Debi Hyzdu
Debi Hyzdu, a Lodi resident since 1972, is the director of Vinewood Preschool. She visited with HERLIFE Magazine to discuss her family, involvement in the community and dreams for the future.
LM: What do you love most about where you and your family live?
DH: I have called Lodi home for about 50 years, and most of my family members and friends do too. The core staff of Vinewood Preschool has been together 30 years so they also feel like family. And, there are literally hundreds of Vinewood families I’ve grown to love as well. What’s really cool now is that, for the past ten years or so, there’s a fun re-kindling of relationships with former students who are now all grown up and enrolling their own children in our program.
HLM: How is your heart inspired to serve the community?
DH: Currently, I am finding the greatest number of opportunities to serve alongside the One-Eighty Community, Lodi House, Horizon Preschool and Vinewood Church.
HLM: What sparks joy for you?
DH: When I obey a nudge to step out in faith it becomes pure joy when I see God orchestrate so many means and ends in ways I could never have imagined. It’s natural to want to have a plan in place, but I find that God really just wants me to let go and trust Him as the Planner.
HLM: How has being diagnosed with cancer had an impact on your life?
DH: My husband and I were both diagnosed with different kinds of cancer during the same week in the fall of 2021. Each of our cancers was able to be handled by surgery alone last November, so we were done with it by Christmas, and are still giving thanks to God for the outcome, but also the process, which drew us closer together.
HLM: Top three bucket list goals?
DH: Tour the Holy Land; take a cruise with our entire family; attend a James Taylor/Jackson Browne concert.
HLM: Can you describe a key event that had an impact on your life?
DH: I made some poor choices in my early years that led me along an unfortunate path. God turned me around at the very end of that road, and has used it to make me much more anxious to help others, and far more empathetic with people who similarly struggle. I understand that life is fragile, and people need to be loved and have a community, regardless of their choices.
HLM: What accomplishment are you most proud of?
DH: I was involved with a team of people who were inspired to open a private Christian preschool in Lodi’s Heritage District, and we did it during the height of COVID lockdowns, which was challenging but also a benefit. Horizon Preschool, on Garfield Street at Flora, welcomed its first students in August 2021, and just started its second school year. Horizon is continuing to enroll new preschoolers, and we’re excited to see what God may choose to do through the lives and families of these little preschoolers in the generations to come.
HLM: Do you have a favorite quote?
DH: “Most people need love and acceptance a lot more than they need advice.” ~Bob Goff
HLM: What are you currently reading?
DH: Not in It to Win It by Andy Stanley. I’m enjoying this book because it reminds me of how important it is to be unified as followers of Jesus Christ. Our actions don’t always tell the whole story but our reactions certainly do.
HLM: Favorite food or dessert?
DH: I think I could eat fish tacos for dinner every night. Gelato is my favorite dessert.
