AA Battery Charge

The other day I was think about how a double A battery was significant in my life. So I started thinking about what makes a double A battery so special.

Here is a list of what I came up with:

1. Everybody has them

2. They help bring something back to life

3. Usually either 2 or 4 will do the trick

So why would some thing like double A batteries strike some curiosity in my brain? Well I started finding descriptive words for the AA in a double A battery, and how they recharge my life on a daily basis. First off, it takes 2 AA batteries so 4 descriptive words. Those 4 descriptive words are Acceptance, Accountability, Alive and Active. These worlds hold tons of significance in my life and I would love to share it with you right now if you don't mind. Alright, Ok, then let's go.

1. Acceptance: The definition of this word is favorable reception, approval, favor. So let me break it down a little. I get a recharge when other people accept me for who I am regardless of the mistakes I have made and the flaws and quirkiness that I have. The other recharge I get from acceptance is from me accepting myself. I accept myself in my strengths, weaknesses, my physical appearance, and my actions. If a person doesn't love and accept themselves then they can't be the person God created them to be. So it is extremely important to be accepted by others when we are truly ourselves and accept who we are in God's eyes because we are important, valuable, and have a great purpose in this lifetime.

2. Accountability: The definition of this world is liable, answerable, explainable, responsible for our actions. Accountability is huge in my life. To be personal and honest, I think all of my actions are right and appropriate when a lot of the times they are only about 25% of the time right. So I strive and recharge on people who can stand up to me and say, “Trinity maybe that wasn't right or appropriate.” When I hear that then I can rethink then I can change what I had done if needed. I strive on having and living a life with godly character and having people hold me accountable is extremely important and recharging in my life.

So the first AA battery is Acceptance and Accountability. They hold extremely importance in my life that help me keep my life full of love, joy, and happiness because I get a recharged by this AA battery. Now let's move on to the second AA batter because my life needs a double portion of charge.

3. Alive: The definition of this word is having life, living, existing, in a state of action, fully of energy and spirit, vibrant. The bible talks about the Word of God being alive within our hearts. I am recharged when I am reading, studying, learning and applying God's Word in my life on a daily basis. No matter what I am going through as long as I have God on my side, I feel alive and fully of joy every moment of my life. Having Jesus is all the recharge I need to be fully alive in Christ. Alive and kickin' is a good way to live a godly lifestyle. I totally am enjoying this ride 100%.

4. Active: The definition of this word is engaged in action, participation, being in a state of existence, having the power of quick motion, causing change, effective, busy. I have always wanted to live an “active” lifestyle. I haven't had one all the time, but keep on trying every time I fail. The ways that I recharge by being active are eating a healthy diet and getting exercise in as much as possible. I love to go on walks, play sports, do the elyptical machine at the gym and lots of other things to stay active. Another way I like to recharge by being active is to live out the Word of God in my life everyday. Besides having the Word of God be alive in our hearts, God commands us to have it active as well. By living an active lifestyle of godly character, having a prayer life, my life gets recharged fully back when my tank gets run dry. So to get a recharge by being active it is both physically and spiritually. It isn't one of the other, but both.

So now the second AA battery is Alive and Active. Once again both are extremely valuable in recharging my life and filling my tank when I am weak. I feel joy, peace, and happiness when I live a life that is alive and active.

In conclusion, I now understand how AA batteries can have a significance in my life. Thank you Lord for being the creator of the AA battery and how they have spoken to me. It is ironic how the littlest of things can spark clarity and interest in one's lives. This just shows God's love and faithfulness in my life.  Until next time, may Jesus be your ultimate recharge.

T~Money

Don't Stop Believin'

Don't Stop Believing is the famous song from the band Journey that helped launch an amazing TV Show called Glee. Glee is about a high school glee club that is made up of all different kinds of kids who come together to sing. The glee club is full of diversity from jocks to cheerleaders to loners to divas to anybody who wants to be apart of a group. It didn't matter what your background, this glee club would accept you. The main purposes of this show are to inspire others to don't stop believing in their dreams and to be who you are.

I will be the first to admit that I am a “gleek”. The definition of a gleek is a person who loves Glee very much like a super fan. Now I don't own any merchandise from the show, but have bought lots of songs from Itunes and seen every episode. So maybe I am not a true “gleek”, but have some of those “gleek” qualities within me. Now I was drown to this show because of the music factor. On each episode, the actors would sing between 4 to 8 songs per episode. So the singing always took me to a new place every time I watched an episode.

Another thing that I enjoyed about Glee was how realistic it was to what the youth and young adult generations are going through right now. The topics that were addressed on the show ranged from bullying to teen pregnancy to gay marriage to true acceptance to individuality to self esteem to following your dreams and many others topics. I will say that I don't agree with how this show represented some of the topics, but I will say that I was educated on how truly corrupt this world is and how badly everybody needs Jesus. Jesus is the only ay to true happiness. There was a tiny bit of Christian symbolism but not much. They stayed away from it because it isn't the stuff people wanted to see. Just like every show it catered to what their audience wants to watch. That is why I commend the show because this is truly realistic corruption. It makes me pray for this generation harder.

So let me share with you the things I have learned from watching Glee:

1. Don't stop believing in your dreams

2. You are fearfully, wonderfully and uniquely made by God

3. There is corruption and confusion in this world

4. Prayer is needed at a whole new level

5. Jesus is the only one who can give a person strength

So in conclusion, Glee was an eye opening TV show to watch. I am sad to see the show end because the music will stop. I do look forward to using this show as a ministering toll to show others Jesus. My prayer is that this show will inspire people to be who Jesus wants us to be. TV shows can give inspiration, but Jesus is the only one who can fulfill our needs.

T~Money

Here is the first time Don't Stop Believin' was performed on Glee back in 2009.

Happy New Year 2015!!!

Happy New Years to everybody that actually reads my blog.  Know that I appreciate it very much.  My prayer for everybody during this new year is that you have an increase in all that you do, but most importantly that you draw closer to God an allow him to move in your life in ways that only He can move in.  I see big things happening during 2015.

So let me give you a review with the highlights from 2014:
-Favorite NFL football team Seattle Seahawks win Super Bowl first team in history
-Trip to Louisville, Kentucky to volunteer at Camp HiHo (camp owned by actress Jennifer Lawrence Family), also visited a dear friend Tiffanie Shives.
-Dad fell off ladder and makes full recovery was the spark to a change in lifestyle for me with a reward of 50 lbs weight loss so far, think I put some weight on during holidays, hopefully not a lot.  Guess I need to re evaluate my goals.
-Walked at graduation for Master's Degree from Gonzaga University.  Officially will finish my degree within the first 10 days of January.  All my hard work has paid off.
-Trip to Colorado with parents in December, but was also able to see my family in April on my layover coming home from Kentucky.
-Hope's Alive Conference put on by Kathy Triccoli and Michelle Margiotta with my mom.
-Accepted a head coaching basketball position up at Northwest Christian High School.  I run the girl's JV Team and assist with the Varsity Team.  Our Varsity team is 10-0 and JV is 8-1.  It is an honor to be apart of this program.
-Started the process of writing a book.

So it has been a full, enjoyable and exciting year for me.  Hopefully it continues to be like that in 2015.  No matter what lies ahead for me, I know that God sits on the throne with total control.  I give all glory and trust to Him in 2015.

To close this blog post, I would like to let you in on my focus word for 2015.  That word is Faith.  I know that in 2015 my faith is going to get tested and increased in the way that God wants it to be.  The verses that will go along with my focus word are Hebrews 11:1 & 6.  So I look forward to a year where God can teach me more about faith and how I respond when my faith gets tested.  It is going to be an exciting year.

May God bless you throughout 2015, take you to a more intimate relationship with Him.  2015 is going to be great.  I can feel it.

T~Money

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