Yayy to the Weekend! :)

"God's Word is not just for our information, it is for our transformation!"


How about the weather here in Springfield? Nice right? YES!!! I have been enjoying the sun shinning and warm weather. Nothing like it, now I just need some water and sand to go along with it. :) Days here have been passing by rather fast. Between working, working out, preparing for kickball game, basketball camp and spending time with family...I look up and another week has passed me by. Which leads me to probably one of the busiest weeks yet to come, starting tomorrow.

My little nephew, Baby Dave memorial is tomorrow. My family will come together at the cemetery for prayer and releasing of balloons in his honor. Lord knows each and every one of us misses him dearly. I can't help but to think what it would be like if he was still hear. I told one of my sisters yesterday that he would probably be tall and giving Bub work on the hardwood! LOL ohhh I miss him and love him so much! RIP Baby Dave, keep looking down upon us and watching over us.

Yeaaaa Boiiii :)

Sunday my family have our Annual Memorial Day Kick Ball game against the Hayes, my best friends family. I am looking forward to the game, a lot of talk has been circulating the airwaves and the Hayes think they are going to get a win. Mind you all we are 2-0 and plan to go 3-0. Thank you very much! HAHAHAHA Another reason why I am looking forward to the game is I am hoping it lifts everyones spirits and allow everyone to smile, laugh and enjoy each other for that moment, that day. I say this because my best friend just lost her grandmother a couple of days ago and it has made everyones heart heavy. My family and I lived across the street from Mrs Maybell for over 20 years and they are just like family to us. To have her leave us is sad to say the least but I know she was a child of God and I have no doubt that she is resting in God's Kingdom now, peacefully and pain free. Its a significant lost to the family but I pray that God continues to give them strength, comfort and togetherness during this difficult time. Rest in peace Mrs Maybell, I love you and miss you already! :(

Monday will be an exciting day as it is Memorial's Day and our city puts on one of the largest parades in the country. We, as in my campers from last years camp and some staff and family, have the privilege of participating in the parade. We will honor John Glass, my friend from HS and sisters good friend's brother as he served in the military, all while promoting the camp to our community. We participated last year and every one involved had a blast! Im excited :) Then that Thursday we will kick off the Free Clinic, followed by the camp.

Busy Busy busy week ahead...Im ready for it though :) So Until next time...sign your kids up for the basketball camp ASAP! :) LOL

Hope all is well...where ever you may be at reading this blog.

God Bless

AJ

Smiley Face! :)

"Show me your ways Lord, Teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior and my hope is in you all day" psalm 25:4

NBA Playoffs are here! Yay...at least something good to watch on T.V. Not cheering for any team in particular just hoping to see some good series take place. So let the games begin :)

Home is okay. For the most part, my time is spent putting my basketball camp together and rehabbing my knee. Both are coming along well. I projected I would be back 100% with my knee but not just yet. No worries though because I have a while until I have to be back training and in season. As much as I do not want to admit, I believe this rest is definitely needed for the body. In that sense I come to grips with things LOL because those of you who know me, knows that I can not be still when it comes to working out. I enjoy working out to the fullest and staying fit and in shape.

So it may have been a little over a couple of weeks since I officially made an announcement about my camp this year. Already it's stirring up questions, excitement and anticipation. Exciting to say the least, hearing from kids, parents and other community members. I know the camp will be a huge success and the kids will enjoy and learn a ton, whether we have five kids in the gym or a hundred kids. :)

The family is doing pretty good for the most part. Im enjoying spending my days and nights with the kids. they are a handful at times but they sure do now how to put a smile on my face. This past weekend is probably the most fun I had since I've been home. The entire family and kids all got together over one of my sisters house both Friday and Saturday and we sat there and watched all our family videos, played catch phrase, laughed, joked around and ate. I'm telling you, I have some clowns in my family, with me being one of them. LOL In all though, it was a blessing to share such quality time with them and to be able to laugh and smile. God is Good!

Today was another great day! I am filled with joy and happiness and highly favored. My walk with Christ is strengthening and I can not praise Him enough. Thank you Almighty One!

Until next time, Stay bless. If any one need more info about the camp, please do not hesitate to contact me!

AJ

HOME!

"I let go of my human desires and surrender to the guidance of Your spirit within knowing that all is meant for my good...Thank you God!"

There is nothing like being home, sleeping in your own bed, driving your own car, seeing your family when ever you like, hanging out with the little ones, laughing and having a good time with old friends. Home is amazing. These past two weeks for me has been nothing but delightful, can not complain one bit! Rehab is going great and the knee is getting back right slowly but surely! Yea buddy! :)

Anywho what most of the kids and parents have been asking about since the last day of last years basketball camp, when will you have a camp again? Well wait no longer, camp is on its way. Yayyyyy :) at least thats the reaction I get when I tell the kids and parents. So parents mark your calendars and clear the dates for your kids. May 31st will be a free clinic for all boys and girls of all ages, yes FREE! June 1st and June 2nd will be the 3rd Annual Amanda Jackson Basketball Camp for boys and girls. So let's get it! We're going to make this year a memorable year and even better than the last. More info will be posted soon. Any questions about the camp please do not hesitate to contact me via email a2daj1@yahoo.com.

There you have it, camp dates are official for this year. Other than that, things are going well for me and enjoying being at home. Until next time...stay blessed!

AJ

Simply...

“Simply Give.Simply Pray.Simply Care.Simply Love”

Looks like I can only seem to write one entry a month. LOL Im so lazy or better yet not inspired to write like I have been before. Nonetheless here comes March’s entry...enjoy!

Since the last post a lot has been going on my way. One of my sisters came and visited me here in Israel. Such a breath of fresh air to have family over here, it was perfect timing. Several days before she got here I had surgery on my knee and what better timing to have her here. She did an awesome job of taking care of me, very useful and helpful. :) While she was here I was able to show her around a few incredible cities. Though the last two days of her stay the weather was terrible out and we just chilled at the apartment. It sucked but I have to say I enjoyed her company immensely!!! We laughed, talked, laughed and talked some more and then she slept and slept. Poor girl could never get use to the time zone change. Too funny. This woman would be up at all ours of the night and morning. As her time came to an end I have to admit I was sad! I didn’t want her to go and if I was smart I would have booked her stay for longer...silly me! UGH

It’s been three weeks since post-op and the knee is doing a lot better. Trying to regain strengthen and range of motion. Each day is progression and I can’t complain not one bit. I’ll be back to running and playing in several weeks. No need to rush it so I’ll be good. oh and ps..the hand is great! :)

One thing that I am most excited and over joyed about is the fellowship that I get to experience while being here. Nothing like sitting in a room with spirit filled hearts that has a thirst for the Word! This past couple of months have definitely been spiritually rewarding in my walk with Jesus Christ. Incredible feeling and the knowledge I have gain is mind blowing. I tell you its a blessing for sure! Especially the people I have met and formed spiritual bonds with. Amazing. Im just a child of God wanting to know Him and His Word deeper.

Until next time...

God Bless,

MandO :)

Favored! :)

“The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want!”

Good Morning, Afternoon, Evening or maybe even Good night to all who takes time out to read and catch up on things with me. Wow again a lot of time has past since the last up date and what do you know a lot has happened since then. 

Where do I begin...

We lost and got put out of the Eurocup. Our last game was actually a pretty good game and but we failed to win by enough points to advance. It sucked big time too. We should and could have advance but we shot our own selves in the foot. Disappointing! Though life goes on and we still have our Israeli league, which we now are currently tied for 2nd place I believe. We have a game tonight but this kid will not be playing. For some who know and those of you who don’t know, I injured my meniscus back in November and kept playing on it. I was being stubborn and kept playing on it and made it worse. Also the last game I played in, I suffered a hit to the hand which caused my fingers to split down the middle. Had to leave the game and go get stitches. NO WORRIES though I am okay. Just have to sit out for a little bit to recover from things but I will be back healthy in no time!

Besides my spirits are high and I know ultimately that everything will be alright in due time. My faith is incredible so there is no need to be worried, sad, down or any other kind of negative emotion. :)

What else...

I have a visitor coming to see me!!! Can anyone guess who??? I am too excited. Oh and one of my sisters told me some great news the other day which makes me want to do back flips. And another thing, meet an amazing family and their family friend. They are so warm, loving and filled with the spirit of God! How awesome is that? I have had the pleasure of sharing a few evenings with them and it has been nothing more than a mere blessing to me. I thank God that He directed them into my life. Such phenomenal people I can’t say enough about them. I look forward to our next gathering. :) 

As you can see I have a ton of positive energy being thrown at me and people flowing in my life that I don’t have time to let trouble, the devil or anything else negative stand in my way. Regardless of what’s going on in my life, whether thats on the court, off the court or in my personal life, things will be okay. I absolutely trust and believe that...”The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want...Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life!” Psalm 23

Until next time...

God Bless

AJ

I am back...writing! :)

“When you pray, just say in the simplest way, "Lord, I love You so much.
I love Your presence, Your power in me." Then you will know that everything you do will be in divine order, because the Spirit of the living God is moving through you, speaking through you, guiding you in all things."
~Barbara L. King

The big question is where have I been? What happen to the blogs? Have I missed a post or did you just stop writing them?

Truth be told I have been so lazy and had no inspiration to write about what is happening in my life. Though I have told myself and plenty of others that I will get back to writing and posting in my blog. So wait no longer...I’m Back! :)

To speed everyone up on things, the season here in Ramla (Israel) is going pretty well. Currently we are resting in first place in our league. Have won some tough games here and there. In Eurocup we won all of our games in the first round which led us to advance to the second round. We started the second round this past Thursday. Traveled to Turkey to play Kayseri which resulted in our first lost in Eurocup this season. It’s okay because we get them again next Thursday at our place, so hopefully it will be a different outcome. Well it better be or we are finished in Eurocup!

Outside of ball...I had the opportunity to travel back home for Christmas. It was amazing to spend time with my family and a few friends! We had a blast each and every day. Gosh I love my family!!! :) Didn’t get to spend much time with them and soon I had to head back to the Holy Land, which took almost 2 days to get to get there. Talking about tired! EXHAUSTED! Not to mentioned I had to practice twice the day I arrived and then played in a game the following day. Then three days after that game played in another game. This kid was so so tired, but I survived :)

Well I sort of speeded everyone up on things with me. Yes I am enjoying myself over here. I get along great with my teammates and coaches. Israel is a very nice country to live in and top of that I have a great roommate which makes things a lot easier. :)

There you have it! Until next time...and I hope it wont be that much time in between posts...hahahaha

God Bless,

Amanda 

Happy Birthday Baby Dave!

Dear Baby Dave,

Gone but never forgotten! Another year has passed and it seems like just the other day I was running up the hill with you in my arms. That day and the morning you left us will always remain vivid inside my head. I can’t put into words how truly I miss you and your presence. Though you couldn’t speak I knew every time I would say something to you, you knew I was around. Your face would light up and you would smile ear to ear. 

I think about you every day. Sad that you are no longer here but I know for certain you are in a better place and having a magnificent time in God’s Kingdom. God bless your soul and our family, especially your mother. Im so proud of her! She is a woman that has great depth to her. Absolutely amazing in so many ways. Everything that she has been through in such a short period of time and to remain standing is an inspiration and a true testament to her character and being. May God continue to bless her and your family. I love you!

Happy Birthday Baby Dave. I love you and miss you like crazy! Hope you are having the time of your life up there. Continue to watch over us.

Ps...things are going well here in Israel. Definitely enjoying my time here. We leave for France Wednesday to play in our 2nd Eurocup game. Im excited to see my old teammate from St. Amand :) wish us luck on the road!

Until next time. Stay Blessed!

Love,

Aunt Manda