ASA Hall of Fame Induction: Class of 2009

I just returned from Reno, NV where I was
inducted into the Amateur Softball Assoc.
Hall of Fame. ASA is the National Governing
Body for USA Softball and is the largest
softball organization in the country. I was
inducted with 7 others who have contributed
to this great sport in all different ways.

I am so humbled to be inducted and honored
this way, but I have to admit, it is hard for me
to receive individual awards. This may seem
weird to some and I know many strive for those
kind of awards, but I truly wish I could have had
my teammates standing there next to me, as
well as my coaches. The people I played for and
the girls I played with are the reason I was able
to stand up on that stage. I thrive from being
around others and competing for a “team”.
I was so thankful that Tommy and my boys were
there, along with my mom. Ralph and Patsy Cornwell
were also there, along with many friends involved
with ASA. I met Ralph when I played for the USA
Team in 1996. It was a special evening for me,
reminding me of so many memories from my
playing days. To my surprise, I am the youngest
member ever inducted. I am humbled by the
many softball “legends” that I join in the Softball
Hall of Fame, some of whom I’ve played with and
many of whom I’ve heard so much about because
they paved the way for this great sport. And like
I shared in my acceptance speech last night, I give
ALL the glory to God who created me with this
talent, competitiveness, and love and passion
for the game of softball.

Here are some pictures from the Ceremony

Me and my little ones! They may not remember
this, but at least they'll have pictures from it!

Jake was part of my success: He was 3 yrs. old
when I won my 3rd Gold Medal!

Before the ceremony

I got emotional when I spoke, which completely
surprised me! I was so honored by this!

My wonderful, supportive husband who really is
my biggest fan! I love him so much!

All 7 inductees: It was an honor to be in the
Hall of Fame Class 2009 with them

My kids had to sit through a 3 hour ceremony
so you can imagine how hard that was for them!
They did pretty well, listening to 7 acceptance
speeches, but by the end, Luke was barefoot
and running on the stage and Drew was sound
asleep!

Drew crashed at the end (for those of you
who saw my blog on him falling asleep- this
is typical of him! so funny!)

Breakthrough Prayer by Jim Cymbala

I really enjoy books that are Bible-based and teach
on subjects that are important to our lives as Christians.
Since I don’t get a lot of time to read while raising my 3 boys
unless I am traveling, I try to read books that
grow my knowledge, increase my faith and deepen
my understanding of the Bible. Last year I read
Intercessory Prayer, by Dutch Sheets and it opened
my eyes to the power we have in prayer. I started
to pray differently, expecting the Lord to answer
and interceding for others.
After reading two books by Jim Cymbala, Fresh Wind,
Fresh Fire and You Were Made For More (I highly
recommend both books), I picked up his book on prayer.
God has been teaching me so much the past few years
as I have been desiring to honor Him in every area of
my life. I pray that I will be in the middle of God’s
will for my life, obediently following Him as I seek
to know Him more. This book confirmed so many
truths of the Bible that God has been teaching me
and also brought to light some new truths as well.
I recommend this book to every Christian out there,
as well as to every person who wants their prayers
to be heard. You will learn about prayer, the Bible,
and most importantly, the only true God. Jim Cymbala
is the pastor at The Brooklyn Tabernacle, a church that I
recently attended on my trip to CT. I will share some
quotes from his book on some of my future posts,
but wanted to point this out for now:

In order to receive God’s blessings, we must:
1. Ask God in Prayer
“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He
offered up prayers and petitions to the One
Who could save Him from death, and He was
heard because of His reverent submission.”
Hebrews 5:7
2. Read and take to heart God’s Word
“Blessed is the one who reads the words of
this prophecy, and blessed are those who
hear it and take to heart what is written in
it.” Revelation 1:3
3. Be obedient through faith (the hardest
part for most of us)
“For surely, O LORD, You bless the righteous;
You surround them with your favor as with a
shield” Psalm 5:12
4. Be compassionate and generous in giving
Read Deuteronomy 14:28-29

All of the books I have on this blog I highly
recommend. I believe they have sound
doctrine and the men and women who
have written these books share great
Biblical truths while giving real-life examples
of these truths lived out. They have been
an encouragement to me and I know you
would enjoy them as well.

I was so excited to visit The Brooklyn
Tabernacle last weekend!!!

East Coast Trip: UConn, Boston, & New York in 2 1/2 Days

I had an amazing weekend in Connecticut visiting
my good friend, Ellen. She is on staff for
Athletes In Action at UConn and God is using
her in mighty ways. I'll write more later
but wanted to share some pictures of our
busy weekend together. It included:
*Speaking to UConn Softball Team
*visiting my awesome in-laws in Boston
*a surprise 30th Birthday Bash for
Ellen in Boston: Sushi for dinner
and salsa dancing lessons
*Very little sleep
*A Trip to Brooklyn Tabernacle in
New York (amazing!)
*Speaking to a Youth Group at Ellen's
Church
*Speaking to UConn Athletes at the AIA
meeting on Sunday night

UConn Softball Coaching Staff

Happy 30th Birthday Ellen. . .Surprise!!!

Salsa Dancing Lessons at Mojitos in Boston

We loved our instructor

My wonderful in-laws!

Erika, Ellen, Katie, me and Annie at The Brooklyn Tabernacle

3 UConn softball players

Maya (UConn Basketball Star), Erika, Me, Ellen and Katie

Speaking at AIA Meeting w/student-athletes

UConn Athletes In Action Meeting

Grocery Store Field Trip

We took a Field Trip to a local grocery
store, Vons, with some friends from our
homeschool group. The kids learned about
how they set up the food and keep it fresh.
The learned about the fruits and vegetables,
the fish and meat departments, and the bakery.
They also went in the back and saw where they
store and bring in the food and crates. At
the end of the fieldtrip, the kids each got
chocolate chip cookies, milk and hot chocolate
with whipped cream from Starbucks!

I Love to Sleep

I LOVE to sleep! I am not a night person or a morning
person. I am a person who LOVES my sleep. I really
could use 10 hours a night but usually get about 8 hours.
I also can fall asleep anywhere. I CANNOT stay awake
on a plane no matter what time of day it is when I fly.
I am a sleeper & God made me this way. Well, my son,
Drew, takes after me!


Drew was supposed to be in time-out in his
room but when I came upstairs, I found him
like this!


Dreaming of hitting a homerun, wearing my
batting gloves


Drew fell asleep underneath a chair at my
Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony!

My Little Brother!

Keith is my little brother and really is an amazing
person and friend! He loves the Lord with all
his heart and is passionate about sharing truth
with others! He is an awesome dad and we are
so blessed by the wife he married! Jessica is
one of my closest friends. We hang out all the
time, our kids cannot get enough of eachother,
and Jessica and I are in Bible study together.
Their family is so adorable, so I just had to
share some pictures from our recent trip to
Oak Glen.

So Cute

I had to take this picture at our church Family Fest
on Halloween. This is Alexis and she is my friend's
daughter. She dressed up as a cheerleader and she
wore her "Leah" shirt. These are shirts I have sold
at softball clinics and speaking engagements in the
past. What this brings to mind for me is when I gave
Alexis this shirt. I had spoken at our church in 2004
after winning the Gold Medal in Athens. Afterward I
signed autographs and talked to people. Alexis
and her younger sister were in the area and I knew
who they were only because I had been praying for
their mom. I didn't know Tanya, but I lifted
her up to the Lord during a tough time. I gave
her daugthers shirts and little bears that had
my name on the back. They were so cute and so
little then! Now it's 5 years later and our families
are friends, our kids homeschool together, we do
a Bible study together and we intercede in prayer
for eachother! What a blessing they are to my
family!

Pictures at the Beach

Last weekend we went to the beach on a beautiful
80 degree day in southern California to take
family pictures. I was so excited- I bought the
boys adorable outfits and everybody looked so
handsome! Our last family picture was 2 years
ago and Luke was only 6 months old, so I thought
it would be easier now. Boy was I wrong! I'm
just thinking: Beach, Sunny Weather, Cute Kids,
Family Pictures! I was NOT thinking of: Little
boys with ALL KINDS of energy, SAND, WATER,
ROCKS to climb on and jump off of, SUN that
is too bright for kids to open their eyes,
little boys that can't sit still longer than
5 min (and that's pushing it). So, you
get my point by now. It just didn't turn
out the way I thought it would. I'm now hoping
for a cute picture where everybody is looking
in the same direction. I was frustrated because
I see people with 4 or 5 kids and all the kids
are smiling or standing still and I wonder why
my kids won't cooperate! I need to realize this
is the least favorite thing for MY kids to do:
smile at a camera when there are such fun and
exciting things to do all around them. I also need to
remember that they are 2, 4 and 8 yrs. old! Hopefully
we will have many more family pictures ahead and I'll
probably be sad they're not small anymore, even though
they might sit still a little longer and smile without
being coaxed! I need to enjoy the craziness while they're
little! Time goes by so very fast and soon this will all
be just memories!

They are thinking: "Let me get down to that water!!!"

After playing in the sand and getting
wet, climbing and jumping off rocks, and finding
fun sea creatures, the kids needed to be
changed and shoes and socks had to be taken
off. We were finally in the car and NOW they
wanted to smile!!! Should've had Josh (our
photographer and friend) come in the car with
us!

Wait on the Lord

Isaiah 30:18b: For the LORD is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who WAIT for Him.

God taught me a lesson on waiting on Him
a couple years ago that I wanted to share.

After I finished my playing career with
USA Softball in the 2004 Athens Olympics
and had a 3rd Gold Medal to add to my
other two, I was excited for the next
stage of my life. I already had one
son, Jake, who was 3 yrs. old at the
time and couldn't wait to have another
child. After a few months of trying and
trusting that the Lord's timing for a
baby was perfect (I read my journal the
other day and I wrote "God I know
you are never early and you are never
late"), I became pregant and had my
2nd son, Drew, in October of 2005. Nine
months later I was pregnant with my
third boy (I so badly wanted a girl, but
trust that God knows what I need more
than I do), and Luke was born 2007.

I had made appearances for softball clinics
and speaking throughout my years on the
USA Team (1996-2004). Some speaking was as a keynote
speaker for random events and at other events
I would share my faith in Christ. In the fall
of 2007, I had a chance to share my faith at
a softball event with athletes, parents, coaches
and umpires. When I heard the impact God made
through sharing my faith, my heart began to stir
inside me. My passion to not only motivate others,
but to speak TRUTH and share that who and what we put our
faith in will have ETERNAL consequences
was brought into light. I love God and want to
honor Him, and people need to know who God is!
I told God, "I will go wherever you take me and
share Your Truth." God put this on my heart:
In the end, when we take our last breath, every
other kind of motivation is meaningless.

So this is when the lesson came. I believed God
gave me this passion to speak (I never wanted to
speak, and without God, I do believe I would not
be effective when I share) and now I was trying
to figure out "where" I would speak. I knew God
had to be the One to open the doors. This passion
kept growing and I kept asking "God, what do you
want me to do with this?" It's funny because it's
not like I didn't have a full schedule with a 9 month
old, 2 yr. old and 6 yr. old, while coaching a HS softball
team and homeschooling my son. I began getting
impatient and said to God, "Please either take this
desire away or show me what You have planned for me."
I asked my Bible study friends to pray that God would
take the passion away or use me now. THEN I FINALLY
learned the lesson God wanted me to. The answer
was that I had to WAIT! See, I am alright if the
answer is no, but I need to be fine also if the answer
is to WAIT.

I learned so much through WAITING. During this time
I realized that I could prepare more & dig deeper into
the Bible, and during this waiting, I also learned
more about the POWER of PRAYER. I learned to LISTEN
to God and hear from God when He is speaking in the
still, small voice. I learned how and why I should
fast and the Biblical foundation behind fasting. I
am so glad God made me WAIT, because He taught me
so much!!! This past year God opened doors all around
the country and I was able to share many of these
truths that He showed me during the time that I had
to wait. Now, when God says to WAIT, instead of
growing impatient, I will grow in WISDOM, KNOWLEDGE
and GRACE.

When God doesn't say yes or no to you, then
recognize what you can be doing while you are
waiting. He will bless it!

Isaiah 40:31 "But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew [their] strength; They shall mount
up with wings like eagles, They shall run and
not be weary, They shall walk and not faint."

This Billboard is from one of the speaking
engagements this year in South Carolina that
I would have to WAIT for.

Spoiled Rotten Cat

My mom lives with us and she has a cat and a dog.
The cat, Nubbers (named after the fact that he is
tailless), hides in my mom's room all day, everyday
and when the kids go to bed, he finally gets to roam
the house. He must think since life is so hard, he
deserves to be pampered! Nubbers is so spoiled, he
drinks water from a cup!