.
To teach our children to laugh by laughing with them.
To teach others to love by loving them.
Knowing, when Love came to the stable in Bethlehem, He came for us.
So that Love could be with us, and we could know You.
That we could share Love with others.

Help us, Father, to hear Your love song in every sunrise,
in the chirping of sparrows in our backyards,
in the stories of our old folks, and the fantasies of our children.

Help us to stop and listen to Your love songs,
so that we may know You better and better.

We rejoice in the world You loved into being.
Thank You for another new year and for new chances every day.

We pray for peace, for light, and for hope, that we might spread them to others.

Forgive us for falling short this past year. We leave the irreparable past in your hands, and step out into the unknown new year knowing You will go with us.

We accept Your gift of a new year and we rejoice in what's ahead, depending on You to help us do exactly what You want.

~ Author Unknown ~

Cody's Big Adventure starts TODAY! Outward Bound Back Country Snowboarding in Colorado

Cody begins an amazing journey today - he is going on a wilderness adventure with Outward Bound. He will be flying (by himself - yikes) to Colorado and living out in the snow, climbing mountains and snowboarding down them for the next 9 days with a group of guys he's never met before.

I must be crazy, right?! Well, no, although I have thought that myself. I just believe that if you help a kid focus in on what they really love and what they're good at, they will be more successful in finding their life purpose and become contributing members of society.

Cody has shown a lot of interest in pursuing wilderness adventure for a career and he thinks he wants to live in Colorado, so for his 16th birthday and Christmas, we decided to send him on this journey to see if he really does love it and want to pursue it. It's not a vacation - it's far from it - Outward Bound teaches them leadership, team work, service, and solitude. The kids are unplugged from everything they are used to and thrown into the great outdoors to experience life in a whole different way. I can't wait to see what he learns and how he grows from this! Check out the videos to learn more.

Video - Facebook users click HERE to view







Cody will be back Thursday, Jan. 7 - would you please pray for him while he's gone. And while you're at it, you could pray for me too because even though I'm so excited he gets this opportunity, I am extremely nervous and on edge.

Here's his schedule:

Monday - Travel to Chicago with Mom and Dad - have a family day

Tuesday - Fly out of Midway to Denver - stay overnight in a hotel by himself (yikes)

Wednesday - Outward Bound picks him up in the a.m. - they travel 3 hours into the mountains

Thursday & Friday - Training at Copper Canyon resort - they will learn everything they need to know and will practice carrying all of their gear on their backs. This will be the last time during the trip they get to use ski lifts!

Friday thru Tuesday - Living out in the mountains. One of these days will be used for solitude. The kids actually set up their own camp and stay by themself for a day to reflect and be quiet. The counselors constantly rotate between them, but stay back and only interact if they need help. GULP!

Wednesday - Traveling back home ALL DAY LONG!

Thursday - Back at home with his happy Mom!

www.outwardbound.org

What I want for Christmas more than anything else

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No more lives torn apart,

that wars would never start, and time would heal all hearts.

That everyone would have a friend, that right would always win,

and LOVE would never end...

For the Man Who Hated Christmas

This story below was written by Nancy Gavin and originally published in the December 14, 1982 issue of Woman's Day magazine.

It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past ten years or so.

It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas--oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it--overspending... the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma---the gifts given in desperation because you couldn’t think of anything else.

Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler’s ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn’t acknowledge defeat.

Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.” Mike loved kids - all kids - and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That’s when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church.

On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition--one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on.

The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.
As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn’t end there.

You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more.

Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing to take down the envelope.

Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit will always be with us.

Motivation Monday . . . The Blind Side - The True Story

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"If you give somebody a chance, there's hope for that person"

Michael Oher

Who is in your life right now that you could do one small thing for?

What could you do for them?

How and when will you do this?

Let me know - leave a comment!

Lanette + TOMS Shoes

Have you seen the commercial for TOMS Shoes on TV yet? Blake McCoskie started TOMS shoes because he wanted to operate a business that makes a difference in the world. For every pair of shoes TOMS sells, another pair is hand delivered and placed on the feet of a child in need. It’s an amazing story and you can see that at the bottom of the page.

So what does that have to do with me??













TOMS shoes has inspired me to “take a leap of faith” and start a business doing what I love and what I’m good at, while at the same time raising money to help empower women, children and families.

I have just debuted a line of hand made jewelry that includes great inspirational messages and charms. I’ve also released some of my photography, but what makes it different are the motivational quotes that are beautifully placed into the picture. All of my products would make lovely and thoughtful gifts this holiday season.

The BEST part is that 50% of the proceeds from my Inspirational Jewelry and Photo Art line go directly to missions and humanitarian work that really will make a difference in someone’s life. Check out my new store at

www.livehappy4life.com


Will you help me make this dream come true? Please shop here this holiday season and forward this to anyone you think might be interested!!

(If you are in the South Bend/Mishawaka area, you can pick the items up and save shipping. There is a form on every item that lets you skip the shipping charges – please fill that one out if you place an order.)

Facebook users click HERE to view the video or go directly to the blog

If you’re interested here are links to what I am raising money for:

* Sonnyvilla – the local charity that I support – http://www.sonnyvilla.org/

* Kiva – an awesome organization that gives micro loans to entrepreneurs who are in great need – http://www.kiva.org/

* The Rajski Mexico Mission – I’ll be teaching some women in Mexico how to make jewelry and start their own business this winter – you can read more about the trip at http://lanetteonmission.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html

Monday Motivation . . . Advent - Let's stop the insanity!

O Come, O Come Immanuel

(Immanuel means "God With Us")
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ADVENT: The coming or arrival, especially of something extremely important

I've been wondering lately why I've been getting so irritated at the stores and all of the craziness that is involved with Christmas. Yesterday, it finally all made sense. I've been studying Advent a little and am finding that advent means "to prepare for the coming of something extremely important".

It seems to me that the only thing that seems important when you open the paper, surf the net, or turn on the TV is the commercialism and craziness of the season. Budgets are blown, people are stressed out, Mom's are overworked, and the noise and chaos of it all is deafening. There's so much insanity that it's hard to see and remember what it is we are celebrating...

We are celebrating Christ's birth . . . the day that God came to be with us because he loves us so much.

The advent season (the 4 Sunday's before Christ's birth) is meant for us to prepare for the coming of Christ. To think about how desperate we are for his love and light in this dark world. To remember and acknowledge what God has done for us. To serve others and spread the light of Christ to everyone we know.

The celebration part of Christmas doesn't start until Christmas day - the day Christ was born.

THAT was the missing piece for me . . . no wonder it all gets to me so much that I want to run away to an island, put some lights around a palm tree and just be on the beach singing and spending time with my God and my close family and friends. It's all too crazy! It's like 3 months of insanity leading up to Christmas.

(O come, O come Immanuel . . . we need a savior . . . we need your light)

Let's stop the insanity . . . it was never supposed to be like this. This season is a time for reflection, preparation and spreading light and love . . . will you commit with me to simplify, cut back, rest and prepare?

What would it be like to simplify and get back to the Christmas basics?

What steals your joy at Christmas time?

What consumes you?

What do you want your focus to be this Advent season?