Happy Father's Day 2011

My boys are blessed to have such a great
Daddy! They get so much quality time with
him all the time and we know that we are
blessed by that. Nothing can replace
time together. These boys adore their
dad and it makes my heart happy to see it!
Love you Tommy and the boys love you so
very much.

And Happy Father's Day to Papa, all the
way in Boston. We love you and hope you have
a wonderful day!

I love the book of Philippians in the
Bible. If you have never read it, get
your Bible out and check it out. It's
a short book with only 4 chapters, but
what Paul shares is very powerful. The
verse that I write when I sign autographs
is from Philippians:

Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things
through Jesus Christ who gives me strength."

As I was reading this morning, these verses
stood out and I wanted to share them:

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true,
whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable- if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy- think about
such things. Whatever you have learned
or received or heard from me, or seen in
me- put it into practice. And the God
of peace will be with you." Phil 4:8-9




Thinking about what is true, noble, right,
pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or
praiseworthy is what we are to do. I
think Paul is showing us that thinking
about these types of things lead us right
back to God. I can't think of anything that
is praiseworthy without knowing that God
deserves the final praise.

What stands out to you about being true,
admirable or excellent? I think about
a family that is solid and loving, or
being honest even when it's hard. I
think of a newborn baby coming into this
world and God has given life to that
baby. I think about helping those in
need and praying for them regularly.
I also think about sharing God's truth
to people who are hurting and don't know
the love and peace only God can give to
them.

Paul, who was beaten, thrown in jail,
shipwrecked and much more, knew how
important it was to set his mind on
God's truth or he would have lost hope.
He suffered much more than most will ever
suffer and yet these were the words of
wisdom He passed along. What is so
amazing to me is that the very next
words were: "whatever you have: learned,
received, heard or seen from me, put it
into pracice."

Those are powerful words! I desire to
follow God and be what He wants me to
be and I fall short many times! God
knows that and gives us His grace, but
the key is to being more Christlike is
to do what Paul is talking about- think
about what is right, and then do it. I
want to be a person that says, "Whatever
you saw me do, say and teach you, do those
things." In some ways, I believe I can
say that, but in other ways, like with my
boys when I lose my patience, I cannot say
to follow my example. I will take these
words to heart and meditate upon them.
If I first can get my mind to think about
what is true and right rather than what
is bugging me or making me angry, I know
my response will change.

I love what Paul shared after those two
points:
If we do these things:
"the God of peace will be with me."
(and you too).

Proactive Parenting Network

I speak at schools and events around the
country and after getting feedback from
the students, I realize more than ever
that our youth needs examples and more
encouragement! They are faced with many
temptations and many find themselves in
situations that they don't know how to
get out of. As parents, we need to be aware
of what our children are dealing with and
PPN will be a safeguard when trouble starts!


Click HERE to learn more about
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A few keys to why I am so excited
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*This is a social media monitoring
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It doesn't just highlight a key word
and send out an alert.

*PPN's technology looks at the use of
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it and extracts meaning or behavior.

*It only sends parents alerts when there
is concerning behavior, such as cyber
bullying, sexting, or online predators.

*The website provides parents with
educational materials with the resources
they need to come up with a solution and
start a dialogue with their children about
the issues in question.

*80% of the content on the PPN site is
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Life is like a puzzle

Here's a little analogy God put on my
heart this week:

Life is like a puzzle, but we have to let
God put the pieces in place. When we try
to do things our own way, then we are
forcing two pieces to fit that don't
really fit and the picture is not what
it could/should be. When we don't obey
God, we are making a puzzle that has no
pieces that fit and trying to say it still
looks good. The puzzle will never be what
it is supposed to be- kind of like trying
to put a puzzle together but missing the
main pieces!

The great thing is that when
we let God put the pieces together for us,
even if we've messed it up, He will use
those pieces and make the picture turn
into what He wants us to be for His glory.



Romans 8:28:
"And we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose."

Stopping In. . .

to write just a few things before jumping on
yet ANOTHER plane tomorrow headed to the
other side of the country: Allentown, PA
to be exact.

I had a great time in Oklahoma City at the
Women's College World Series! Here's a
little recap:

Sunday: Was at the Hall of Fame Stadium
ALL day for 3 different games watching to
find out who would end up competing for
the National Championship. I was taking
notes and getting to know the radio
personel I would be working with.



Monday:
Morning:I went to the stadium
to do radio interviews with athletes
and coaches for both Arizona State
and Florida.


Midday: I rushed over the the Marriott
where the Champions Festival was going
on and joined MANY of my former Olympic
Teammates and other top athletes/coaches.
This was a great event where we shared
about what makes a champion and how they
can become one too!




Evening: I went back at the Stadium for Game 1
where Arizona State beat Florida 14-4
and I announced my first ever softball
game on Radio as an analyst. I worked
with superstar play by play commentator
Kevin Kugler who does all the other
championship sports as well as the
Olympics. He made it easy and fun!

Late evening: Ice cream and great talks
with my former teammates. Catching up
is so fun to do! I love these girls!



Tuesday: I had the chance to go to lunch
at Jim Gasso's house (husband of Oklahoma
University Softball Coach, Patti Gasso).
They are on the FCA Softball Board with
me and Bob Pinto (FCA Softball) and Dot
were there as well. It was great food
and even better fellowship. We talked
all about God and how He is moving and I
wanted to leave there and go out and
change the world.
That night I headed back to the field and
Arizona State won the best 2 out of 3 in
two nights but beating Florida 7-2 and
were crowned National Champions.


I was able to fly home on Wednesday and
have a couple days at home and now I'm
flying out for the weekend.

I'm so excited to be teaming up with

Proactive Parenting Network

This is an online safety tool that every
parent needs to know about to keep our
kids safe! I will be sharing more about
this but this weekend I will be attending
the PPN night at the ballpark at the
Lehigh Valley IronPigs Triple A Baseball
Game. I will be throwing out the 1st
pitch and getting a chance to share
about Proactive Parenting Network on the
radio and TV Broadcast along with PPN
Chaiman and CEO, Bill Thompson.

The boys are almost finished with school
and had little Promotion Ceremonies today.




I'm looking forward to the summer! And I
can't wait to share some things God has
been putting on my heart.

NCAA Radio for WCWS: College Softball

I'm flying to Oklahoma City tomorrow for
the Women's College World Series. I have
so many memories from that stadium: from
winning 3 National Championships at Arizona,
to taking our pictures after making the
1st ever Olympic Softball Team, to taking
a picture with the Olympic Torch there
before the Atlanta Games, to wearing the
USA in front of cheering fans from all
over the country!

Next week I will make new memories as
I will have my first ever experience
being an Analyst for NCAA Radio for
the Championship Series for College
Softball (Best 2 out of 3 Series).

The Games are on Monday, Tuesday, with
a possible game on Wednesday @ 7pm Eastern:
4pm Pacific.

For the best opportunity to hear:

Go Here:

Sirius/XM Channel 91
or

NCAA.com on the home page and the
softball page (there will be a listen
live link)

Feeding the Needs. . .

"He who oppresses the poor reproaches his
Maker, but he who honors Him has mercy on
the needy."
Proverbs 14:31

This next verse is how I want to live!:
Proverbs 31:20:
"She extends her hand to the poor, Yes, she
reaches out her hands to the needy."

We went out to the park in Pomona (every
other Thursday night a group goes) and
now that it's warming up and staying light
later, we are getting a bigger crowd again.
We had over 20 people that came. After we
feed them a warm, home-cooked meal, we
share a message from the Bible and then
we pray with them.

A couple of them have dogs and when we went
this time, one of the dogs had puppies.
They were so cute and my boys loved it!

Here are the boys with the puppies and
Chris and Kevin (two of the people we've met)



The boys were so happy to hold them and
were begging to bring one home!



This is Eugene (another man we've met)

Jake really wants a dog!

Larry explaining parts of the Bible to
Jeff. Jeff spent time at U-Turn for Christ
getting off his addictions. He is doing much
better but still struggles a bit. Lift him
up in prayer please. God is doing a work.

More one on one encouragement


This is "Big Mike"- the kids call him the
"Cookie Man" because when they first met
him and offered him cookies, he jokingly
grabbed the whole bag and the boys didn't
know what to think. He shared with everyone
about a couple miracles God has done in his
life recently. He was spitting up blood and
had cancer and after going to jail for giving
the cops wrong information in identification,
he was able to get the treatment he needed.
He believes God spoke to Him in his darkest
moment. We are praying that God releases
all of these men and women from addictions
and bondages. Jesus loves them as much
as He loves us and wants every person to
know Him as Lord.

After going, I ALWAYS am encouraged and
blessed. I was overwhelmed last time the
group went and didn't make it, but realized
that it was probably the very thing I needed.
When you go serve others, God ends up blessing
you in return! I also was so blessed to see
my boys sitting there with these men who
live on the streets and treat them like they
were just another person. That is what Jesus
would do and I want to raise them to be like
Jesus!

Just wondering. . .

How this cute and happy,

funny,

and silly boy. . .

can turn into this little wild man:

who is so mad, that he's trying to grab my hair,

and he finally does it!!!!

Luke was throwing a tantrum (a common
occurence in the car) for no reason,
and I gave Jake the phone to take pictures
because a lot of times that will make
him stop. But not this time! He was
mad! I finally told Jake to put the
camera down and grab his arm off of
me so I could see the road while driving.


You never know what you're gonna get with
these boys!!!

Oklahoma State Super Regional

Normally I am a picture fanatic and do
a much better job, but not on this trip.
I only got a couple pictures (and by
the way, I am LOVING my new iphone!!!)
with my phone. I'm bummed I didn't get
any of the players. It was fun seeing
and talking to Jennifer Klinkert for
Houston because I coached her for 2
years at Chino Hills HS. Also, I was
able to go to dinner with Alison McCutcheon
(formerly, Alison Johnson). We played
at Arizona together and she was one of the
fastest players ever and one of the best
slap hitters. Her husband and her (they
have 3 kids) are on staff with Athletes in
Action at Oklahoma State. It was great to
catch up and hear all that God is doing.

I did get a few pictures:
Michele Smith's Jersey
My former Teammate in the 1996 and 2000
Olympics and she is the ESPN announcer
at most of the college games and the
Women's College World Series going on
now. She is an alum of Ok State.

Oh ya - the Dodge Challenger Sports Car
they gave me at the rental company. They
told me I couldn't get this car if I tried
to reserve it, that's how popular it is!
It made me laugh to drive it around, but I
did get compliments :)

I had to stop at Eskimo Joe's: the famous
sports bar right near the campus of OK. St.

I even brought home a few cups for the boys and
picked up a cute hat for me! We had dinner there
on Friday night and yes, we had to get their
famous cheese fries!

I worked as the Analyst for the games and
Holly Rowe (sideline reporter for ESPN in
all sports) was Play by Play. It was great
to meet her and work with her.

Fun Family Updates

Where is the time going? So many fun and
exciting things are happening in our
family. My neice, Anna, and my nephew,
Robert, are both graduating from High
School.

Anna was our flower girl in our wedding
and in a few months she's heading off to
college. We wish we could see Tommy's
side of the family more! It's hard
with them living on the other side of
the country. We miss them! But we
are so proud of them!

Anna's Senior Picture:

Robert:

Also, my sister is having her 3rd child,
and it's a

GIRL!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, another little girl to spoil!
She is due in September.

And last but definitely not least, my
mom is engaged and getting married to
Jim. We are so happy for her!