Merry Christmas

Wishing all of my family and friends a Merry Christmas today as we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  I pray a special blessing to you all and hope that you can draw close to all God has for each and everyone of you.

T~Money

Country Music

Last night was the CMA awards show.  CMA stands for Country Music Awards.  It is the biggest night for all Country Music.  I enjoy watching it to see which stars win the awards and for the music performances. 

Let me take a few steps back.  When I was a kid in elementary, junior high and even high school, I disliked country music very much.  I thought it was just really boring and didn't move my soul like the way I wanted it to. Back then I was really into hip hop, rock n roll, rap, pretty much anything that had a beat I could dance too.  Some of the bands I loved were Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, and even some oldies like the Beach Boys.  Also I loved Christian music like Michael W. Smith, DC Talk, Steven Curtis Chapman and praise and worship music.  For some reason, country music was never appealing to me.

Also so many years ago I loved watching the award shows.  Favorite one for sure is probably the Oscars followed up by the Golden Globes and the Emmys.  Those are awards show about movies and TV shows.  Then I started watching the music awards shows like the Grammy's and American Music Awards.  The performances are usually pretty cool, but I mostly wanted to know who won the awards.  As I got older, my views on different things started changing.  Also the quality of the awards shows started getting bad.  Now I am not talking about the Oscars or Golden Globes, or Emmys, but the music awards shows.  The music awards shows performers started getting more inappropriate to the point that I would change the channel because I didn't want my eyes to see what was on the screen.  So it was at that time that I started watching the country music award shows.  I saw that the performances were more family friendly for others to watch.  I knew that I was feeding my soul and didn't have to cover my eyes on anything.

Now it is because of the country music award shows that I started getting interested in country music.  I started liking the beat of country music.  Most of all, I would listen to the lyrics of the songs and that really spoke to me.  Country music artists typically write and sing about real life events that happen to themselves or their friends and family members.  I started relating to the songs.  Come to find out, more country music artists believe in the same things and share the same values as I do. 

So now, I don't have a dislike for country music.  I love it and enjoy listening to it.  I still listen to all the other music as well.  I want to be well rounded when it comes to music.  Music inspires me, pushes me (especially when I am working out), and ministers to my soul.  Life would be boring without all types of music.

My final question is this: What music do you listen to? 

May music always speak to your soul.

T~Money

Just Keep Playing

It has been way to long since I have written a blog post.  Life for me has been extremely busy.  Lots of changes happening in my life so please keep me in your prayers. 

About 4 weeks ago, I attended an amazing conference called "Hope's Alive" and my hope was definitely renewed from the conference.  This conference is just another memory for me because I got to experience it with my mom.  Anytime I can go somewhere with my mom, is a cherished moment for me.  The conference with put on my a Christian music artist named Kathy Troccoli.  Kathy was extremely successful in the 1990's.  She gave a concert on Friday night which was upbeat and energetic.  Then on Saturday Morning she gave her testimony and explained that no matter what we are going through, Jesus Christ is our Hope and He is alive today for us.  Kathy had a musical accompanist that helped her with the concert and led worship Saturday morning and her name is Michelle Margiotta.  Michelle is one of the worship leader's for a mega church called Time Square Church in New York.  She was fantastic.  I was literally mesmerized by who she played both the piano and acoustic guitar.  She truly has a heart for the Lord that she puts into her music.  She has three CD's out and it shouldn't be a surprise that bought all three of them and it's what I have been listening to nonstop since the conference.  The Lord has used her music to encourage me in ways that I need to be encouraged.  The best thing about the conference is that both Kathy and Michelle want to know the people that come out for the conference.  Before, after, and during the breaks, they both made time to meet each and every lady that showed up.  I love when speakers do that.  It makes at least me feel special.

For those who don't know, God gave me a gifting/talent to play the drums that I got from my dad.  I never had a formal listen, but got rhythm in bones.  So 10 years ago I joined my church's worship team.  I can't believe it has been 10 years.  It still feels like I had joined yesterday.  It is worth getting up on the early mornings so that I can be apart of the team that God's has lead the congregation in worship on the Sunday mornings that I played.  This past year, I have felt dry when it comes to playing drums.  There have been times that I have just wanted to stop, but I don't because I made a commitment and I always keep my commitments.  When I met Michelle Margiotta, I told her that I played drums.  She asked me what type of music I played and I told her mainly praise and worship music because I was on my church's worship team.  Michelle then gave me the best advice I have heard in a long time.  That is "Just Keep Playing".  Those words help renewed my worship spirit and give me a new desire to want to play the drums that I hadn't had in a long time.  Those words told me that I need to push through this dry desert because there is a Promise Land on the other side.  The line reminded me of the line from the movie Finding Nemo, "Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming!"  So when I heard "Just Keep Playing" I was really encouraged.  Made my day.

So a new item just got added to my bucket list and that is to one day play drums with/for Michelle Margiotta.  I also pray continually for Kathy, Michelle and their team to touch the lives of women all over the country with their gifts, talents, and the Power of God through their conference "Hope's Alive".

Here are photos from the conference:

 Michelle Margiotta and I

 Kathy Troccoli, My Mom & I

Kathy Troccoli & Michelle Margiotta

 My prayer for all of you is that whatever you are going through right now that you would "Just Keep Playing" and The Holy Spirit will help you through it.  He never leaves us nor forsakes us.

God Bless (T~Money)

The Meaning of Family

Every since I finished my internship with the Lewis & Clark Girls Basketball Program last weekend, all I have been thinking about is that I am apart of another family.  I am blessed to be apart of another family, and I do consider all of those players and coaches apart of my family.  Now this concept can be really confusing to lots of people, so let me bring you into my world of what family truly means to me. 

Just like everybody in the world, I was born into a family.  I have one dad, one mom, and two older brothers.  Now I would call this family my immediate family.  At some point in time, we all lived together, learning what it meant to be a family.  As my brothers and I have grown up, we have flown the nest meaning that at this point in time, we don't live at home with mom and dad anymore, but are living independently out in the world.  My parents do still live in my childhood home so every time I go visit them, all the memories come flooding back.  Over the past 11 years, my immediate family has expanded by 5 people.  My eldest brother married a wonderful lady and together they have 3 girls, making them my 3 nieces.  Then my other brother had a son, making him my nephew.  So that is my immediate family that I am proud, privileged, honored and blessed to me apart of.

Now let me take you a little deeper into my family.  There were some circumstance that happened before I was born that made the family that I was born into really large.  For my parents to be born, they had their own parents and they also had their own siblings.  My father is the middle of 7 kids and my mother is the 2nd oldest of 5 kids.  At a given point, I would have 20 uncles and aunts.  Then my uncles and aunts started having their own kids, making me have 39 cousins, combined from my mom and dad's side of the family.  To make things crazy, when I was born, I had 7 grandparents.  Now you may ask how I can have 7 grandparents.  If my mom has two parents and my dad has two parents then I should only had 4 grandparents and that is true, but before I was born, my mom and dad's parents ended their marriages and then 3 out of 4 of them remarried other amazing, loving people.  Some of my new grandparents brought their own children into their second marriages, giving me a few more uncles, aunts and cousins.  To add another layers, I know my mom and dad's cousins, and then my cousins started getting married and having their own kids making cousin-in-laws and 2nd cousins.  So my extended family as I call it is really large and I love being apart of this family.

Now you have been introduced into my biological family, the one I was born into.  Now I am a Christian, which means that I believe in and have a relationship with a Heavenly Father.  Once I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart and made Him my personal Lord and Savior, I became apart of a new family.  A spiritual family.  The family of God.  It says in John 1:12 "all who believe and accept Him, He gave them the right to be children of God."  So I have lots and lots of family members in the family of God.  They included everybody who has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  We are all brothers and sisters in Christ.  It feels amazing to have so many siblings.

Now I am going to take my family a step further.  There have been many people in my life that I consider fathers, mothers, siblings, or grandparents that aren't actually blood related to me.  These people have mentored me or impacted my life in such a way that they have become apart of my family.  Now most of these people are Christians so we were already related from being apart of God's family.   My mentors have become father and mother figures in my life.  Now they haven't replaced my really parents because God blessed me with two parents that taught me life and raised me in a godly home and I am grateful for that.  Then there are those of the younger generation whom I have interacted with that have become my nieces, nephews and siblings.  If I haven't said it enough already, I love being apart of a large family. 

Now almost three years ago, I made a decision that would transform me into the person that I am today.  I entered Anna Ogden Hall which is the women and children's division of the Union Gospel Mission in Spokane, WA.  While I was living in that house, I became apart of another family that included many more spiritual brothers, sisters, and parental figures.  Thy stood by me as I worked through many issues and hurts inside my life.  To this day I still try to go back and visit as often as I can because I want to impact the ladies that are going through the program like I did.  When I go back, it truly feels like I am going home to visit family. 

The final family that I am going to tell you about is my new family that made me think about this topic in the first place which is the Lewis & Clark High School Girl's Basketball Program.  The coaching staff became big sisters, and big brother mentors to me as I enter into my coaching career and those players became like little siblings to me.  I pray that I impacted their lives, but I can honestly tell you that they all impacted my life.  It didn't matter that it was my first year in the program, I was welcomed with opened arms.  I have found lifetime friends/mentors and players whose careers I will follow because I know they are going to do great things in the future.  I hope to one day the family atmosphere that I learned from being apart of this program and take it with me to which ever basketball program that I serve in or lead in the future.

So as you can see, I am apart of many different families.  Now for me, the definition of family isn't just your parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, or grandparents that are blood related to you that make up a unit, that is a type of dictionary definition.  My personal definition of family is any person, biological, blood, spiritual or nothing at all that has an impact on your life or you have a relationship with, somebody who loves you for you and will be there for you whenever you need them.  That is my definition of a family or family member.  God did give us our blood families, but He placed us here on earth to make new families by communing with one another.  I love being apart of many different families.  I love each one of my family members very much.  I pray that you can say that you are apart of multiple families. 

Until next time, May God bless you with multitudes of family members who love you very much.

T~Money

The Art of Giving Back

As we have just finished the “holiday season” I pray that you all have been blessed from the Savior of the World, Jesus, but also from friends, family and others around you. If there is one thing that I took away as a little girl from my parents is how to give back to our community. I could always eye my parents giving extra food to the church food drive, helping serve at a community function, or writing a check out of faith to a ministry that they wanted to support. The actions of my parents was just a small seed sown into my heart where a conviction was formed that I wanted to always give back to my community and be a servant wherever possible. An opportunity to give back in my community was given to me the week before Christmas and I want to share it with you all right now.

In the words of the song Do-Re-Mi from my favorite musical The Sound of Music, “lets start at the very beginning, a very good place to start...” I was a girl in high school who loved sports, especially the game of basketball. After I knew I wasn't going to make it as a professional basketball player, I started loving the game for the strategies of how to win the game. It was in that moment that I wanted to become a basketball coach. I was always good at seeing things and analyzing numbers which set me apart from others. I would be sitting at a game and see something and my parents would be like, “You saw that?” and I would say, “Yes.” They would be amazed that I could see such great detail.

As I grew up, I did find a great job in which I was working with numbers, but I wasn't ever satisfied with the job because I knew it wasn't my “dream job”. My dream job was always to become a college basketball coach for some university. After stress and depression started taking over my life, I quit that job to see if I could become become free of that stress, but I just became more depressed. So with the suggestions of my mom, I decided to go get some help at Anna Ogden Hall, the women and children's home through the Union Gospel Mission. So on April 11, 2011, I entered the 2 year program and on June 18, 2013 I became a graduate of the program.

I learned many different things while I was in the program. Also I have tons of memories from living in the house. The one main thing that happened was my spark with relit. The spark of wanting to become a college basketball coach. It had burned out a few years back. So I decided to take some big risks when it came to going after my dreams. I applied and was accepted to Gonzaga University in a Masters Program called Sports and Athletic Administration. I am almost finished with the program with an anticipation of graduating May 2014. Part of the program requires going out and doing three different internships in three different areas of the sports world. These areas can be coaching, ticket sales, promotions, marketing, research and so forth.

So in November of 2013, I sent out an e-mail to our local high school and junior high girls basketball coaches or principals to see if I could be an intern in their basketball program. I had multiple coaches and principals get back to me. After meeting with two amazing coaches with respectable resumes and programs, I chose to work as an intern at Lewis & Clark High School. I am an assistant basketball coach for the JV and Varsity team. I am learning so much on how to be a great basketball coach.

So now lets go back to the main reason why I am writing this blog post. After one of our basketball games, I found out our team would forgo a weekly practice to go serve dinner at the Union Gospel Mission. My heart was in complete shock and thrilled at the same time. This would be the time that I would get to reveal my story to the players and the coaches that didn't already know my story and background. I just knew that they would all be in complete shock. Most importantly I was thrilled that our head coach would give up one practice to teach the girls what it is to give back to our community. I always knew that when I would coach a basketball team that we would give back to the community so you may understand the joy in my heart to see that the program that I decided to intern with was teaching their players how to give back to the community.

On December 18, 2013 we all met up at the Union Gospel Mission ready to serve. Before going to serve dinner, the players got an overview of the ministry and heard a couple testimonies from the guys that were in the program right now. After that, the gentleman that was leading the group looking at me and asked if I wanted to share my story and being the talkative person that I can be I said sure. For the next minute or so I told the players that I had been a resident and graduate of the program. It was dead silent and some players months actually dropped opened in shock. On the outside I look like a person who loves the game of basketball and wants to help others succeed in life and in the game. On the inside, who knew that somebody so normal would actually need an amazing grace based program like this. My addiction was not drugs or alcohol, but how I related to people so that shows that the program is for anybody who wants change. My favorite part in sharing my story was telling the girls that being able to work with them was a fresh start and amazing opportunity. I was being given a second chance by working with them.

After hearing about the ministry, we all split up into groups and took tours of the facility. For me, it was great to see some familiar faces from the staff to some of the residents. There was even some areas of the facility that I had never been to. It took me back to my time at Anna Ogden Hall when I would give tours of our facilities to those who came by. My favorite part of the tours was tell my group that the rooms had to be kept to a specific/high standard and that random room checks happened. After I said that, one of the players was like, “my room will never pass an inspection because of how I keep it.” I laughed pretty hard at that comment.

Once we finished our tours, then it was time to serve dinner. We split our large group into two groups. While the first group served, the second group ate dinner. From my perspective, it looked like they were all having a fun time and enjoying being servants. They would smile and greet all those that came through the line. Half way through, we put the second group on the line to serve. This got a little interesting as some of the girls started singing Christmas carols. Those people who came through the line who were eating dinner started singing along and clapping at the girls that were singing. It made those people's day. As a coach it brightens my day when I see the players that I help coach making other people's day. It shows that we are actually doing something right. While the singing is happening the first group that was interacting with the people. Some of the girls looked uncomfortable, but warmed up to the people as they started talking to them and hearing their stories. Then after dinner it was time to say goodbye and then get ready for practice the next day.

It was in that moment watching the players from Lewis & Clark High School serving dinner at the Union Gospel Mission that I had chosen the right school to intern for. Being apart of a program that gives back to the community and shares the same mission as I do means I am in the place that God has me in. Giving back means the world to me. Even as a graduate of the program I still try to go back to AOH as often as I can because they gave me the fresh start that I needed to rejuvenate my life to go after my dream of becoming a basketball coach. Being able to serve at Lewis & Clark High School is just icing on the cake.

Now I just want to end this blog post with a special prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for the entire ministry of the Union Gospel Mission and how they strive to serve this community through Your guidance and wisdom. Thank you Lord for allowing the Lewis & Clark Basketball Program the opportunity to serve at the Union Gospel Mission. Bless all the coaches and players for wanting to give back to the community. Finally Lord, thank you for giving me the opportunity to get a fresh start through the Union Gospel Mission and my opportunity at Lewis & Clark High School. You are a faithful God. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.

Merry Christmas to you all

As today is New Years Day 2014, I am reminded that I forgot to write a blog post on Christmas.  So before I say Happy New Year, I will say Merry Christmas.  This holiday season, I have been blessed, satisfied and content with were I am in life.  Sure I will be the first to say that I was spoiled this Christmas with many presents and because of that, I am grateful.  This year has been a little different than years past.  What I am meaning to say is this, I could take away every material gift that I was given and be satisfied knowing that I am living my life to the fullest and that I am a child of the One True King who send His son, born of a virgin, and then became the sacrificial Lamb on the cross to take away my sins.  That is the true meaning of Christmas to me.

I will though give some highlights of some amazing things that have happened to be during this holiday season.

1.  My favorite Christmas Gift is being given the opportunity to work and coach in the Lewis & Clark High School Girls Basketball Program.  It is literally a dream come true for me and a fresh start to gaining experience into the career that I want to do and have a passion for.

2.  All of my gifts that I asked for, for Christmas all came off my list so thank you to those who I gave the list to for following it.

3.  Getting to watch all of the ladies and kids open there presents at AOH.

4.  Be able to go serve dinner at UGM with the Lewis & Clark Girls Basketball Team and tell them my story and involvement in the ministry.  (See future blog post about this event soon)

5.  Having the people in front of me buying my coffee order in a Starbucks drive through which allowed me to pay for the order behind me.

6.  Getting a minor repair down to my car and the mechanic saying Merry Christmas to me instead of me paying for the bill.

7.  Being able to attend the LC girls basketball Christmas party and getting to know the players and their parents better.

As you can see, I have been truly blessed.  This holiday season has been one of the best that I have had and I have been blessed with many great holiday seasons.  So I will end this by wishing you all the merriest of Christmas all and may the Lord bless you all during this upcoming year.

T~Money