Pam on the phone

So on Pam's blog she is seen on the phone. The topic of the conversation? Keeping me out of a Bible study. I have been blackballed. Unfair.

DLmail 1/27/2009 Pure Joy Bean Spill

Get ready for a thrill ride of a DLmail. I am going to shake things up by spilling some of my beans right at the start. Being a very simple man, I have very little to share. But I have come to a place where I feel I should share the "very little" with you all, calling it wisdom perhaps, gained as I have grown old. January of 05 I purchased my first pair of Maui Jim sunglasses, the Sport model (fitting since I am an adventurous sport of a guy). April 05, dropped them at a Cubs game, sweet scratches on my sweet, incredible, polarized lenses. A quick stop at the MJ home office on Allen Rd. and I have brand new lenses, free of charge. 2006, dropped them again. Went in expecting to pay $60 for replacement lenses this time. Nope, they wouldn't hear of it. 2007, found a stress crack near the screw. New lenses $0. 2008, caused a stress crack near the screw via overzealous cleaning, new lenses...out-pocket-expense...$0. Wisdom pass-on #1, wear Maui Jim sunglasses, fresh lenses every year free of charge.

My daughter loves the potato chips at Panera. One day I ordered extra chips. The server threw them in, no charge. The next time I asked again, same thing, no charge. One time I asked for two extra bags (I put them in Erin's lunchbox...they are natural, only three ingredients: potatos, 100% sunflower oil, and seasalt...very nice). The server pondered the register and then just threw them in. Since then I have asked for extra chips with each order, always free. Seems there isn't a button for chips on the register. Last night I asked for a bag of chips and the guy threw in three. Wisdom pass #2, eat at Panera and order extra chips.

Please use this knowledge wisely. I beg you.

Our kid numbers dropped by about 10 last Saturday. Not sure why, didn't expect it. Kevin, Monica and Zach were awesome with their small groups. We wrapped up the virtue of Resourcefulness and I think Keith will probably stop wearing the hardhat now. I think. Kevin introduced Baggo as an alternative to the tired PS2 games, kickball, foosball, ping-pong, etc. It went over well and will likely be here for a while. Nice thinking Mr. Stewart. Heather Roecker brought herself out of a 1.5 year teaching retirement and presented our last Resourcefulness lesson very well. Good to have our teaching stable bolstered a bit. Would be nice to have a few more, and throw in some small group leaders to boot. Pray accordingly. I cannot give you the info for this coming weekend's small group time, but it will be posted here soon. Also, Cal's message can be heard by clicking right here. One thing, a girl lost her black MP3 player Saturday evening in our room. It hasn't shown up after several looks. Tough lesson. We need to discourage kids from bringing their electronics in. If you see them, let me know and I will offer to hang on to these items for the kids until after church. Actually, I will insist that they let me hang on to these things.

I am sure Jeff Mennel and his girls have appreciated all of your prayers this week (and those that you will continue to submit on their behalf). Rebecca's visitation was hugely attended and her funeral was a great tribute. Gary and Jeannine did a wonderful job honoring Rebecca with their words.

Finally, pure joy. I watched as Sean Allen (Lori E-A's Sean) took little Lane one on one during church so his mom could be in the auditorium. Lane suffers from some obvious disabilities, cerebral palsy for one. But what a joy. His toy of choice, an electric toothbrush. A simple tussle of his hair by Sean evoked joyous giggles. A little toothbrush to the ribs, more of the same. What a blessing to see. I wish more people could find such pleasure in the simple things.

DLmail 1/20/2009 Unmotivated

Unlike Kevin, who was hooked on phonics and writing up a storm Saturday night, I am not really motivated to write this. The news of Rebecca Mennel's sudden passing last night from a heart attack has limited my thoughts. Jeff, Rebecca's husband, just served with us last weekend. He and Rebecca are fixtures in DL. Pray for Jeff and their two girls as they try to accept this all. We know, however, that Rebecca was faithful and she is being rewarded for that faithfulness right now in the presence of her Heavenly Father.

We had numbers close to 40. The trend is continuing upward. Tim joined Kevin, Monica and myself and all went pretty well. Tim showed off some sweet DDR skills and Kevin Elder's teaching was right on the mark. This coming week Tim will exit and Zach VanB will be in. Should be a good weekend as we finish the study of Resourcefulness. The small group info can be seen by clicking here. Our memory verse stays the same, Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." The Bible Story is "God does miraculous things through Moses," found in Exodus 4:1-23, 27-31 . The bottom line is that God gives you what you need to get the job done. Spend plenty of time in prayer as you prepare for this Saturday. If you missed Cal last weekend, here is his message.

We, the Lingenfelter's, caught a bit of a break recently. Last year our Erin decided that for her 9th birthday (2/1/09) she would pass on having a kid party (wooohoooo!) as she just wanted to go to the new American Girl store in Chicago. With our families medical schedule just about to devour all of our time, we decided to give her her trip a little early and it worked out really well last Sunday. We left mid-morning for Chicago under beautiful sunny skies and arrived around 1PM. We were heading north on Michigan Ave. just about to Wacker (just before the river) when Pam questioned, "Hey, is that Sheri Bryne getting into that taxi?" Because of my hipness (I am all about the Facebook), I recalled seeing a blurb on Sheri's page from Dave Marks commenting about her Chicago trip. One quick call to her confirmed it. We were in a city of 3+ million people for approximately 5 minutes when we saw a friend from home. We were in the AG store about 3 minutes when I saw my sister's neice and her family (they live by the Allison's in Cedar Hills Estates). Odd and very uninteresting, but like I said, I am not really motivated today to write anything clever. Maybe next week.

Oh, if you have a minute, Pam has a little surgery tomorrow to put a medi-port in her chest. If you could shout out a little prayer it would be appreciated. Thanks.

One more cold post

It did get colder before it got warmer last week. -21. One to remember.

You have to be kidding!?!

January 16, 2009, 6:00AM...-19.8. I am thinking we could round

this up (down) and call it an even 20 BELOW ZERO!

This thermometer in our kitchen reads 75 degrees (rounded up) inside.

It is on the non-windy side of the house. The windy side is around

66 degrees. Thermostat is set on 68. The furnace never stops running.

This is getting interesting and I don't even know the windchill number yet.

DriveBy Sho...veling

What do a couple of adults, five high school boys and a sixth grader do on a day like today? School is cancelled. 6 or more inches of snow everywhere. 5 whole degrees at 2PM. You grab your shovels, borrow a van and drive around town and randomly shovel driveways and sidewalks of unknown and unsuspecting households. Just serving without the servee even knowing...how sweet. These boys ROC.

Real time at this house, just a touch over 5 min. Lots of driveways and sidewalks cleared. Lots of laughs. And some cold fingers and faces. Chillicothe Campus Life.

DLmail 1/13/2009 Side Effects

Side effects are something my family has learned a lot about in the past several years. I am not talking about the bad ones either. I am talking about the side effects of serving. Pam and I have experienced our church (Northwoods, the largest downstate church in IL) on a small scale, simply by serving in Discoveryland. Let's investigate some wicked good side effects. We connected with Stephanie Elder through DL. Besides being one of Pam's most cherished friends, she is also Pam's "front(wo)man" in her current cancer battle. Stephanie was put into place last year as a physican's assistant (nurse practioner) at Peoria Surgical, the office that houses three of Pam's surgeons. That is so reassuring.

Another side effect, Randy Wilcoxen. I first met Randy in DL as we prepared a little graduation program many years ago for the outgoing 5th graders. It was a love connection of the brotherly kind. Randy is a physician's assistant at Midwest ENT. Our Erin has a shotty history in the ear arena and when her doctor retired several years ago, my new DL friend Randy was there to take over. He has checked on Erin at church and in his home. She had a horrible night last night with a raging infection in her right ear and a quick email and a cell phone call got her in and wha-la, she is feeling better already. Cool side effect of serving. (And yes, this is the only pic I could find of Randy today...sorry)

I don't know if any of you have ever heard of a side effect called Dr. Kathy Arkwell or not. She has only fixed the teeth of about half of the population of Peoria under the age of 35. She has also been a faithful DL servent since forever. We first met Kathy when she spoke to our DLer's about her dad. The timing was interesting as it was 2004, our bad year. When concerns arose regarding Josh's orthodontic work a couple years ago, Kathy stepped in and took such good care of him (and his sister and their parents), we were humbled beyond humble.

The list of side effects are numerous. DL fellow leader Kevin Stewart has become my personal counselor. DL team leader Susan Rychener prays for Pam like none other and is always in touch with her, encouraging her. DL staffer Rachel White has been with us the whole time, from feeding us breakfast in the hospital in 05, to watching our kids...you name it. Another fellow DL leader (Dr.) Monica Stewart gave Pam some much needed input regarding the rehab of her left arm just Saturday evening. DL leader and teacher (& attorney) Kevin Elder is practically on retainer, totally watching Pam's back and letting her know it. DL staffer Keith Lindgren was waiting by the phone to help when Pam was last in the hospital. The captain of DL, Gary, and his first mate Jeannine are always there for us. I could go on and on. I could list side effects from years past. I could list for a long, long time. But you get my drift.

Serving in DL has produced a return for us (and may I add that in review of what I am writing I am feeling a wee bit guilty that we take so much without giving...maybe someday). I/we have seen firsthand the blessing of service in Discoveryland at Northwoods (notice I didn't even go into the blessing of the kids and the relationships and the witnessing of changed lives there, that is a whole other post). My point here was, uh, I forgot...too wordy.

We were three leaders vs. 33 kids last Saturday. Too few, but Kevin and Monica are so good that it went smashingly well. Were we tested? Yes. Are we learning from the kids as we try to serve them appropriately? Definitely. Keith juggled the teaching and worship singlehandedly and all went well. But we do need more help. Connecting with kids in small groups is awesome as long as the small groups are small. That only happens when enough adults step up to serve. Pray for that. We will continue our study of Resourcefulness this coming Saturday. The small group leader info can be found by clicking here. The Bible story is: Hezekiah and the wall, 2 Kings 18:1-2, 5-8; and 2 Chronicles 32:1-23. The bottom line is: Do your best, and trust God to do His part. Our memory verse remains Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." For Cal's mainstage message from last week, click here.

Now...

My camera had a coniption during DL last weekend. The photos I took weren't actually recorded and at one point the thing froze like the battery was dead. Josh and I took the camera apart with my Swiss Army knife and actually fixed it, but the only surviving image from the night was this short video clip. Enjoy.

Finally, I get so many responses when I ask you all to name that tune. Last weeks winner was Emi Ragan, (Be My Lover by Le Bouche). She wins a free subscription to DLmail and an open invitation to serve as the 4th grade girls small group leader any time she wants and as often as she wants, even though she is already a small group leader on Sunday. She also wins the admiration of many of us. Lucky Emi.

So...below is a parting gift for all the rest of you guessers.

Here is a little ditty from my audio archives for your entertainment. Thank you all for all you do.

Pam got out of bed from 1/15/2005

The title seems a little unexciting, but getting out of bed for Pam during chemo was a bit like the Cubs winning the pennant. Newsworthy. This was more of a family update rather than a mass update.

1/15/2005

Pam got out of bed

The battle of the chemo effects continues. Yesterday saw an increase in the pain from the soreness the chemo caused in Pam's mouth and throat, and we saw continued regurgitation. But the sun finally showed up and our temperatures are staying in the easy to add range (single digits). Today is super sunny. Erin spent the night at the Boomer's last night. Josh went to a pool party. This morning he got up early for his basketball game. He did alright, but I think he needed more rest last night as he seemed a little tired.

Erin came home and dug into her Polly Pockets after her shower. Pam even got out of bed and showered today. Then she went totally nuts and put on street clothes, did her hair and her makeup. She is planning to go to church this evening. Hope she doesn't throw up on anyone important. She hasn't eaten anything today, partly due to the sore throat/mouth, partly due to the nausea. It will at least be clear, non-staining throw up. Notice in the photo I just took she still has her original hair. Ten days into chemo and her hair is hanging on for dear life. She is happy about that. She hopes it holds on through Monday. She has a photo shoot that day which involves her, her mom, pinks and pastels, and the largest Race for the Cure in the USA (in 05 it is opening up to men, so it could be up to 40,000 or 50,000 people).

Pam just said she wants to come up with a way to line a purse with a plastic bag so she doesn't have to carry a bucket around church with her. Looks like we have a little project this afternoon.

Hope you are all well. I notice that Fargo and Winnepeg are going to be -20 and -30 respectively tonight. Bet you all wish you were here where we will be way warmer at zero. I also noticed that Miami will dip into the 60's and the Orlando area will be in the 50's. I hope you guys will be OK down there. You could get quite chilled.

About Pam from 12/17/2004

This Pam update captured her up and at em a few weeks after her Thanksgiving Eve surgery in 04. Post surgery, pre-chemo.

12/17/2004

About Pam

So many people have been asking how Pam is, I thought I should send out a little information.

She is healing nicely from the surgery. She is tired, especially this week, as she has had 7 doctors appointments in the past 5 days. The first one of them was to have a tooth removed. This week has been about as much fun as having a tooth pulled. Nothing goes right in Pam's medical world, so on Monday after the tooth was removed, the bleeding wouldn't stop so she had to turn right around and go back in. It ended up being a full day there. By Thursday she had a dry socket and had to go back. Before Pam could call them to return on Friday, they called her and asked her to come in again.

Wednesday was the oncologist appointment. It started at 10:30am at the brand new Cancer Center. It is a beautiful building loaded full of sick people struggling with cancer. This is the largest private oncology group in Illinois and one of the largest in the nation. Our Dr. day ended when we finally returned home around 5:15PM.

What they suggested for Pam is this, high dose chemo IV's every two weeks for 4 months followed by 60 months of tamoxifen (ironically a drug that greatly increases a woman's chance of getting uterin cancer, liver disease and heart attacks). Wow, the side effects are fantastic. Let me tell you, we have experienced a heart attack and cancer this year. If given the choice, take the heart attack. Cancer is proving to be about as much fun as a heart attack...I mean...uh...cancer!?!

Pam has a way of looking great even though she might feel lousy. Quite a quality. Hopefully her hair will be the last body part she loses for a while. She is tired of having things removed. She really didn't want to lose a tooth this week. It can't be replaced for about six months. She is also tired of adding doctors to her list of acquaintances. She added two this week, Dr. Otte (oral surgeon) and Dr. Patel (cardiologist). Pam now has a heart doctor like me. She had to go to him on Wednesday for an echo cardiogram. Because chemo is so toxic, it can ruin vital parts of your body, like your heart. So in between chemo treatments, she gets to go to the cardiologist to make sure her heart still works.

I just kind of read through what I have written thus far and it seems a little gloomy, so I think I should stop writing. But...

...when it seems bad for us we are always reminded of how it could be worse. Right now I am behind putting cards and letters into Pam's binder. I had to switch to a 5 inch binder to hold all the well wishes. She has been so encouraged by so many people. We still get food brought to us about every other night (which I thought we wouldn't need at this point, but we actually do, this cancer thing is exhausting...I wish everyone struggling could be supported like this). We know folks who lost their daughter suddenly this fall to a flesh eating disease. We know a family that lost their son to cancer after a year of battling it. We know another family that lost their son to a disease he had been fighting since childhood. And we know a family that lost their father and husband last week to a car crash. It could be worse. We all need to count our blessings this Christmas.

Thank you for allowing me to ramble on with the last paragraph. It is therapy for me.

Easter greetings with pics 4/14/2004

2004 was our interesting year. I had regularly sent an email update to family and friends from Canada to Miami. Here is our Easter greeting.

April 14, 2004

Happy Easter, a little late.

Erin picked you a beautiful bouquet of flowers. And we wonder why she has allergy problems. Anyone care to sniff her dandelion bouquet?

We were in a hurry to get to church Sunday, so the kids Easter picture setting for 04 was inside the van parked in the garage. Erin really pulled out a great smile.

We took off Easter Sunday afternoon to spend a couple of days in Chicago. It has been a rough 2004 so far and we thought a little time away would be good. We lucked out with our room. We got the 41st floor on the NE corner of the Marriott, which gave us a great view of the Hancock Tower to the North and Lake Michigan to the east.

We taxied it around town and took advantage of our year membership at the Shedd Aquarium. We were there last September and watched the dolphin/baluga whale show from the amphitheater. This time we watched it from below, and it was actually better. The Shedd people are environmentalist for sure, that's good. But they talk so much more than they force the dolphins to do stuff. Therefore, up top you have about 30 min. of some guy talking about polution and just 3 min. of the dolphins walking on their tails and jumping. Down below we can watch the dolphins swim around, and you see that they (the dolphins, who some believe are as smart as humans) are handed a sardine everytime they so much as blink. The kid's dog cousin Boomer would walk on his tail in a pool for that many treats. I think they are smart, don't get me wrong, but I can't give them too much credit. Enough editorializing.

See the beautiful Chicago skyline? I imagine I am the first person to ever snap this picture.

Josh wanted a little time behind the camera. So I thought I would strike a pose. Erin happened by just before this photo and knocked her nearly full bottle of Sierra Mist into Josh's Nike store bag containing his brand new baseball. I can be seen reacting to the spill as quickly as a pathetic heart attack victim can.

Speaking of my status, I made a goal of running the Cross the Line 5K at our church on Sunday the 4th of April. I actually got 2nd place in the 35-39 age category. But before you go and get all congratulatory on me, I was not able to catch and beat the following people who finished directly in front of me: 12 year old boy wearing basketball shoes, a swim suit and a backwards baseball hat; a 65+ year old guy wearing very short shorts and an orange bike hat; and an 18 year old girl in the last stages of anorexia. A humbling experience.

It wasn't all fun in Chicago. We had to put in about 12 hours of shopping. The one hightlight of the shopping was Bass Pro Shops. The kids enjoyed posing by the dead stuffed bears. Both kids got new snorkels and masks and Josh had saved enough money to buy another fishing pole. He got in some good practice with it at the hotel pool. He also got some great practice with the snorkel in preparation for our summer FL trip. Erin also tried snorkeling Monday evening. I was adjusting her mask when she told me she didn't feel well. She then immediately proceeded to puke all over the pool deck. She was up until 2AM throwing up. Poor thing.

But regardless, the following day we still made it to Pam's mecca, IKEA. The photo of Josh in front of IKEA won't mean much to many of you, but to some it will be quite impressive. That is our white van Josh is standing in front of. That is a front row parking space. It is easier to win the lottery than to get a parking place like that at IKEA. Proud moment for me.

Take care. Tomorrow I go in for my lipid profile to see if my intensive exercise and diet regimen have done more than just cause me to lose weight. I am shooting for some really low numbers compared to 2/17, the last time they counted them. I will let you know only if they are good.

DLmail 1/6/09 Another Song To Name

H
A
R
D
H
A
T
S











It was three weeks since I had been in DL, one weekend off for Christmas, then out of town one. It felt good to get back in there. Kevin, Monica and Tim did a great job small grouping. Our numbers were into the 30's again, so I was small grouping as well. Notice I didn't say I did a great job leading my small group. Really, I am much better utilized when I do mundane tasks, but I didn't have much of a choice. At least I didn't have to wear a hardhat. Keith's looked about right, Kevin looked like a gearhead, and Tim's...Tim's head is ginormous (or the hat was too small). Monica, I missed your photo op, but may I say you looked great in your hat.

From this month on, I am betting our numbers will steadily grow. With the exception of this coming weekend, we have four of us scheduled each night in January. That is OK until we start having over 40 kids. Do any of you know any former Wednesday nighters who might want to serve on Saturdays? We really need some help. Really. Direct any people you think might want to join us to Jeannine. Guilt them if you have to...no, don't do that, that would be wrong...I guess it would be better to just turn kids away.

Keith kicked off the month with the new virtue Resourcefulness, right after Kevin kicked off the new year with a little kickball action.

I know there used to be a rule about balls in the factory, but the Nerf people totalled screwed up this ball. It is so porous that it hardly gets lift and it doesn't have enough mass to fly anywhere near the tech equipment suspended above. The kids love it, so as long as Kevin keeps a close eye on the action and until Gary says to stop, well, let's just see what happens. Your small group info for this coming Saturday can be found by clicking here. The lesson is titled Ant Thinking and the Bible story is The Ant and the Sluggard, Prov. 6:6-11. Our memory verse remains Col. 3:23 (C323) "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." The bottom line, and it is a good one, work hard even when no one's watching. If you missed Cal's mainstage message last weekend click here.

No one ever guessed the location of the lamp with the icicles picture from last week. It is the lamp located on the wall next to the door we all walk in to get to church each week. Sorry it was such a tough one. Here is an easy one, and I can't believe I am going to post it, but I owe it to my new friend who lives in Mumbai, India. His name is Aneesh. If you click his name (and this comes with a warning, just like a lot of Youtube sites, you might not want to look for profanity, because you'll find it), it takes you to his Youtube page. Notice his number 1 favorite video on Youtube. This 15 sec. video (below) has been favorited one time (I assume it's Aneesh) and it has been rated once (5 stars, my guess is it was Aneesh as well). He posted a comment with a simple plea, hey wadz de name of the song? Sadly, I can't reply, because I have no idea. It just came on the radio when Josh and I were racing around in that incredible BMW Alpina B7 in July. The music moved me, I danced, and the rest is history. So, the contest is on again. What is the name of the song in this video and who sings it? (This is so painful)

Contest Results

Wow, what a great response to my last DLmail. I had roughly six responses. The prize question was "Name the location of the two wintry pics." Our winner, guessing one of the two...Sammy Waller. Sammy has lived in our area for 4 months, hailing from sunny Ft. Lauderdale, FL. He has rarely seen snow, but quickly replied with the location of pic #2, the Illinois River at the foot of Walnut St. in Chillicothe. No one registered a guess on the icicle laden lamp, which strikes me as odd considering who I send these blog updates to. Don't you people ever look up?

The non-prize question garnered the most responses. Thanks for letting me know the song's artist and title. The winner(s) of the non-contest-non-prize question with the reply Clocks by Coldplay...Rachel White (with confirmation from musically inclined Keith Lindgren). Second place, sharped eyed Sammy Waller, third belongs to my man Kevin Stewart, fourth goes to Sheri Byrne, and fifth goes to a very late entry (like 11:00am today) submitted in person at Geiger True Value Hardware by my farming buddy Russ Jackson. Russ surprised me with his knowledge of all things Coldplay. Man I am out of it I guess.

Sammy and Sheri will both be receiving free subscriptions to my blog. Why Sheri? While being the fourth responder, she actually responded in the comment section of the blog. Gotta appreciate that. Too bad she didn't take a stab at the picture questions.

Sammy will also be receiving a one way plane ticket to the time of his life. Doesn't this look fun! Pack extra undies. (Thanks Rick Byrne for turning me on to this afterschool activity). You have to watch the entire video. These dudes are insane.


wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.