Tuesday morning update: Due to the busy holiday weekend, I’ve decided to leave this post up throughout today to give more gals a chance to comment and enter. The winner will be announced tomorrow morning. Have a great day!

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In the late 1970′s and early 1980′s, I was an average Michigan gal navigating the fun and sometimes stormy friendships of junior and senior high school.

Meanwhile, way out west in California, another gal my age was acting for television, living a life I, like many of my friends, could only dream of.

I spent many evenings watching her on TV, secretly wishing I had a group of friends like she had.

Tootie…. Natalie….. Jo…. They seemed to have it all together. Any problems that did arise between these faithful friends were all solved within the short span of half an hour.

Little did I know that in real life, this beautiful teenage girl was missing out on many aspects of what real-life friendships were all about.

Lisa Whelchel (aka Blair Warner on the hit TV series The Facts of Life) admits she has had to learn about friendship a little late in the game. Now a sought-after author and speaker, (and someone I consider a sweet friend and godly role model to my daughter Kenzie), Lisa has just released her latest book Friendship for Grown-Ups; What I Missed and Learned Along the Way.

Growing up as an actress in Hollywood, there were few people Lisa could trust, and even fewer to guide her. By the time she reached adulthood, she had learned to be self-sufficient. She was strong, she was “safe,”

And she was lonely.

One day, Lisa found that the “the desire to experience connection was stronger than the desire to be safe.” She determined right then to finally understand friendship: how to create one, sustain it, and experience the sheer joy of having it. But it wasn’t easy. This book chronicles her quest and contains many practical ideas for connecting with friends on a more-than-surface level.

Lisa and I carved out time to connect this week for a little chat about her new book. Enjoy this honest interview and then be sure to leave a comment below. One winner will be chosen to receive an awesome friendship basket-in-a-box giveaway. Details below. For now, here’s Lisa:

What first prompted you to write a book on friendship?

Like most of my books, this one came out of a failure in my life. I’d been doing things the wrong way and God taught me, through a recent journey, so many important lessons on friendship. Anytime we go through a difficult time, we should look for ways to help others with what we’ve learned. I want people to know that friendships don’t have to be painful. They can also be life-giving. I want those who have been hurt to know truths that can be transforming in this area.

The subtitle of your book says “What I missed and learned along the way” What is the most important lesson you missed?

That vulnerability pulls people together, not perfection.

What is the most important lesson you learned?

I learned how to identify safe friends.

What do you hope readers gain from reading this book?

I hope they will allow the desire for connection to surface. It is there when we are younger, but often we feel as grown-ups that it is simply not worth it. This may be due to the pain or rejection we’ve experienced. So we suppress that desire and instead settle for shallow relationships. However, deep inside we are still longing for intimate connection. I hope they will allow that God-given desire to surface. He promises to meet us as we do.

Now for the giveaway! Lisa has graciously donated two signed copies of her new book for this friendship-basket-in-a-box. It includes:

• Two signed copies of Friendship for Grown-Ups. One is for you; one is for you to give to a friend.
• A $10 Starbucks card so you can meet a nearby friend for coffee.
• And a set of colorful note cards so you can drop an encouraging line or two to a faraway friend.

Okay everyone, leave a comment on any aspect of friendship to be entered in the random drawing.

Tell us what lesson you’ve learned about friendship.What do you think makes a good friend? How do you wish you were a better friend? Or tell us about your best friend from your childhood or the current one you have now.

Or, if you can’t think of a comment on friendship, then simply leave one wishing Lisa a Happy Birthday. On Saturday she turns…….XX. (Come on now. You didn’t think a true friend would give away her sista’s age, did you? )

I’ll leave this post up throughout the entire holiday weekend and the winner will be announced on Tuesday. If you’d like to purchase a copy of this fabulous book (My favorite so far of Lisa’s) click here. She’ll sign and personalize the book to whomever you wish. She’s also offering a girlfriend’s package with two books at a wonderfully reduced rate.

Well, I’m off to spend some time with my new friends from Summit Homeschool Sports Club as we cheer our boys on at the varsity baseball national championship! I’ll try to Twitter and update my status on Facebook throughout the tournament this weekend.

See you next week!

Be sure to tune back in later this week. Later this morning, I am interviewing my friend, and former star of The Facts of Life, Lisa Whelchel on her new book on friendship.

Lisa joined us last December for a Christmastime interview. She was just finishing up her manuscript then and now her book is hot off the presses!. Lisa has generously donated a couple signed copies to go in a “friendship basket in a box” full of goodies I’ll be giving away. So, tune back in (probably on Thursday depending on Internet access on my trip–read below–) to read the interview and leave a comment for a chance to win!

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Hey all!

Hope your weekend was fantabulous! Ours was filled with company and baseball.

We hosted Mitch’s varsity team for a cook-out before heading to a double header at Cooley Law School Park to watch the Lansing Lugnuts.

Yes, I said “Lugnuts”!

That is the name given to our local minor league ball team that is based in Lansing, the heart of automobile country.

I was pregnant with our oldest son Mitch when the team was being formed 15 years ago. I heard they had a “name our new team” contest going and the winner got a big cash prize. My husband and I joked about it at the time since it was suggested they were looking for a “car” related them (such as the racers or the speedsters) I laughed, “A car-themed team? Hey! they could call them the Lansing Radiators or the Lansing Lugnuts!”

Too bad I didn’t enter the stupid contest!

Anyway, our younger son also had a tournament with three games this weekend and then our older one had tryouts last night for his summer team.

Just added some apple pie and several trips in our 1999 Chevy and our All-American weekend was complete!

We wind down the school baseball season later this week as Mitch’s varsity team is playing in Fort Wayne at the national tournament beginning Thursday. Then we wind back up again for their summer travel teams.

Good thing baseball is my all-time FAVORITE sport to watch. My eyes and momma heart just can’t get enough of watching my boys bat and pitch and field.

My fanny on the other hand?

It is already a bit tired of the lawn chair and stadium bleachers. But a serious case of “bleacher butt” is worth it to me!

Have a great week. Tune back in Wednesday for Weight Loss Wednesday and then watch for Lisa’s interview and the giveaway!

Sweet Blessings,

UPDATE NOTE: Hope and Kenz actually added their own written rendition of this pictorial tour below. Scroll down and Enjoy!

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Okay…..so this past weekend our daughter turned 19. So she flew home from Charlotte, NC (thank you to a generous donor who insisted on paying for her ticket!) and once her feet hit Michigan soil, it was a non-stop reconnecting party with family, friends and favorite foods.

To top it all off, she brought her friend Hope with her. She is the daughter of friend and Proverbs 31 president Lysa. We had great plans for her that I told you about here.

Well, since I have myself some serious catching up to do from being off-line for five days and hosting several parties, shin-digs and assorted impromptu get togethers at all hours of the night, I’ll simply give you some snapshots of our weekend and be back tomorrow for Weight Loss Wednesday.

Here we go!

Painting toenails during an Atlanta layover.

Hope getting in on the act.

A little welcome at the Ehman Bed & Breakfast.

Here is a close up for you curious types!

Our three kiddos all together!

The gang before going to a midnight movie opening. Hope was going some weird pop thing with her knee.

So to not make her stick out among us boondocks people, we retook the picture and all did the weird pop thing.

Then Kenz's birthday party wouldn't be complete without a raspberry white-chocolate cheesecake made by Aunt Thais.

Or some fun party activities. Here are Kenz and her great Aunt Patty sporting their new butterfly tatoos!

On Saturday Hope got to see a real dirt road. The only other one she'd ever seen was in Africa!

Then it was off to a wedding where Kenz did the bridal party's hair and the redneck groomsmen wore camouflage vests. Seriously. They'd have taken a pic, but the guns the guys were toting may have scared them away!

Being silly on the back deck. (Hey, who is that hunk of a man weed-wacking in the background? I am like TOTALLY diggin' on his sexy, white, middle-aged legs!)

Off to an open house at the Feldpausch Farm for Andrew (child # 8 of 11!) They got to hang out with hundreds of friends and a few cows!

And Hope may just have found her first set of wheels now that she is 16. What do you say Mr. Art & Miss Lysa?

You gotta admit, our sunsets here are sure awful purty

My favorite shot of the weekend!

See ya tomorrow. Go enjoy your kiddos. They’ll be grown and gone before you know it!!!!!

We love you Kenna!!!!!!!!!

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Okay, now it is the girls’ turn. Hope is in green. Kenz is in blue:

“Come on, come on, keep it moving, I’m going to be late.” These were the words of the lady who stood just outside our gate as my sweet southern friend Hope and I exited our plane. It was my birthday and I had decided to bring my good friend back to Michigan so she could see my old stomping grounds and meet all my amazing friends.

You can imagine her surprise when she, who is used to sweet southern hospitality, was all of the sudden being yelled at by a grumpy northern lady who didn’t even work for the airline. Right then I knew this was going to be a culture shock for her.

No seriously guys, she was yelling at me! I only get yelled at when my parents are ticked off the wall at my immature decisions. Not that I make them or anything. After that my thoughts were racing inside of me with wonders of how I would survive northern territory. Michigan to be exact.

All of those worries went away when I got to pick a restaurant that reminded me of home. Good ole’ Fudruckers. Yes, that is the name. (No, Mrs. Ehman I am not cussing.)  After the affirmation of not cussing was dealt with, our sleepless trip began.

The trip was going great including an all-nighter going to see, “Robin Hood”. I didn’t know northern guys liked totally  love movies more than action. As we left the theater, all of us girls were in the thrill of loving the movie. The guys on the other hand moped around with not liking it. I guess that’s a big difference in guys from north or south.

The next day I saw what became the talk of our trip, and yes I was even mocked for this next move in church Sunday morning.

I saw dirt roads!

I honestly had to keep glancing to see if my eyes were adjusting funny. But to my dismay I saw nothing but dirt! Now I’m not talking about a little driveway that leads up to a cute country house. But an actual, legit road people! Do you understand that I have only seen another dirt road in Africa! I’m not kidding NO ONE would let that go.

The whole trip these random northerners from who knows where came up asking how I “liked them dirt roads.” I guess word spreads fast in a city of only 7,000 people. In Charlotte word like that would take years with all 700,000 people. Well, maybe not if people found out about real dirt roads!

Y’all,  I think she is freaking out now. You should of seen here then. She made me STOP the car and not only that but TAKE PICTURES!

I was so embarrassed when a man from our church drove by and asked if we also wanted him to get the horse out, in case she hadn’t seen one of those before either.  Oh Hopie! What else can we introduce her to?

How about some CRAZY relatives!?!?!?! That right we all have them but I am sure by now you have heard form my mom  that we have some of the most…shall we say… unique family members ever.

For instance my wonderful sweet Grandma who wants to document every single thing that goes on, had brought her little disposable camera that could and she was taking pictures of everything and everyone in sight. I left Hope’s side for literally one minute to speak to some other family members and when I came back I saw my Grandma about 6 inches away from her face saying “SMILE SWEETIE”

I’m pretty sure that picture is not only blurry but captured Hope sporting a very hesitant look. I saved her and we had a smooth rest of the day. My Grandma on the other side even got her a little goody bag and treated her as one of the Patterson grandchildren. It was great!

That night we stayed up way too late, as always, and had to wake way too early the next morning to make it to my friend’s wedding. I was doing hair for the wedding and that went well. They all looked great and the only bump, in my book, was the fact that I left my phone 2 hours away from home and was phoneless for the weekend.

However, I think it was just what I needed. Now, Hope’s interpretation was a BIT different. So why don’t we let her, the girl who has her WHOLE wedding planned out down to “How many inches she is going to walk form the car to the chapel” fill you in on her thoughts about this small town wedding:

Let me just start out by saying my wedding will be a bit different than this one. Kenzi was asked to do hair for the bridesmaids. We arrive and everything is very chill. Even down to the fact that the grandma of the bride forgot to slip pants on!

After doing hair we ask when the best time would be for Kenz and I to slip out and get lunch. Not thinking we would stop WITH THE BRIDE on the way to her own wedding in a college girl’s gallopy instead of a limo!

Even running late, the bride was chill. I was shocked. My wedding will be well thought out all the way to … well… I think Kenz already stated it.

Anyways, we arrive with bride and since it was an outside wedding in a shooting range there was nowhere she could wait and hide. So we drive Kenz’s friend Laura’s car as far up as we could without showing the bride off to everyone. We then left the bride there hiding and waiting to walk down the isle and marry the man of her dreams.

That very man was wearing camo along with his groomsmen. After watching the oh so long 10 minute long ceremony we were off. Off to search for Kenzi’s lost phone. What should have taken an hour took 3! We drove EVERYWHERE looking for this dang phone. Even stopped by Zondervan Publishers to give a shout out. No one was there. After no luck, we headed back to the reception where some very…. lets just say “happy” people were dancing. This was our cue to leave.

I could see that this was something that was a little out of the box for my curly headed friend. So I decided why not go all out? We headed to a friend of our’s farm, yes farm,. There was an open house going on and so we hung out a bit there. Did all the usual farm activities; saw the cows, got pictures with the cows, and even the tractors.

Then we headed with all my close friends to the good ol’ Wheel, a local 24 hour diner where you can get anything you want at any hour of the day. Everyone ordered and when I kindly asked the server if she could come back for my order she threw the menu down in front of me and proceeded to tell me that “Everyone else’s order was already in.”

Hope’s jaw Dropped. She no longer says I am the rudest person she has ever meet. Nope, I just meet someone ruder!

The next morning was church and shopping!

We had a blast with my mom and brother. We went to thrift stores and found some amazing things. We also had to do some splurging and Hope bought a Coach purse, and I got my long awaited Douche and Gobana summer bag! (At a deep discount store of course!)

Then back home for my birthday party with friends. We ate food, opened presents, took pictures, and had a bon fire. What sweet memories I have!

Once again we stayed up way too late and the Monday morning proved to be rougher than we thought considering that between Tuesday to Monday we got a combined total of 15 hours of sleep. Not quite enough but some how we managed.

We got up early and packed our stuff in my new luggage I received for my birthday from grandparents. Then headed to the airport, and of course had to stop for coffee on the way.

We arrived at the airport feeling as thought we were just there being yelled at to get off the plane not too long ago. Now we were getting on the plane. However, due to good ol’ Michigan weather we were delayed and missed our connecting flight.

We sat in the airport waiting to catch the next flight only to find out it was delayed. We FINALLY boarded the plane an hour AFTER we were supposed to be home.

Well, we were not out of the woods yet. Due to weather in Charlotte we sat on the run way for over an hour looking at nothing but walls considering we were in the last row of the plane and didn’t even have a window.

Eventually we were airborne and then landed, we waited for about 30 minutes for my luggage and then hopped on a shuttle to take us to the parking lot. Now, if only I could remember what lot it was?….

No worries, I remembered!

Well I remembered that it was lot one.

Now what letter was it?

We had to figure it out fast. The shuttle driver was already annoyed at our huge luggage taking up the whole shuttle sitting in the aisle. I just kindly pointed to some random letter and he let us right off.

Completely off. We were stuck. Now we had to find our stinkin’ car.

Not to mention it was POURING rain with every drop soaking an inch of our new purses, luggage, laptops, and most importantly us!

After clicking the emergency button a hundred times on the car keys, and walking a mile… WE FOUND IT!  Off to home we went.

And boy at this time we were happy.

Airplanes won’t be in our radar anytime soon.

Hi all!

I am headed this morning to the airport to get Kenz and her friend Hope (my friend and Proverbs 31 president Lysa TerKeurst’s daughter) for Kenz’s 19th birthday weekend.

We’ve got all kinds of fun planned for Hope as she visits us here in our little Michigan town, population: barely 7,000 .

Hope is from the Charlotte, NC area–population: 671,588!!!

Oh, my!

We’ll be treating her to all kinds of Boondock culture, including a shin-dig on Saturday night at the Feldpausch Farm to celebrate the graduation of one of their 11 children!

That will be held in Fowler.

Population: 1,136!!

I think sweet Hope is in for a little culture shock.

Then again, I hear tell her mama has been havin’ all kinds of trouble with mice and snakes and coons with barking dogs and such, so maybe she’ll feel right at home!

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Congrats to the winner of the Weight Loss Wednesday memory verse challenge. It is:

Carissa; Timestamp: May 12, 2010 at 11:21 am

Send your home address to me at  karen@proverbs31.org right away!

By the way, I’ll be offline until Kenz goes back to Charlotte on Monday.

Have a great weekend everyone!

If you have ever told a friend you’d pray for them and then promptly forgotten until what you thought was too late, you are not alone.

I thought I’d encourage you by showing you what happened when my friend and fellow P31 speaker Marybeth Whalen did just that to me. She wrote about it in today’s P31 devotion here.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

I trust you had a great time celebrating with the mothers in your life. I did! And I loved reading the comments you left about why you love your mom. Congrats to the comment winner of Homespun Memories From The Heart. She is:

Steph; Timestamp: May 7, 2010 at 12:17 pm

Send your home address to me at karen@proverbs31.org so I can get your book out to you right away!

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Something my daughter wrote in her Mother’s Day letter to me really stood out. While I won’t quote the entire letter here (maybe someday I will) what stood out to me was the way she remembered what I thought were small insignificant things about her growing up days; memories that are forever cemented in her mind.

It got me thinking what her younger brothers will remember when they too grow up and leave home. What daily unspoken traditions will they treasure?

I’d like to share one possibility with you.

Ever since our kids were small, I have had a habit of tucking them in at night and asking them the same three questions:

• What was the best part of your day?
• What was the worst part?
• How can I pray for you for tomorrow?

Simple.

Straight-forward.

But a comforting ritual that evokes conversation and assures them that I am praying for their challenges in life. And just because they are both nearly taller and bigger than me now at 12 and 15 doesn’t mean their too big to keep the questions coming.

It really is the simple things are kids will treasure when they leave.

What will your kids remember about the simple daily rituals at your house someday?

Sweet Blessings,

Nineteen years ago, I had high hopes that I’d be a mom by Mother’s Day.

The year before, my heart was heavy on Mother’s Day as Todd and I had lost our first child when I was just entering my second trimester.

Then our second child was due on April 30th that next year and was I ever excited! I hoped I could bring my new bundle of baby joy to church on Mother’s Day and sport myself a pastel corsage like all of the other ‘real’ mothers.

However, that special Sunday came on May 12th.

It came.

And it went.

Still no baby.

While our first child had come too soon to live on earth (and we’ll have to wait until heaven to meet him or her) this baby decided that even though everyone told us she’d be here in late April—the doctors, the charts, the ultra-sound, my own little “count back three months and add one week” way of figuring out when the baby would come–she decided to take her sweet time.

She arrived May 14th!! Two weeks late!!!

And this will be my first Mother’s Day without her.

In honor of Mother’s Day, I thought I’d reprint here an essay that baby-turned-little-girl-turned-almost-19-year-old-woman wrote when she was seven for our local paper. The subject was : Why I Love My Mom. Out of over 300 entries, hers was chosen as the grand prize winner. As a result, she and I won all kinds of mother and daughter items from local businesses including my first (and only) manicure and pedicure. It was such fun!

Here is her winning essay and a pic of her today.

Why I Love My Mom

If all the moms were lined up in a row from here to the town of Westphalia and they all had on pretty party dresses with their hair in a bun and tap shoes on and my mom had on old sweats with baby burp-up on it……I’d still pick her.

My mom is a fun mom. She lets me bake cookies with her. She makes me chickin and dumplin’s. She lets me play with her lipstick and real scissors and craft stuff. She reads to me every night and teaches me about Jesus.

And even though she gets very sick when she is pregnant she still gave me two baby brothers to play with.

That’s why I love my mom.

Mackenzie, age 7

Okay, now…..why do you love your mom?

One winner will be chosen to receive a personalized copy of my book Homespun Memories for the Heart: More Than 200 Ideas to Make Unforgettable Moments It provides simple, doable ideas for celebrating with the children in your life be they your kids, grand-kids, nieces and nephews or school children. It covers holidays, holy days, and even daily days, like the first day of school, when they lose their first tooth of get their driver’s license. There are also many party ideas for showers, birthdays, reunions and retirement. It is chock full of recipes, gift ideas and even re-producable invitations and such. You can check it out here.

Mother’s Day Blessings,