So cute!

I was looking through old pictures and just had
to put this up! This kid can be so darn cute!

Luke (2 yrs old)

Zion, Utah: Vacation 2011

I love vacation in Zion. There are so
many different things to do and it is
so beautiful there!
We spent time in the river just cooling
off, tubed down the river, had ice cream, had
a picnic, played cards, rode bikes, hiked,
went sight seeing, hung out in the trailer
and somehow we still found time to relax!
Here are some of our pictures:

I still can't believe we hiked to the
top of this mountain! It's called Angel's
Landing and it is a 5 mile hike roundtrip.

This is at the top!














It is so fun to go camping with family and
friends. God is so good!

You have it all

"Hss divine power has given us everything
we need for life and godliness through
our knowledge of Him who called us by
His own glory and goodness." 1 Peter 1:3

Do you know Jesus? Is He your Lord and
Savior? Have you accepted His death on
the cross for your sins? If so, you
are promised eternal life in heaven!
There is no greater gift we could ever
receive in life. I finally understood
what it meant to have a personal relationship
with Jesus in college and it changed my
life completely! Before that I prayed
and believed in God, but I finally gave
my life over and surrendered to God. It
was then that my eyes were opened in new
ways and my life was filled with more love,
joy and hope than it ever had before.


In 2 Peter 1:3, Simon Peter was
writing and reminding those of us that are
children of God that we have EVERYTHING
we need for life and godliness. We have
ALL we NEED through Jesus. We can deal
with everything in life, good or bad, if
we will cling to the promises of the Bible
and God's Word to us. We also can be
godly in a time in our culture that calls
bad things good. We have everything we
need- the Bible tells us that and the
Bible is truth! Who has this? Those
who know Jesus personally.

Many people know this next point already,
but there are also many who don't know
it or don't believe it:
God has a standard to get into heaven-
and it has nothing to do with how good
we are. God's standard has to do with understanding
that you are not good enough and therefore
you accept what Jesus did on the cross. It's
all about who you know and not what you have
done. When we read our Bible and ask God to
reveal Himself through His Word, it becomes
very clear. The problem is that many people
don't read their Bibles.

I just spoke yesterday to a big group of
Chinese students and none of them have Bibles.
They receive Bibles before they go back to
China from the family that is hosting them,
but after telling them how much I love God
and what He means to me, some of them were
asking for a Bible right now. They want to
read and learn about this God they have
never heard about. Something we take for
granted, others want to take in and learn.
God is moving all around us and He wants
His truth to be shared with others. Pray
and ask God to give you the boldness to
share a truth from God's Word with somebody
this week. When you step out in faith, you
will be amazed at how God meets you. And
remember- He already has given you everything
you need for life and godliness so you can
take that step remembering this truth!

Little Update

Hey everyone- I hope you are enjoying your
summer as much as we are. It seems to be
flying by! I have been enjoying more free
time and running on my treadmill a lot
lately. I'm trying to get in shape and stay
in shape, especially after not really doing
any type of exercise all last year! We
had a great vacation in Zion, Utah a couple
weeks ago:

Last week we celebrated Jake's
10th Birthday, went to Raging Waters, and
went to the beach. Like I said, we are
ENJOYING our summer vacation! I almost forgot,
we also went to urgent care and Luke had
to get stitches in his chin because he fell
off the stairs and onto the tile and split
it open. I had to get stitches twice in my
chin growing up, so I guess Luke is taking
after his mom :).

Jake is 10 years old!

I have to throw in this picture from
the Athletes International Conference:


I recently read a book by Becky Tirabassi:
Let God Talk to You: When You Hear Him, You
Will Never Be the Same. I highly recommend
it for anyone who wants to hear God speak to
you intimately. I have had amazing experiences
as I have learned to "Be Still" before the Lord
and listen to Him speak to my heart directly
and many of the things that she wrote about,
I have experienced. I do have to say that
I was convicted and have been committing more
time to God because I know that when I get too
busy, I am missing out on all that God wants
to teach me. I am always so blessed and
refreshed after spending time in prayer, reading
my Bible, and letting God talk to me!

I also read the book: Reshaping It All: Motivation
for Physical and Spiritual Fitness by Candace
Cameron-Bure. It was a good book and I love how
bold she is about her faith. I don't know that
I can be as disciplined as her in what she eats,
but I am just as motivated as ever to keep working
out hard and speaking out about my faith.

Next week I'm heading to Orlando, Florida for the
Under Armour All-American HS Softball Game. This
will be my 4th year coaching in it and it has been
a lot of fun every time. Tommy continues to work
hard for Under Armour and the boys are getting
tan from all the time in the sun. God is good!

On a sad note, a friend who I met while speaking
in Virginia a year and a half ago lost her mom
to cancer last week. I had prayed with tears
many times for them, but thankfully she knew
Jesus as her Lord and Savior and Norma is no
longer suffering but is now rejoicing in heaven.
I cannot imagine Bridget's pain, but know the
only One, God, who can bring her any peace
and comfort. I am so glad that this is not our
true home. Heaven is what we look toward- there
will be no more pain and no more sorrow, no more
tears and no more fears, but there will be
the King of all kings and Lord of ALL lords,
Jesus Christ!

4th of July: God Bless America

Make sure to take some time to thank God
for the freedom in our country! We are
beyond blessed and live in the greatest
country in the world. Many men and
women died for our freedom and today
many are still giving their lives for
it. I pray that God will bless our
great country!

Happy 4th of July

Athletes International Ministry: Phoenix, AZ

A week ago, I was honored to be recognized
by AIM at their 27th Annual Conference. They
gave awards to different athletes in
different sports, but it is a Christian
ministry so the athletes are not only
recognized for their athletics, but also
for their faith. This was the award I
received: (It was hand-painted for all 8
athletes honored).

2011 Athletes International Ministry Award
Recipients are Jared Allen, Minnesota
Vikings - Jana Morris, Cowboy Mounted
Shooting - Nosa Eguae, University of
Auburn - Hakim Hill, UFL Las Vegas
Locomotives - Leah Amico, U of A &
Olympic Softball - Kurt Sauer, Phoenix
Coyotes & Randall Harris, World
Champion Powerlifter.

Larry and Wendy Kerychuk run a wonderful
ministry! Larry was in the NFL and has
lots of connections with Pro athletes.
God is using them in huge ways. During
the conference, there were different
speakers and in the mornings, they held
a football camp for the youth. These
athletes came to the talks and all of
them accepted the Lord as their Savior
after they heard what it means to follow
Jesus!

It was so great to go to an event and
be able to take my boys! It was a
great weekend for the whole family.

During the day, we had lots of time
to swim and enjoy the Pointe Tapatio
Resort at Lookout Mountain: we had to
be in the water in the 110 degree heat!




A couple of the speakers were: Bill McCartney
(Promise Keepers) and Aeneas Williams (Cardinals).
It is so encouraging to meet others who love the
Lord passionately and were so successful in
sports. I am a firm believer that if you
use the same passion toward what you love
and turn that passion to Jesus, there is
no stopping how much God will use you!

The last morning there we attended Phoenix
First Assembly and Bill McCartney spoke.
Kurt Sauer and I gave short interviews.
Pray that God will continue to change hearts
and minds for His glory through Athletes
International!

Proactive Parenting Network Appearance

I wrote a couple weeks ago about Proactive
Parenting Network (PPN) and my trip to
Allentown, PA.
Here are some pictures:

We went to the Iron Pigs Game:
Triple A Baseball Team for the Phillies:

PPN's CEO: Bill Thompson

They had some cool marketing materials

We met lots of people and shared the medals
and some information about PPN with them.

I threw out the first pitch. The game
ended up being packed- I Loved the
stadium and the atmosphere.



This picture was in the restroom:
It's the All American Girls Professional
Baseball League (it's what the movie,
A League of Their Own, was based on).
I took a picture
and am excited because I am going to
their Reunion in October. I have met
a number of those ladies in the past
and they are so fun!

Pool Time to beat the Heat

I love the summer! And my boys do too.
We don't have a very big back yard, so
sometimes you have to just find creative
ways to have fun and cool off at the same
time.

Thankfully it's not hard for boys to have
a good time as long as they can JUMP
around!

The higher they can jump the better :)
Note: they did not get hurt doing this.


We even had friends over to join the fun


Luckily we have friends with real pools too
so we were able to swim with a bunch of
friends one day. Then afterward they
enjoyed a cool treat.

This is Luke's friend, Morgan

I am grateful for our friends and for the
friends my boys play with. We are definitely
blessed!

I hope you are enjoying your summer and staying
cool too!