Sports World in So Cal

Last week I was able to speak for
Sports World again, but this time
it was in my home town and surrounding
cities!

The best part, was that my first
assembly was for Seniors at my
old High School:
Don Lugo HS in Chino, CA

It was so fun to be back and talking
to students about what I've learned
since sitting in those same seats :)

It was great to see familiar faces:
Athletic Director and Baseball Coach:
Joe Marcos and Activities Director:
Connie Weeks

My former softball coach, Coach
Sheffield, even stopped by! I
have such great memories from
my time playing softball at DL!

He's a good coach: Just look at these
credentials: (my years were '89-'92)

Honored to be up on the Hall of Fame
(yep, Diana Taurasi went to the same
High School as me!)

Next stop was Miller Middle School
in Riverside, CA

I spoke 6 times in 2 days to all their
P.E. Classes and all the girls

The staff was awesome, especially Mr.
Jones! What great teachers this school
has.

Thursday I went to Hidden Trails Elementary
in Chino Hills. The principal, Mrs. Fellows,
was my brother's 6th grade teacher! Good
thing I had time afterward to hang out because
I signed a lot of cards, and some arms and
shoes!

They made this cute welcome sign for me.

The last school for me was
Lincoln Alternative Elementary School
in Corona. The principal, Mr. Scott,
was wonderful to work with and very
excited to offer his students this
assembly. They were a great crowd
and had the best questions after I
was done speaking!



I was once again grateful for the
opportunity to speak to students and
share the importance of PACT:
Passion
Attitude
Choices
Teamwork

I thank God for all the doors He opens!

Mommy & Me Tea

Drew's Class held a Mommy & Me Tea for
all the moms

They spent time making us feel special and
reminding us how special this time with
our little ones really is.

We had lots of treats: cupcakes, rice
crispy treats, chocalte.

The kids performed a song for us. You could
tell they practiced a lot for it.

Drew loves his teachers:
Mrs. Martinez and Mrs. Rupright

I am thankful for all that they are
teaching Drew, but even more thankful
that they love Jesus and the Bible is
the foundation in their class.

Be strong and courageous

In Joshua 1:6-9, God tells Joshua to
be "strong and courageous" 3 times.
The words "be strong" is chazaq
(kah-zahk). It means: strong, valiant,
manly, strengthened, established, firm,
fortified, mighty.

This is also what God told Joshua in
those same verses:

*You shall divide the land as an inheritance
that I swore to their fathers to give them
(God always fulfills His promises)

*Observe to do according to all the law
that Moses commanded you
(Obedience is important!)

*Do not turn from it to the right or to the
left
(Follow the straight and narrow path because
it leads to life)

*Do not let the Book of the Law depart from
your mouth
(We must KNOW God's Word in order talk about
it and follow it)

**Do according to all that is written in it.
(We need to believe and follow ALL of God's
Word, not just areas that we like)

*For then you will make your way prosperous
and have good success
(God will bless His children if we follow
His commands)

*Do not be afraid
(Fear can hold us back from getting us
to where God wants us to be)

And most important of all:

**". . .the Lord your God will is with you
wherever you go. (Always, everywhere,
forever!)

God wants each of His children to be
"strong and courageous", but it can be
hard at times. Sometimes if feels like
we are swimming against the current
with big rocks in our way! We need to
remember, these commands are from the
Living God who dwells within those who
know Him personally. He will bring us
into our own promise land that He has
planned for us (though He promises us
riches of His grace, not necessarily
monetary riches!), but we need to make
sure to do what His Word says, meditate
upon it and not be fearful.

God IS with us everywhere we go. . .
therefore we can GO and BE
strong and courageous!

Old pics = Memories

Last week I was busy speaking in schools on
Tues, Wed, and Thursday and at the Fred Jordan
Mission on Friday. This week is much slower
and I'm having some fun finding old pictures
and scanning some of them.

Here are two that I found:

2004 Olympic Gold: USA Softball: Signed
Sports Illustrated



My early days of playing: one of only a few
photos I still have of me when I was younger
in softball (the hat is awesome!)

Those days might be gone, but I love pictures
because they are not forgotten!

All about the CROSS

Happy Easter! This is the MOST significant
holiday of all for Christians! This is the
day we celebrate the RESURRECTION of Jesus
Christ, the SAVIOR of the world! Because
He rose from the dead, He conquered
death and became THE WAY to eternal life!
If we will accept Him as our LORD and Savior,
we receive God's Holy Spirit and become
children of God!
It is definitely the BEST gift I have ever
received! God has changed my life in
amazing ways and given me new life that
I would never know apart from Him!

I was able to share this truth and God's
love with an amazing ministry: The
Fred Jordan Mission in Skid Row in Los
Angeles.
This mission helps those who are in need
and many who are on the streets by giving
them food and clothing and meeting other
needs. For Easter, they gave all the
children filled Easter baskets and the
kids loved them! These are some of the
little ones we met:

Willie Jordan runs the ministry (Fred Jordan
passed away 23 yrs. ago). She is an amazing
woman of God sharing God's truth and living
it out by giving to those in the most need
daily!

There were 4 services on Good Friday. I
shared at 3 of them and an Easter message
was shared after I spoke. I was honored
to give the Easter message at the 4th
service (It was different having an
interpreter speaking in Spanish).

After each message, the people went in
and had a hot meal waiting for them.
Also, anyone who wanted a picture with
the medals came up and we are printing
out the pictures and giving them to
each of these people next week! (Thanks
Robyn!!)

We met people of all ages in life. Everyone
was so kind.

I had my "team" with me: Olivia and Robyn.
They helped hand out my softball cards to
everyone who wanted them and also took the
pictures.

Tom Jordan (who also attends the same
church as me: Calvary Chapel Chino
Hills) helps run his dad's Mission
as well. They were so wonderful
to work with!

We met whole families. . .

and some people by themselves. . .

They all heard the message of the hope
of Jesus Christ shared...

and many responded by wanting to ask Jesus
to be the Lord of their lives!

God's message is clear:

He sent His only begotten son, that WHOSOEVER
would believe in Him, would not perish but have
eternal life!

I told them that the medals are cool. . .

but I can't take them with me when I die!
Jesus will never leave me, and He has a
crown waiting for those who love Him and
that is what I am looking forward to!

But for now, I'll use those medals to share the
message of hope in Christ wherever God opens
the door!

I am so thankful for people like Willie Jordan
and her sons and everybody who serves at the
mission. They go to those who are the most
lost and hurting and offer bread and the BREAD
of LIFE, Jesus Christ!

Happy EASTER. . .Jesus is RISEN!

God's Purpose for ME

"The LORD will fulfill his purpose for
me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures
forever. Do not forsake the work of your
hands."
Psalm 138:8 (ESV)


I opened my Bible this morning and this is
the verse I read. Sitting in church
yesterday, I felt like I wanted to be
more commited to praying and reading
the Bible to my boys. We talk about it
a lot and we do pray together, but I
want to start the day out that way.
Normally, we wake up and we hit the
ground running (they literally run
when they jump out of bed- usually
to the TV to watch cartoons). Enough
about that- I want to be better and
today, I started out in prayer and
opening my Bible and this is the
verse that jumped out at me.

"God will fulfill His purpose for
me."

As I thought about it and kept asking
Jake, "What is the verse again Jake?",
I realized that I was meditating on
God's truth. I was thinking about it
throughout the day. And this is what
happened: What started out as a grateful
thought about God having a purpose for
me, turned into a deeper thought. As I
said the verse out loud to Jake:

"God WILL FULFILL His purpose for ME"

it turned into this:

"GOD will fulfill HIS PURPOSE for me."

It was like God was showing me the same
verse with a different focus. I am not to
worry about My purpose, but His purpose
for me. I believe God gives us giftings
and passions to live out His plan, but
it really put all the weight onto Him.
God is in control, and if I trust Him
and belive Him, His purpose will be
fulfilled. I don't need to worry, I just
need to follow.

I hope this speaks to your heart like it
did to mine. A simple truth, yet SO profound.
We play our part as we learn more about
Him and grow more like Christ. If we will
follow closely, His perfect plan will be
fulfilled in our lives. That is so exciting
to me and I hope you feel the same. I also
love how God meets us when we are obedient
to open His Word. I read it at night usually,
but today I was reminded how powerful it is
to start the day off with a new, fresh TRUTH
from God's Word!

One more thought that came to me:

When I SEEK God, I FIND Him;

When I FIND Him, I LEARN about Him;

When I LEARN about God, I FOLLOW Him;

When I FOLLOW Him, I LOVE Him;

When I LOVE God, I OBEY Him;

When I OBEY God, it shows I TRUST Him,

When I TRUST God, I RELY on Him,

When I RELY on God. . .

HE FULFILLS HIS PURPOSE For Me. . .

and for YOU too if you trust Jesus
as your Lord and Savior!

Speaking

I love to talk! Now, I will admit that
I can be shy when I first meet somebody.
That surprises some people that know me
because of how much I talk. I will smile at
everybody and will say, "Hi," but it
is hard for me to start a conversation
with somebody. On the other hand, I
will get into a conversation with
anybody and everybody who starts one
with me. I love people and I love
getting into discussions.

Well, I have been doing a lot of talking
lately. In fact, more than I would
expect and I am so grateful for every
opportunity I get. This past week, I
spoke at FCA (Fellowship of Christian
Athletes) at Chino Hills High School
and the next day I went back and spoke
to the Christian Club at CHHS. The thing
that is exciting and nerve racking at
the same time is that I never speak on the
same thing twice. I am constantly waiting
for God to put on my heart exactly what
each group needs to hear. I always get
excited when somebody comments about how
something I said impacted them because I
know that it is God who is working through
what He puts on my heart to share.

Next week, I am very excited to be speaking
locally for Sports World. In fact, my
first assembly is next Tuesday at Don Lugo
High School, the school I graduated from!
I will be speaking to other schools Tues-Thur
in Riverside, Corona and Chino Hills too.
On Friday, I am honored to be speaking at
the Fred Jordan Mission on Skid Row in LA.
I spoke at one of their women's gatherings
a couple months ago and was so blessed.

The thought that comes to me when thinking
about speaking in downtown L.A. to people
who have completely different lives than
I do is this:

God has a way of connecting our paths with
people we would never meet apart from walking
with Him.

I am so excited to be a part of their Easter
event on Good Friday. I''m wondering what
verses God will put on my heart for this
specific group but lately have been feeling
like the theme has to do with the fact that
new life doesn't come until we allow God to
put to death our old lives! When we hold onto
the old, we miss out on the NEW life that God
has for us.

God Bless You this Easter season- remember:

It's all about Jesus!

Love leads YOU!

I tell my boys, "The most important thing
that you could ever do is Love Jesus with
all your heart." I tell them that I don't
care about what they will be when they
grow up as much as I care about them loving
Jesus. I know that if they LOVE Jesus,
everything else will fall into place and
God will guide them down the path He has
for them.

I know that my life didn't truly transform
until I fell in LOVE with Jesus. When
I made Jesus the Lord and Savior of my life,
I understood what He had done for me. It
was as I learned more about who He is through
Scripture and as I understood truth by His
Holy Spirit in my life that I began to fall
deeper in LOVE with Him. It was falling in
LOVE with Jesus that helped me to desire
His will for me above ALL else that this world
offers. Anytime I am tempted by following
something that takes my focus off of
God, I am reminded by my love for Jesus that
it does not compare to what God offers me.
His LOVE for us changes us, and made Him
give up His life for us, but it's our love for
Him that will make us desire to be more like Him.

I just read these verses in my Bible and here is
this exact truth from over thousands of years
ago: (Joshua is speaking to 3 Isrealite tribes)

Joshua 22:5: "But be very careful to keep
the commandment and the law that the servant
of the Lord gave to you: to LOVE the LORD your
God,to walk in all His ways, to obey His
commands, to hold fast to Him and to serve Him
with all your heart and all your soul."

Here is what stands out to me: First of all,
we need to be VERY careful to keep God's Word.
We do that by immersing ourselves in it through
reading the Bible, church, hearing it on the radio,
worship, etc. But this is the command that went out:

LOVE God

WALK in His ways

OBEY His commands

HOLD FAST to Him

SERVE Him with all your heart and soul

That is so powerful: LOVE, WALK, OBEY,
HOLD FAST and SERVE.

Impossible to do without God, and possible
only with God. We need to know the Bible for
ourselves. When we do, God teaches us and
transforms us so we can do all these
things.

But MORE than that: I believe the first command Moses told them was to LOVE God because He knew that love leads to the
others! Like I said earlier, when you LOVE
Him and understand His incomparable and
unconditional love for you, you will desire
and have strength to:
WALK, OBEY, HOLD FAST and SERVE!

If it is hard for you to Walk in God's ways,
Obey His commands, Hold Fast to Him and Serve
Him, then you can start by asking God to help you
fall more in LOVE with Him. Read His Word
and you will- I promise! Believe His truth!
Take it all in! Your life with be filled to
over-flowing; not only now, but for ETERNITY!

Happy Birthday Nana

Just want to wish my mother-in-law (AKA:Nana,
Mom) a very Happy Birthday!

We love you!

Baseball Time

Baseball is fun!

It's even MORE FUN that I get to
play on my cousin's team, because. . .

We are best friends!

Micah O'Brien (6) and Drew Amico (5)
Washington Nationals: Eastvale Little
League 2011

Who's turning 4 today?

Lukey is!!!!!!!

We are taking the family to Lego Land as a
surprise to him. Still hoping that
these terrible-twos that turned into
terrible-threes will turn into fantastic-fours!

Four years ago on Easter morning, I had
my youngest boy! I know most moms say
this, but "I can't believe my baby is so
getting so big!"

We did celebrate yesterday at lunch
by singing Happy Birthday to him with
a brownie and ice cream!

God's Timing!

I had the coolest thing happen the other
day. I love how God works when we are
seeking Him with our hearts. I was out
of town all last week speaking in Virginia
and then spent the weekend in Arkansas.
I was supposed to arrive back home around
11pm on Sunday night but my flight leaving
Arkansas was delayed and I missed my
connecting flight. When they first told
me this, I really wanted to cry. I missed
my family and was ready to be back home.
Tommy was great and made me feel more at
peace about it. So I spent the night in
Houston.

Since I took a morning flight on Monday,
I wasn't tired and spent a lot of time
reading my Bible. I enjoy flying because
I am free of distractions and many times
I am able to read more on the plane than
anywhere else. I was taking notes and
writing things down as thoughts came to
me about what I was reading. I am going
through the One Year Bible reading in
Chronological order but am a little
behind. I finally finished Deuteronomy
and was reading Joshua. If you have
never read the book of Joshua, you have
to read it! There is so much great stuff
in that book! As I was reading, I had
a thought and turned back to something I
had read: Joshua 1:6-11. It is all about
God's words to Joshua and commands and
Joshua's immediate response. As I took a few
notes, I felt like I found what I am
to share when I speak May 2nd in Kansas
at Washburn Rural HS Baccalaureate.

Here is how it was confirmed that I
absolutely am supposed to share those verses:

I had written to somebody from the school
asking if they had a key verse or theme.
I hadn't heard back for over a month but
wasn't worried about it.
On Tuesday moring (not even
24 hours after reading those verses), I got an
e-mail apologizing about taking so long
to get back to me. She told me that they
did not have a theme or verse but one
of the men involved in making this happen
thinks that Joshua 1:9 is a good verse.

Joshua 1:9
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and
courageous. Do not be terrified; do not
be discouraged, for the LORD your God
will be with you wherever you go."

I was so excited! God wanted me to know
that He put those verses on my heart just
for this group! His timing is perfect
even when she felt like she took so long
to get back to me. If I flew home Sunday
I know I would have slept on the plane
and would not have read those exact verses!
God is in the details and I recognize it
so much more when I am spending time in
the Bible and in prayer. I just had to
share this because God is working all
the time and He wants us to remember
that He is in control and His timing is
perfect!

Carlsbad

Our boys love the water. . .

The scenery is gorgeous here in
Carlsbad, but it was chilly. Tommy
and I were bundled up in jeans and
jackets.

Not my boys! It was just the perfect
weather to play in the sand and the
water!

They played. . .

and played!

And Tommy and I just watched them with
smiles on our faces.

I am excited about a new company that I
will be able to share about soon, and
we have been able to take a family/work
trip. My boys LOVE hotels! Not bad
when all you have to do is cross the
street and be at the beach! We also
have been enjoying this time by:
playing pool, ping-pong, Uno, watching
movies, going to the beach and going
in the jacuzzi. It's amazing how
much you can fit into a short amount
of time. Making Memories. . .that's
what it's all about!