What I've Learned

I’ve lost nearly everything I’ve ever held dear or pursued. It goes without saying that the death of my wife is at the top of the list. My baseball career, money, business ventures... But God has proven to be faithful through it all.

For nearly 20 years, all I wanted to do, and all I did, was play baseball. In 1992, after an All-American season where I was among the best pitchers in the country, I signed to play baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Three short seasons (most of them spent in rehab) later, I had to give up my dream due to career-ending injuries.

I retired from professional baseball in the summer of 1995 and had no idea what to do with my life. Since then, I have taken jobs as a bartender and marketing specialist, founded my own dot-com business (without much success, I'm sad to say), launched a family-owned and operated business, and attempted to play professional golf. I am now involved in marketing and communications at a government agency.

What Matters Most
God says it one way in the Bible: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart; and love your neighbor as yourself."

I simply say that my relationship with God, and my relationship with my family matter most. Loving God helps me love my family and everyone else around me.

After watching my wife, Jeseca, live through nearly 6 years of treatment for a cancer that had no cure, I've come to understand how precious life is, how important it is to be right with God, and to pursue your dreams no matter how difficult things might seem.

Sky diving for the first time is something I'll never forget, not only because I jumped solo, but because so much was at stake. Understandably, my friends and family were concerned for the boys, and voiced that they didn't need to lose their father, too. But I choose to believe that God has a day for all of us to die, and that day will come whether we are at a desk, in our homes watching television, or jumping out of a plane from 13,000 feet.

I learned that day that God truly does want us to live, to experience all we can in this life, and to never be afraid.