to be with my family after being gone
since Sunday. I want to share pictures
from the past 3 days as I spoke at
schools all around Bakersfield. I
spoke at 9 High Schools :
Centennial HS
North HS
West HS
Stockdale HS (2100 students packed out
the gym!)
Miramonte HS
Ridgeview HS
South HS
Foothill HS
Bakersfield HS (1200 students!)
The final count: The past 3 days
I spoke to
7,550 students in Bakersfield!!!
It was another great week of assemblies.
Bakersfield is full of staff members
who love God and they are making a
difference.
North HS students: these 2 freshmen
girls will be leaders!
West HS staff and softball player
Stockdale HS
Stockdale Softball: Valley Champions last
year
Stockdale Principal, Ramon Hendrix
Miramonte Varsity SB (sportin one of their
shirts for my speech)
Miramonte: all SB players
Ridgeview SB: Nisa Ontiveros on the
right pitches for the Corona Angels
and is committed as a sophomore to Cal
Berkeley
My awesome helpers this week: Tom
and Steve who drove me to every
school and handed out and collected
all the cards! Great men of God!
South SB
signing autographs
Foothill HS Varsity SB
Foothill softball coach, Shannon Gregg
The U of A (Arizona) Connection!
Basketball Coach Joe Turner who
played BB at the University of Arizona!
Go CATS! This is one of his daughters
who also wants to go to the U of A.
He is 6'10" and she is already 6'5"
and she's only a freshman! Love it.
Foothill Freshmen Basketball players
Speaking to 1200 students at Bakersfield HS
Bakersfield Varsity SB
Dick Ferris (left) who was the Team
Captain for the whole week and Will
Winn is on the right
Huge thanks to everyone who helped out,
and many who were behind the scenes!
Thanks to Hodel's and Studio 6 hotel.
After I speak, we ask the students to
fill out comment cards. The responses
are very powerful! Many share that they
stuggle with anger, depression, some
deal with cutting, and a lot have
family problems or have a hard
time in foster care. Some are struggling
with drugs and alcohol but there are
also a lot of students that share
that they are drug free, alcohol
free and want to stay abstinent
until marriage. It is very encouraging
to hear about students that are
making good choices and that others
want to change their attitude and
lazy work at school to be the best
they can be. Here are a couple
of responses that I got:
*I am not going to smoke tobacco anymore.
*It really changed my mindset about things.
*This was impacting. I am pregnant and
want to be the best for my baby. I can
keep trying to improve.
*I struggle with depression/anxiety. I
could force myself to havea better mindset.
*I'm in foster care. I can change how I
act and need to change things in my life.
(many students wrote about their struggles
in foster care)
*I struggle with making friends. I can try
to talk to people. I want to be a new person.
A ninth grader wrote:
*Thank you, you inspired me and I'm glad
you know the Lord. I will keep you in my
prayers.
*I think this was fun. I'm a foster child
and it's hard for me to move homes all the
time. I would just change it by finding
a good home that loves me.
*Such an inspiration! I love seeing a woman
of God so strong in her faith. I will
strive everyday to strengthen my walk with
God. I want everyone to see God's love in
me.
*My dad's an alcoholic. I won't be.
*I struggle that my dad is a druggie
that I can't stand to even talk about it.
I want to be clean of cutting for a long
period of time.
(my heart goes out to
these students! They have so much
hardship around them- we need to pray
for them!)
*Perfect, you remind me of Tim Tebow.
Strong faith stood out. I struggle with
leading by example.
*Your faith in God is very inspiring. I
struggle with self-esteem.
*Thank you for your inspiring speech. You
are going to make a huge change in people's
lives. (12th grader)
*We love Jesus and we appreciate your
speech and that you included the Lord in
in without hesitation. Thanks! We would
like to be better examples.
A ninth grader:
*I loved how you talked about the Lord. I
play sports too and I know that when I
play for Him and not for myself there is
definitely a difference in my attitude.
Because Jesus is my rock I pray that I can
reach out through Him to those around my
school.
Wow- are those not amazing responses!
These students are our future and we need
to keep encouraging them and speaking
truth. Many of them are willing to
receive it.
One of the students shared his brother's
website: it's Christian Rap and it's
really good! Check out K-Low Here.
I even walked away with a bracelet
that is from BHS that says:
Fist Pump for Jesus (BHS Christian
Club)
So honored to have the chance to speak
to these students with Sportsworld!
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