Sports World: Martinsville, VA

It's been a busy and fun trip in
Martinsville, VA for me. I took a
red eye flight on Monday night out of
LAX and my first talk was on Tuesday
evening with the Fellowship of Christian
Athletes at Patrick Henry Community
College.
PHCC Basketball

PHCC Softball

Gotta get my skype dates in with my
family in CA!

Wednesday morning I spoke at Patrick
County HS and afterward I met with
the softball team.
This was probably the most respectful
group of students I have ever spoken
to!

After I spoke to Patrick County HS,
I spoke to the female athletes at
Martinsville HS.

Wednesday night I spoke at Fort Trial
Baptist Church and was so grateful for
the opportunity. I spoke about:
Passion, Power and Purpose: God's Way.

We had some softball players in the crowd.
Afterward we had some pizza (athletes love
to eat right!) This was the Carolina
Cardinals travel ball team.

Today I spoke at Fieldale Middle School
to the 6th graders and afterward met with
the softball players:

I finished the day speaking at Laurel Park
to 680 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.

Love what I get to do! The response cards are
always such an encouragement to me.

3 more talks tomorrow at Bassett HS and
Magnavista HS and then I fly to Arkansas
for Jennie Finch Softball Camp.

Martinsville Support Team

Every time we do assemblies in different
areas for Sports World, there is a team
of people who help behind the scenes.
This trip, there were a lot of different
people helping out!

Big Thanks to:

Dr. Paul and Margaret Jones:
Former Superintendent and Author
They took me to my first school and
I believe God may have given me a
word through Dr. Paul Jones (we'll see
how God moves and I'll let you know!)

Today I had the chance to visit the
Philpott Dam and Philpott Lake
They are run by the Corps of
Engineers and this staff was
so fun to meet.

The Philpott Dam

Richard and his sister Kitty Lou
took me to my 1st school today and
they were the ones who took me to
the Philpott Dam

It was beautiful

The Team Leader for this whole week is
Barry Nelson and his wife Patti. I have
had a wonderful time getting to know Patti
and love Barry's heart for athletes and
the youth! He is making an impact of
eternal value.

The Davis Family with Fort Trial Baptist
Church who helped put the whole group
together.


They also took me to the famous:
Pigs R Us
Featured on the Food Network and
TLC

I was able to meet the owner, Tommy
and his daughter, Brooke (I spoke
at her school today too!) and they
gave me a "Checkered Pig" sweatshirt.
The food was awesome!

Everybody is so friendly and giving here
in Virginia. I am thankful for all of
the people who serve behind the scenes!

I want to be like Caleb

Have you read about Caleb in the Bible?
Read Numbers 13 and 14 and you will find
that Caleb was a courageous man who
believed in God's promises. Lately,
God has been really been using this
story to remind me how we are to stand
up for what He calls us to.

Moses asked 12 leaders from the Israelites
to spy out the land of Canaan before they
were going to cross over the Jordan and
claim the land the God promised His people.

Out of the 12, the men started talking
about how great the land was but how
strong the people were. Only Caleb
spoke up at first, saying that they
should go and take the land. The
people wanted to stone him! They were
afraid and didn't trust God even though
they had seen the same miracles that
Caleb had seen and were following the
same God. Joshua sided with Caleb as
well, but it was Caleb who spoke up
first.

What stood out to me is that he was
willing to stand up and speak out and
show through his actions that he truly
believed God was on his side. He trusted
that God is in control and if we believe
God, and follow Him and obey Him, then
we can know that God will allow His plan
to take place. This was the same in
Caleb's life as it is in our lives. This
is the same God!

This was the response after Caleb showed
his courage:

"But My servant Caleb, because he has a
different spirit in him and has followed
Me fully, I will bring into the land where
he went, and his descendants shall inherit
it." Numbers 14:24

This is what I want God to say about me:

"Leah has a different spirit in her and
has followed me fully, I will bring her
into My plan for her life!"

I know I need God's help to fully rely
on Him, but that is the desire of my
heart and I pray that you also know that
you can be like Caleb!

Sleep Tight

Do your kids fall asleep in weird positions
all over the house?

I know they play hard. . .

but I think they sleep even harder!

It's like: one minute they are playing,

and the next minute, they are sound asleep.

It's always a good laugh for us, so we run to
get the camera and take a picture so we can
remember these times :)

Gratefulness

"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And
into His courts with praise. Be thankful to
Him, and bless His name." Psalm 100:4

I sit here in my room, on my bed with a
grateful heart. I am so thankful for
my wild boys! I love them so much.
I am thankful for their health and
all their energy, even though it wears
me out. I am grateful for their love
and the fact that they want to cuddle
at the end of the day. I love the
questions that they ask. We have been
playing games lately and I am thankful
that they are at this fun stage right
now: competing and enjoying life. They
love to wrestle eachother, but I am
thankful that they have brothers to
share life with. I am thankful that
they are growing up knowing that the
most important thing in life is to
know and love Jesus. I can glimpse
the unconditional love of Jesus through
these boys: no matter how hard they have
been and how much they test me, I love
them just the same and want the very
best for them. After all, they are
my children and for that, I am grateful!

Prayer Closet: Hearing From God

I am passionate about hearing from
God. It was a journey and continues
to be one to hear from our Lord who
is living and active. He speaks to
us in many ways: through His Word
(Bible), through others, and many
times straight to our hearts by
impressing thoughts that line up
with Scripture, bring Him glory
and are not what we would be
thinking apart from Him. At least
that is how I have learned to hear
Him when I spend time asking Him
to speak to me. It comes in thoughts
and many times in ways that I wouldn't
speak. Before I learned to "hear" from
God this way, I would sit and try to
listen and would get nothing. 5 minutes
seemed like 5 hours and I would get
frustrated. I would ask friends in
Bible study as a prayer request to
pray that I would hear God. My mentor
would pray that as well. Over time and
through obedience of sitting and waiting to
hear, I began having God speak straight
to my heart. I love how my pastor puts
it: "It's your voice in your head, but
it's something you wouldn't say."

I believe God speaks to all His children,
but in the past, I was too busy to
listen this way. I still would learn
from God and be guided by His Holy Spirit
as I studied my Bible, but this became
special time with me and my God. When
I would get busy and not spend time
"listening to God", I would be reminded
once I spent time alone that I am the
one who misses out. He blesses us when
we make time for Him. I also believe
God speaks uniquely to those who love
Him. I am not big on journaling, but
when I would go into my closet and
pray, I started writing down what
would get put on my heart. I would
walk out of my closet and be amazed
at what I wrote down because it was
not words I would normally write.
I truly believe God speaks!

I hope this doesn't sound weird! And
I'll give an example to show what I'm
talking about. This is from a recent
prayer time I had:


With Me, all things are possible.
Possibilities can be a mystery to people.
They might say, "All things are possible,
but they are not probable." I make even
the things that are not probable a possibility.
I make all things new. I am the Creator who
spoke the earth, the heavens, and the stars
into existence. I can and will do all things
that bring Me glory through My children
who are available and obedient. My Name
is the Name above all names and I am
recognized through the works of my
children that are not possible apart from
Me.


*I'm always so encouraged after time in
prayer. I know that God wants to direct
us in His ways and speak truth to us.
My friend and I have started a blog
where we will be sharing what God puts
on our hearts. I would love to hear
how God speaks to you if you would like
to share. I would also love for you
to be encouraged! Here is our blog:
www.prayer-closets.blogspot.com

**Part of wanting to post my prayers
on the blog was after reading a book:
God Calling, I felt like God spoke to
me in a similar way and felt like maybe
others could be encouraged through these
words. God is the only One who should
receive all praise and glory in life, and
my goal is to give Him that glory.

Kids say the funniest things. . .

Drew: "When baby girls come out, are they
bold on their heads?"
Me: "Some babies come out BALD, but some
have a head full of hair."

Earlier in the day talking about some
thoughts about Dad and Mom:

Drew (5): "Dad is a good worker. Mom is
a good softball player."

Jake (9): "Do you think Dad has muscles?"

Drew: "No, only God does."

Me: confused

Luke (3): "Mom, Drew said that God has
muscles."

Drew: "He does. We are weak and He
is strong."

Then Drew says, "Another thing about
Mom is that she talks to God, but
in a good way."

It was a funny conversation! I just
might have to do a video interview to
have these fun memories!

Finger Painting Fun

The boys have been coming home from
Pre-School with some cute crafts and
projects, so I decided to let Luke
have some fun finger painting a couple
weeks ago.

It started out nice and clean and I
made a house and tree for him to
paint.

He was working hard.

And having fun-

so he decided to make his own
masterpiece!

He had a great time and I proudly displayed
his awesome picture :) The joy of being
a mom!

Camp Ashlie Pictures

Sumter, South Carolina

Softball Camp: Camp Ashlie
(This is her actual autograph
copied onto the shirts)

In honor of Ashlie Pipkin: the 11 yr.
old softball player who went to be
with Jesus in Sept. 09. She loved
softball and the community wants to
honor her name. They have held
tournaments in her honor and this is
the 1st Softball Camp they have run.
75 girls attended and we had a great
time.

After the drills/stations were finished,
we hung out and talked and I signed a
bunch of autographs. (Always an honor
to do that!)


Some individual pics


A couple of our younger campers :)


Ashlie's Mom: Brandie

I spent some time with Brandie on
Friday and she told me all about
Ashlie and what they went through.
God's hand was imprinted throughout
the stories she told me.

Brandie wanted to share where they
laid Ashlie to rest. In the distance
you can see the fields and that means
so much to them. Ashlie loved softball!

I stayed until everyone got everything
they wanted signed.

I enjoy camps all over but this one was
very special. I feel like God blessed
us in many ways and we did our best to
honor Him. The girls were so much fun
to hang out with! It makes you feel
good when you have a bunch of 11-12 year
olds that really want to hang out with
you :)

Seattle Pictures: Beth Moore, Space Needle

Here are a few pictures from the weekend
in Seattle at the Living Proof Live Event
with Beth Moore. Kristi got most of the
pictures, but I had a few.

We were happy to be there!

3rd Row, right in the center.

Sat afternoon we went to the Space Needle.


The sun came out just in time and the view
was amazing!