Faith In The Zone - Full Show - 4/7/2024

Full show from Sunday, April 7th, 2024 from the Dononvan & Jorgenson Heating & Cooling studio
Lisa Weston: Head of Women's Chapel for the Chicago White Sox

Episode Transcript

(00:06):
Why do you have it? Showsme? Has always been a mystery on
my life. I've been told I'malone at the end of the nine.
Will only you the not quite?Will only navigate it right it? It
turns out here the ones you arelooking for all this time, I'm just

(00:31):
a lie sho tell you about allabout time the same. Welcome to Faith
in the Zone, a show aboutsports and faith and when the two come
together and the lives that are affected. Faith in the Zone is brought to
you by book Side Baptist Church.Let's turn it over to Mike mcgiffren and

(00:54):
Pastor Ken Keltner. Only I'm theBig nine twenty at your iHeartRadio app.
Welcome to Faith and the Zone.I'm the Big nine twenty in your Ihearts
Radio app. I might be givenalongside Pastor Ken Keltner from Brookside Baptist Church.
Were coming from the Donovan and JordansonHeating and Cooling Studios. Pastor,
how you been. I've been doinggreat, Mike, good to be with

(01:15):
you. Yeah, you're not travelingmuch anymore. And it looks like that
big gash on the forehead looks goodman, it looks good. You know,
well, what do you mean Ijust took a bunch of teenager you
know, teenage guys out to colorall that's right, got hitting at Denver
snowstorm. Yeah. Yeah, drovefifty hours that week. That was a
harrowing experience for me. I'm glad, Yeah, I'm glad to be home.

(01:40):
You're not doing that again. No, I'm not gonna do that again.
Now, those teens, you don'tbring them over to some little hill
around here and let a snowboard orski or whatever you want to do.
Hey, a few weeks ago,we had Mickey Weston on, and Mickey
does great work. Him and TomRoy worked together for a long time,
and then Tom retired and Mickey tookover for UPI. And anytime that I

(02:02):
would talk to Tom Roy about howUPI was doing, he would talk about
Mickey, and then he would talkabout his wife, Lisa and how she's
just been phenomenal for Mickey and forUPI and all the other things that Lisa
does. And then we had Mickeyon and he talked a lot. In
fact, he's the one who broughtup that he all kicked his coverage.

(02:22):
I didn't bring that up. Okay, Yeah, yeah, that's good.
Yeah, I didn't bring that up, so he brought it up. And
then I text him after to saythank you and any chance we get Lisa
to maybe be a guest, andhe goes absolutely. And Tom Roy listened
to the show and he said,you should try to reach out to Lisa.
She'd be a great guest on Faithin the Zone. So I want

(02:43):
to thank Tom Roy, and Iwant to thank Mickey Weston for the introduction
to Mickey's wife, Lisa Weston.She serves She works with UPI. She
also serves the Women in Professional Baseballas the Women's Ministry Coordinator for Baseball Chapel.
She's the Women's Bible Study leader forthe Chicago White Sox, and her
and Mickey have served together on theBoard of Directors for Pro Athletes Outreach for

(03:07):
over thirty years. She is busy. We are now joined by Lisa west
and Lisa, how are you today, I'm good. Thanks for having me
today. Yeah, we really appreciateit. You know, Mickey's the one
who talked about that he out kickedhis coverage. You're way, way too
good looking and too good for him. And I'm not going to ask you
if if maybe you are kicked yourcoverage. That's a pastor ken watch mean

(03:31):
to ask. I'm not asking youthat because I don't believe he was the
big jock on campus. Absolutely,Well, there you go. He's still
he's still good looking. I cantell you that he's doing such good work.
Where did you grow up, Lisa, and how did you and Mickey

(03:51):
meet? I grew up in PortHere in Michigan, on the east side
of Michigan. And Mickey and Imet my freshman year college at Eastern Michigan
University. We were both part ofa group called Campus cru Safe for Christ,
which is Crew now. And hewas that very good looking MC of
the weekly meetings. And we metand his eyes saw you, I saw

(04:14):
you, And that was the end. Is that how that works? Oh
no, it's that's a longer storythan your program is. But we met
and he pursued pretty hard and Iand that's how it happened. We met
at a We met at a Crewparty in the middle of the night at

(04:36):
a crazy his Bible study kidnapped,physically kidnapped a girl from a huge sleepover
of all these Crew girls, allthe Bible says together, and of course
me and my friends were going torescue this girl like it was all in
fun. But we were running throughthe streets of Ipsilani in the middle of
the night, which was not asafe place, Like we were stupid college

(05:00):
kids. And we sort of breakinto this guy's apartment who was in making
Bible study with this girl, andwe're all laughing together and we end up
in this huge shaving cream fight,as immature college kids would do. And
I work contact and so I hadall the shaving to my eyes are just
burning. So I go into thebathroom and I'm trying to flush my eyes

(05:20):
and I look up and here's thisguy right above me in the bathroom with
me doing the same. You hadcontext, that was me. That's how
we met that. Yeah, that'sawesome. Yeah, when you talk about
kidnapping, that was my one youthactivity back in Oklahoma. I've set it
all up with the parents. Itwas our largest activity. Kidnapped all the

(05:41):
kids in the youth group, broughtthem over for breakfast. We started at
three am. We started at threeam, and before I got home,
my house was already papered. Thattells you what the kids out of that
activity. Obviously we're in toilet paperthis house our special guest Lisa Weston,
and Lisa, when I said inthe beginning, boy, you are busy.

(06:03):
You certainly are really busy. Andyou've been involved with with Mickey and
with Tom Roy and the people fromUPI for for a long time. Can
you talk a little bit about thatorganization and what that's meant to you and
Mickey? Sure. So Mickey startedtraveling with Unlimited Potential or UPI as a

(06:25):
young player, a minor league baseballplayer, went on mission trips with them,
and I shoot them at the door. To me, it was the
greatest thing ever that he gets touse baseball to share Christ with people that
wouldn't otherwise hear. It's not likethe US all over the world. So
that was beautiful. And I justsaw how I matured him in his face

(06:46):
and it just fitted fit. Itwas such a good fit to his personality
and his gifting. So we thenwhen we were nearing the end of our
playing days, Tom asked Mickey tocome on back part time and so we
coached for a few years and hecame on to path and traveled then much

(07:09):
more, probably more than he shouldhave. So then we were a young
family, but it was a giftto our family, and our kids would
all say that Mickey traveled a lot, especially in those early years, but
for his absence in our home,really God made up the gap for that.
And when he was home, hewas very home and engaged in our

(07:30):
family. And I feel like ourkids as young adults now as adults,
would say that his getting to servewith UPI and was such a benefit to
our family, to them personally intheir own walks with the Lord, and
also gave them an amazing worldview becauseMickey was able to take each of our
like take a child every year ona trip. So they then went to

(07:55):
Thailand, and went to the Philippines, in South Africa and all those places,
and they are all four of ourkids are walking with the Lord,
and some of that has to dowith being surrounded by UPI and that mission.
And of course Tom was you know, Uncle Tom to our kids,

(08:15):
and they loved him, and hebrought a lot of laughter and fun into
our home in those years. Andour kids are growing up in little Hey.
Lisa, you know how long haveyou served with the women with the
professional Baseball Women's Professional Baseball, Well, I would say even when we were
back playing, Nicky and I wouldlead a couple of study. I would

(08:37):
do a girl of study to thewives. So we really felt that baseball
was our mission fields and got itplaced us there, so that's what we
did, so kind of from thebeginning, I always was involved in a
Bible study or a couple of studieswith whatever team we were on. And
then later when Mickey he was onstaff full time and he took over as

(09:03):
the White Sox Chapel in fact tookthat over from tom My kids were a
little bit older, and so Istarted doing a wives Bible study with a
White Sox and that eventually led tome being asked by Baseball Chapel to be
their Women's ministry Coordinator, which Idid for nine years. I'm not actively
doing that now, but that wassuch an honor and privilege I loved.

(09:24):
It was able to make sure thatat every big league city and a lot
of minor league cities we had awoman there serving baseball wives and girlfriends having
a Bible study, and every bigleague city there is a wives or women's
Bible studies. And so I stilldo that with the White Sox and it's
just the joy I love being ableto come alongside young baseball wives. I

(09:50):
lived it, so I have kindof an instant credibility when I go in
because I lived their life. Somethings of change, but a lot hasn't
changed. And then we open God'sWord together. A lot of times there's
girls that are not believers, andthat is a really amazing thing to be
able to open God's Word and sharewith them the difference that God's Word has

(10:13):
had in my life personally and inours and in the world. That has
to be just a great opportunity becauseI'm sure they get into all kinds of
scenarios, you know, with theirhusband's traveling all the time, and the
ladies really don't go on away gamesdo They don't really necessarily travel with the

(10:35):
with the team. They they theydo, and they don't. They do
much more now than they did whenI was playing, because because of money.
Money is huge in Major League Baseball, so a lot of the girls
do just go with the guys.Once they have little kids. The more
kids you have, the heart ofthat travel becomes, say in their city

(10:58):
of you know, which is nottheir home, own home. But some
of them fly home now because it'seasy to do for them financially, but
others are you know, they're alwayscoming to a city that they have never
been to before that first year,they don't know anyone. They're thrown together
with a bunch of women that inmaybe real life they wouldn't be friends with,

(11:20):
and now they have to figure outhow to manage that and how to
have a community with those people.We are definitely a need. I'm sorry
about that. We're talking with LisaWeston, former women in Professional Baseball,
is the women's ministry coordinator. She'shad done that for a number of years.
She is still the women's Bible Studyleader for the Chicago White Sox and

(11:41):
we're going to talk later in theshow about Pro Athlete's outreach and her and
her husband Mickey, have been onthe board of directors for over thirty years.
And I've got a number of questionswith that. Hey, in Mickey's
professional baseball career, he was withthe Baltimore Orioles and the Mets, New
York Mets, the Phillies trying toBlue Jays. Did you have a favorite

(12:01):
city that that you guys were inwith the four that he had played for
in the big leagues. I wouldsay I loved Baltimore. It was a
great part of it was it wasour first time in the big leagues.
I love that. It was agreat experience, easy to travel from there.

(12:22):
We had a We were in amillion minor league cities because Mickey played
for fifteen years, so I hadthe favorite minor league cities too. Like
we played Triple A at Charlotte.That was a really fun city to play
in. We played in Toledo,which is kind of an arm pitiments city
for me, but it was closeto home and so I loved it,
and it was easy to get backand forth to Detrode. So I thought

(12:43):
Mickey said something about playing in Talls, Oklahoma when they had a Triple A
team. I think it was DoubleA back then. We didn't ever live
there, but he went through there. It's a beautiful city. Nobody want
to live there. Pastor Ken grewup there. That's why I remember him

(13:05):
talking about Tulsa, and I thought, hey, I like that. I
think he had a bunch of homeruns and maybe then, No, I
don't think I think he I thinkit was like they were there and when
when when he was in the bullpenand something clicked or a coach or something.
I remember him talking about Tulsa aswell, and and you popped up
and you want to talk about restaurants? He said, look, I have

(13:26):
money, Goldie, so that couldn'tafford any place. We went to Taco
Bell or something like like that.Hey, at least before we get to
a break. And I touched onon Pro Athletes Outreach and and and that
you and Mickey but and served onthe board. I find I did a
lot of research on that website.I find their mission statements some of the

(13:48):
things that that you're trying to accomplishthrough Pro Athletes Outreach to be really really
commendable and incredible. The kind ofwork that you guys are doing. I'm
still enjoyed the time and the workthat you do for that organization. Yes,
we love it. It has beenreally it has been an integral part

(14:09):
of our marriage since the very beginning, because the very first year we were
married, we were invited to cometo the Pro Ethlets Outreach now called the
Increase Conference for Baseball players, andup until that time, we didn't really
even know that there were any Christiansin the major leagues or people of faith,
and so we arrived there and here'sall these major league ballplayers that were

(14:30):
so friendly, so kind, andhere they have faith. We're like,
wait what So it was so wonderfulfor us. But we have learned,
i would say, at that conferenceevery year, and we've gone almost every
year of our marriage. We havelearned about like how to be married,
we learned about finances, we learnedabout child rearing, and really we made

(14:54):
some of our closest friends in life. We've met at Pro Athletes Outage Conference.
So it is just like a nonnegotiable for us every fall in November
now and we corral as many ofour White Sox kids as we can to
go. So yeah, Hey,Lisa, besides the Bible says, I
mean, do you have like activitieswhere you you know, you get together,

(15:16):
it's your place for a cookout oranything along that line. We do.
Depends on the year, depends onthe folks that are in the city
that year. On our team,we sometimes do a couple study. I
get people come out and hang outat the beach with me, just North
Neia Lake, Michigan. We'll meetat a park. If it's a young
team and there's a bunch of kids. Sometimes the guys around the road.

(15:39):
We'd meet at a park and justkind of pigmic together. So it just
depends on what the girls want todo. I've had for several years.
I had a gall on my teamthat was just really serious about her walk
with the Lord, and she said, Lisa, would you meet with me
once every couple of weeks, Andwe did, and we would talk about
life and talk about issues in baseball, and then we talked about God's Word

(16:03):
and that was just an amazing time. I've done that with several girls over
the years. Our special guest forthe entire hour is Lisa Weston again.
Her and her husband Mickey, haveserved on the board for Pro Athletes Outreach
for over thirty years. She's thewomen's Bible Study leader for the Chicago White
Sox, and she worked professional baseballas a women's ministry coordinator for Baseball Chapels

(16:29):
for a number of years. Infact, we had Vince nall on early
on Faith in the Zone and hewas very much a part of the nationwide,
in fact worldwide Baseball Chapel and hedid a great job when he was
a guest on Faith in the Zone. And it's so good to know that
Baseball Chapel is just as strong asit's ever been. We will get to

(16:52):
a break. On the other sideof the break, we'll ask Lisa Weston
to share her testimony with us.This is Faith in the Zone. I'm
the Big nine twenty iHeart Radio App. Say more now with Faith in the
Zone, discover how sports and faithcome together. Faith in the Zone is
brought to you by BIC Automotive.Let's turn it back over to Mike mcgibb

(17:15):
and Pastor Ken Keltner only I'm aBig nine twenty and your iHeartRadio App.
Welcome back to Faith in the Zone. I'm the Big nine twenty and your
iHeartRadio App. We are coming fromthe Donovant and Jorganson and Heating and cooling
studios. Have no idea whether you'regoing to turn your air conditioner on,

(17:36):
you're furnaced on. Look all Iwould tell you any issues you have with
any of it. Any your HVACsystem, go to Donovan Jorgenson dot com.
Donovan Jorgenson dot com the largest employeeowned HVAC company in the state of
Wisconsin. And when I go totheir office, I always somebody always asks
me about Faith in the Zone.They're they're they're very proud to be a

(17:59):
partner in to be an advertiser withus here on this show, alongside Pastor
Ken Keltner from Brookside, a Baptistchurch, and they're the major sponsor of
this show. And I can't thankmy church, my home church enough for
believing in faith in his own foreleven years. Now, eleven years we've
been doing this. Yeah, andyou've loved every minute of it with me,

(18:21):
Mike. So I didn't know thatwe lied on faith in the Zone.
I thought we're supposed to just tellthe truth. Well, I know
you have. I can, andI understand why I got it. But
you know you can't. You can'tyou carry about Lisa. My back hurts
every time that he comes in forthe show. Our special guest, she
is Lisa Weston, and uh,I just I'm really happy that she's given

(18:45):
us the time. When we hadMickey west and her husband on a few
weeks ago, Man, he justtalked about the things he's been able to
do is because him and Lisa havebeen partners in this journey together. At
least before we ask you for yourtestimony, you had said in the first
segment you have four kids. Whatare their names? It's Erica, Tayla,

(19:07):
Andrews or Drew and Marissa. Soone boy. And I've read a
few things. Andrew is a prettygood baseball player, Yes he was.
You got to play after college,you got to play a couple of years
professionally. So you had a seasonwith the Tigers and the season with the
White Childs Man, that's awesome.This is, you know, childhood dream
come true. Man. Good forhim. Hey, Lisa's second segment with

(19:29):
Faith in the Zone. We alwaysask our guests to share their testimony,
and you know, it's our favoritesegment of this show. And if you
would be so kind, I wouldlove to tell you. So. I
grew up in Michigan and my parentswere first generation Christians, so they had
both come to faith and delves andso by the time I came along,

(19:52):
they were fully involved spiritually in theirown lives and also in a church.
So we were pretty much there everytime the church stores were open. My
dad served on every board. Mymom served with Charlie Dangels and Fellowship,
was super involved in her own church, from Pioneer Girls, all the things
she led. So I really sawby example from a very young age what

(20:15):
walking with the Lord meant and whatserving meant. It really learned a lot
about serving from them, But itwas, you know, not my parents'
face at some point. You know, I went to Sunday school every week,
and those sweet couple old ladies rightin your row those years, we're
just super great at talking about whatdoes what is a walk with Jesus?

(20:37):
What does that mean? And Ihad to come to understand it wasn't by
my parents, but I had tomake that decision myself. So I learned
my very first verse I learned waslong rust John three sixteen, for God
so loved the world that he gaveIt's only begotten son, that whoever believes
in him would not perish but haveeverlasting life. So I knew that as
a four or five sixture, Andthen the understanding came through my parents more

(21:03):
than maybe at church. Romans threetwenty three was for all of sin and
fall short of the glory of God. So what was sin? Well?
I knew I had disobeyed my parents. I knew I hadn't always been truthful.
I knew those things even as alittle kid. I knew that I
wasn't perfect and because of that,my sin separated me from a holy God.
But then the good news was thatRomans six twenty three as for the

(21:26):
wages of sin is death, butthe gift of God is eternal life of
Jesus Christ, my Lord. AndI remember at church, I think it
was in junior church one time someonehad a wrapped up gift and they talked
about like, you can't this isgift, isn't yours unless you take it,
like physically take it. I rememberthat. And then the wonderful news

(21:47):
of John one twelve. It saysas many as received him to them,
he gave the right to become childrenof God. And I knew as a
little kid that's what I wanted.It kind of came to a culmination,
like I don't remember all the detailsof all that, but my family took
a train to Chicago for a weekendlittle vacation. And whenever we traveled and

(22:08):
it was over Sunday, my parentswould find some local church and we all
went to church always on vacation,and so we went to Historic Moody Church
on that Sunday and it was asalvation kind of a message of those verses
I just shared and that was thedecision day for me that I trusted Christ
as my favor. So it wasn'tthat I could have a relationship with Jesus

(22:32):
to my parents. It was myown. And of course, as even
little kid, I was sick,I didn't understand all of it. I
still don't really understand all of thescripture. But I am the poster child
for the kid that grew in herfaith in church. I was mentored by
some amazing women in our little churchand grew in my faith. I'm the

(22:55):
poster child for the kid that goesaway to college and does not rebel against
that like I. Just like Iloved Jesus and I was gonna love Jesus
forever because of that firm foundation Ihad with my parents and then my church.
And so when I got to college, there were some things I was
pretty naive about, but I wassmart enough to know that I needed to
be to go to church and Ineeded to be involved in with I needed

(23:18):
community. I needed Christian community aroundme. So I did start going to
little church. But the thing thatreally really helped me own my faith in
new ways was Crew that I mentionedearlier Campus Cruse Stape for Christ, and
so I went there was really discipledfor a few years there and grew in
my faith, owned it in newways. I was able to communicate my

(23:41):
faith more effectively and in life.An important sideline to that was that I
met Mickey, So we were marriedour last year of college. He had
been drafted by the New York euts, so I jumped into the baseball
life, and we kind of alwayslaugh about the idea that if he had
been a football player, I don'tthink it would have worked out, because

(24:07):
because I grew up in a baseballfamily, like my family were huge betrayed
Tiger fans. My brother still hasSteven tickets, and so like we grew
up in that realm, I understoodbaseball, which I think Mickey would say
maybe wasn't always an advantage that Iknew as much as I did, because
I would sometimes go, oh,I can't believe you see that pitch.
But anyways, so we went throughthe minor leagues together then and just continue

(24:32):
to see our lives shapes from God'sword and growing in him and being able
to share that with others, andthen baseball as our mission fielders I mentioned
earlier, we we just love thatwe get to use baseball to live out
our faith and share our face withothers. Amen. She I'm telling you,

(24:55):
Lisa Weston, that what a greatstory Pastor on the show, I'll
say this, some people that wehave on the worst thing they ever did
was steal a candy bar. Andthen we've got guys like me and some
other guys that we've had on thatlived a totally different lifestyle. And I
envy sometimes like Lisa's lifestyle. ILisa for her to say, listen,

(25:17):
I was a little naive going tocollege, but I knew I needed to
get into a local church. Iknew I needed to be around a community
of Christians. That would not havebeen the first thing on my mind when
I went to college. And Ienvy that, and I think so much
when she talked about first generation Christianparents, Pastor, We've had that conversation,

(25:37):
like Marcus Hannild just on fire forthe Lord. Yeah, you know,
Lisa, your testimony sounded a lotlike mine. You know, I
grew up in a pastor's home becausemy dad was military, and someone just
Georgia Nadine Simms, a friend ofmy mom and dad, had him come
over and my mom and dad cameto trust Christ as their savior. They
were first generation Christ and so mydad was in ministry for fifty years.

(26:02):
I grew up in church, andyour testimony sounded a lot like mine,
and I just had to thank,you know, the genius of God to
make the redempty plan of how wecan live with Him so simple that children
can understand it. Yeah, youknow, and the enemy Satan has tried
to make it so confusing. Andthus, you know, we have all
kinds of religions today, and yetthe gospel message is so clear that Christ,

(26:27):
Jesus came, lived a perfect lifeand put himself on the cross and
died for all of our sins.And I so say pared the time in
my life. I don't know ifyou were felt this way, but there
was a time when I maybe inearly college, I think when you heard
these great stories of maybe people likeyou that came to Christ later and had

(26:47):
these dramatic turnaround, that I wouldsort of question, like, Wow,
what do I have thank people exactlyas I've grown in my faith and then
grown in a you know, Isuppose we say this is the sweetest testimony
we could ever have, But Godgives us each our own story to tell.

(27:08):
Yeah, and you know, Lisaand I and I appreciate that.
I can tell you that the heartachethat I cost right in certain parts of
that part of my life back then, I I would prefer that that that
did some of that did not happen. But I can tell you that I

(27:29):
get asked now to come out todifferent churches and speak at men's groups.
And the first time I did itwas at a church, not Brookside,
not where I go, but onthe other side of the time where I
didn't know anybody. It was apastor who listens to faith in his zone.
And for the first time, Igot up in front of two hundred
and fifty guys that gave my testimony. And when I was done, I
said to the pastor, lose mynumber, don't don't give your don't give

(27:52):
any of your friends my number.I'm never doing that again. And he
said, really, he said,I'm the kind of guy that for the
worst I've to do steel Candy Bar, there's fifty guys in the crowd that
are going to want to talk toyou because I've never had a drink,
I've never done any of the stuffthat you did, but they're going to
want to talk to you about howyou stopped and how you don't do that
anymore, and then it won't cometo me. So put your big boy

(28:17):
pants on and get there, becauselook at the line of people talking to
you. And I said, great, but lose my number, never call
me again. And so you know, now I've eased that a little bit.
I've done it at Brooks. I'vedone a number of churches, but
I you know, I just Ienvy the fact that you grew up with
a family that understood that first Christian, first generation Christian I think are the

(28:40):
ones that are so on fire forthe Lord. And I thank your parents
for that, Lisa. And Mikehas really God has really used him in
a great way, not only onthe radio with faith in his own but
going around to these different churches.And we actually had Tom Roy come in
for a stake out at Brookside andwe actually did a live faith in the

(29:02):
zone, you know, right therein front of a lot of guys.
And you know, Mike, I'vehad a lot of guys say, hey,
we'd like for you guys to dothat again. I know Tom would
probably jump at it, or wewould we get Mickey, well, and
you know what our price went.Our price just went way up. So
I appreciate you let me know thatpeople want us to do it again.
All of a sudden, you know, the price for the Tom, Mike

(29:22):
and Mickey show just went. Ifyou want to add Lisa, the price
is even going higher. She isLisa Weston. What a great testimony.
She is a big part of UPI. She is former former Baseball Women's Ministry
coordinator and she is for Baseball Chapel, the women's Bible Study leader for the

(29:44):
White Sox, and she serves onthe board alongside Mickey for over thirty years.
Pro Athletees Outreach. We're gonna getyou a break other side of the
break. I really want to talkabout that part of her life because I'm
very interested in some of the thingsthat I saw in and read on the
website for Pro Athlete's Outreach. Thisis Faith in the Zone. I'm the
Big nine twenty in your iHeart Radioapp. iHeart Radio sounds just all about

(30:18):
sun Say welcome back to Faith inthe Zone, a show about sports and
faith and when the two come together. Faith in the Zone is brought to
you by Donovan and Jorgensen heating andCoolan. Let's continue with Michael Gibbons and
Pastor Ken Keltnan only on the Bignine twenty and your iHeartRadio App. Welcome

(30:42):
back to Faith in the Zone.I'm the Big nine twenty in your iHeart
Radio app. This Mike McGivern Ikicked Pastor Ken Keltner out of the studio.
Hello. What he was saying duringthe break He is the head pastor
at Brookside Baptist Church. Coming fromthe diamonded Jeordgans and heating cooling udeos.
I just enjoy being with you,mikey do great jub And Lisa's been awesome

(31:04):
to have on to day. Sheyes, she's been unbelievable and her testimony
was awesome. Hey, Lisa,can we talk at our special guest?
I'm sorry, is Lisa Weston Andwhat I want to talk about is her
and Mickey her husband Mickey on theboard of directors for Pro Athletes Outreach for
over thirty years. Lisa, canwe start with a little bit about what

(31:26):
Pro Athletes Outreach does? And Ithink it's just so commendable when you said
early on, look, this isthis our marriage. You know this has
helped our marriage to be part ofthis. And for you guys to be
willing to continue to work and giveback to athletes and their wives, to
be able to have them continue theirwalk and just be able to walk alongside

(31:49):
them, I think is really commendable. The work that that that you guys
do with Pro Athletes Outreach, Ithink is just incredible. Yes, So
Pro Athletes Outreach started back in theseventies when people saw there was a need
for a community of believers to discipleto grow athletes in their face. And

(32:16):
so it started with men in theNFL to start with, and then expanded
of course to baseball, and wehave a hockey conference, and so the
baseball conference is in the fall,obviously in our off season, and there's
much more that happens year round.But the thing that has been most impactful
to Mickey and I is this conferenceonce a year and they bring in the

(32:39):
best of the best speakers. Musicis outstanding, Everything is outstanding. Is
at a beautiful hotel. So forus coming as a minor league couple,
in the very beginning, we're like, oh my word, we're staying in
this five star hotel, Like thisis not a minor league hotel. So
we enjoyed that. It was alittle getaway for us, but it was

(33:01):
so much more than It wasn't avacation. It was a training time for
us. And so the Lord reallyused those speakers, our friendships, all
those things to grow us, tomold us into who he want us to
be as not just athletes, butas believers and as ministers of the gospel

(33:21):
in some ways, because that's whatwe're doing. We're training athletes to send
them out and minister to their team. So it's just a very powerful week
to be together with all those baseballcouples. We had five couples from the
White Sox there this last year,which was a record for us, and
we loved every minute of it.And the last night there, we had

(33:46):
the opportunity Nickey and I did tobaptize two couples from our team. It
was just the sweetest thing, likethey had come to faith and it was
their next step. So we lovedthat and that is a super This is
the sweetest time that last night whenpeople are getting baptized. Some people that

(34:08):
came to Christ that week. Theseare people that come in that conference that
have no faith they're dragged there bysomeone else or their spouse dragged in there.
But yeah, it's it's just abeautiful thing, you know, Lisa.
What's interesting is throughout the years we'vebeen doing this show, when we
talked to baseball guys, especially whospend a number of years in the minor

(34:30):
leagues, they said, look,there's so much temptation when you're on the
road. I mean, you goon the road sometimes for you know,
seven, eight, nine, tendays at a time, and you're away
from your wife and away from yourfamily, and you're in hotels, and
people in those cities they look atus as big, you know, major
league baseball players, because that's thebiggest thing in town. And it's it's

(34:54):
it's very difficult, and a numberof guys have said this very difficult to
walk worthy outside of the locker roomif you're not surrounded by other believers when
you're playing on a minor league baseballteam. And I would assume that that
with pro athletes outreach, that's gotto be part of the conversations that people

(35:14):
can have with not only the athlete, but with his wife or with her
and her husband to be able tosay, look, it can be done.
You know, you can't continue towalk worthy even when you're on the
road with the minor league baseball team. Yes, and really it doesn't change
in the big leagues in some ways. In big league cities, there's more

(35:35):
opportunity, more temptations. Do youhave a single room, you're you know,
you're more well known, they're moresought after. But yes, in
a minor league city, true,yes, So that's when having a community
of believers around you to hold youaccountable, have a roommate that is a
believer, those kind of things,Lisa. You know, anytime you see

(35:57):
the work of God going on,like what you guys are doing, you
know, doesn't make the enemy,the adversary Satan very happy. What are
some of the struggles that you willhave experience in trying to really see the
ministry move forward. I think inthe big leagues, the one thing that
we that we often see is inthe minor leagues you have no money.

(36:22):
Basically, there is a there's aneed of it, there's a felt need.
And so when you don't know what'shappening tomorrow or the next week,
because you're living a performance based life, that's what baseball is. But you
could always be called up, sentdown, release. Those kind of things
are who you're living with all thetime on the minor league level, and

(36:46):
I think there is more of anopenness to the need of a savior than
there is when you get to thebig leagues. And I think that sometimes
is a hindrance because of the bigleague. You have it all, and
you have so much money that youcan buy what you don't have, and
so there isn't as much of afelt need until they're there for a while

(37:09):
and they realize that money doesn't doit and they're still not happy. And
so in the minor leagues there's thishope of the big league, but there's
more of a need. So Ithink they're more open to the gospel.
In the big league. It takesa while for them to figure out,
my marriage is failing. I haveall this money now, Yes, I

(37:30):
need to say that. Yeah,Lisa, I'm sure you have been there
for many couples who you know,he got the he got the message or
the pink slip, you know,you know the you know, the baseball
team doesn't want you, whether it'sin the minor league or the major leagues,
and you and and yet you guyshave had a platform or an opportunity

(37:52):
with them to really come alongside andhelp them through these difficult days. Yes,
we have prayed with people, criedwith people, help them pack up,
help them move, oh boy,done all those things. But we
I think just it really helped thatwe lived it. Like one year in
Baltimore, we were up and downsix times, so the call up sundown

(38:15):
thing like, we get that andwe weathered it. So I think it's
been helpful to be able to havethat here's some things to help. There's
some really practical things that we canhelp people with, to beside the emotional
part of I just got released.That's really hard. We're talking with Lisa
Weston Lisa really quickly and we'll haveto get to a break. Part of

(38:37):
Pro Athletes Outreach TIW the Increased Women, And I read that the page that
you guys have the Increased Women IntentionallyDisciples encourages women to become a Bassaard's for
Christ in their homes and there's spheresof influence. You know. I think
that's such an important line on thatpage on the website for Pro Athletes Outreach

(39:01):
that you guys and Intentionally are disciplingand encouraging women to become ambassadors of Christ
not only in their home but inthe sphere of their influence. And I
think that that's such an important thingto be able to talk to to players
wives about Look, you know,we want you to walk worthy not only

(39:22):
in your home, but certainly inour community. And to be able to
teach them and walk with them duringthat time, I think is really important.
And I would assume that there's you'reyou're talking to some women that don't
know that that area all that well, and for you to be able to
say, listen, we'll do thistogether as a community and be able to

(39:43):
teach you and disciple you into becomingambassadors for Christ in your home and in
your community. I think it's abig It has to be a really big
part of what TIW through Pro AthletesOutreach does, Yeah, and there and
the increase women. That team ofpeople are producing content in the form of

(40:07):
Bible studies that are written specifically forNFL and MLB people and all of Baseball
Chapel those organizations are partnering to usethat material. So this year my Bible
study is called Rooted and that isproduced by the increased women, and we're

(40:29):
using it as our Baseball Chapel Biblestudy. Everyone in all of professional baseball
is using that same study on thewomen's side this year. Yeah, because
you know, the toughest place tolive the Christian life period is at home.
And you know, if a guygoes oh for four, you can
imagine what it's like when he getshome with the frustration. And then if

(40:50):
there's kids involved and things aren't goingwell at home, it could just be
explosive. Or if they swing andmissing the sure softball league. You know,
well, hey when I I didthat one time. I did that
one time and Kathy asked me onthe way out to the car if I
needed glasses. I was humiliated.Well, my wife still laughs. She's
still laughing. So let's get toa break. The other side of the

(41:12):
break, we're going to ask ourspecial guest Lisa Weston the question that we
asked at the end of every show. All the uniforms she's ever put on,
we put him in the closet,which one does she pick out to
get one more game, one morematch. We'll see, we'll ask you
that question. This is Faith inthe Zone on the Big Nine twenty and
your iHeart Radio apps. Just sayback to Faith in the Zone brought to

(41:45):
you by Donovan and Jorgensen Heating andCooling, BIC Automotive and Brookside Baptist Church.
Here's Mike McGivern and Pastor Ken Keilderonly on the Big Nine and your
Rightheart Radio app. Welcome back toFaith in the Zone on the Big nine
twenty in your iHeartRadio App. I'mMike mcgive her alongside Pastor Ken Caltner.

(42:07):
He is the head pastor at BrooksideBaptist Church and our special guest. She's
been great. She is Lisa Weston. We had her husband, Mickey on
a few weeks ago. A formerMajor League baseball pitcher. He now runs
UPI and Lisa is big part ofwhat they do at UPI. Also on
the board of directors for Pro AthletesOutreach for over thirty years. Here and

(42:29):
Mickey, and she's a baseball women'sBible study leader for the Chicago White Sox.
Lisa. At the end of everyshow, we asked this question,
all the uniforms you've ever put onyour entire life, we put them in
the closet and you get to pickone uniform out to get one more game
with that team. What uniform doyou pick, who do you play against?

(42:49):
And why? I think I wouldput on my young baseball wife Baltimore
Orioles little gear and enjoy another adventurewith as a young wife. I loved
the adventure that baseball was for us, even though there was a lot of

(43:09):
uncertainty and where we were going tobe next week or next year. But
I just embraced that adventure because Iknew the Lord was in control of where
I was going to be and Iwould live that those years, even pre
kids, just the fun of minorleague and big league life as a young

(43:30):
baseball life. Loved it. Yeah. So, Lisa, when you went
to the first time that that Mickeyhad made, you know, the major
leagues, I guess that was Baltimore, right right, Okay, And you're
there and you got your your oriolestuff all you're all decked out and and
Mickey comes to the plate. Whatwhat were you sinsing? I mean,

(43:52):
what I mean was the anxiety?Were you just asking the Lord to help
him put the bat on the ballor what? What was that like?
Well, the only bade you don'tlook at any of the research I give
you you were you here, Wellhe had but American League, and so

(44:17):
when he did come up to batin those times that was minor league baseball,
never in the big leagues. Thatwas hilarious, Like you just laughed
because you know, what's he goingto do? Strike out? But he
would un you could touch the ball. There you go. I think pitching
wise though, in the big leagues, yeah, it was a combination of

(44:39):
I can't believe we're really here andanxiety are we going to be here after
this outing? So yeah, butwhen when you guys would when you guys
would travel to play the White saxor the Brewers back in the American League
back then, I would assume alot of family friends would come out for
that. Yes, one time wewere all in Chicago at the same time.

(45:02):
That was really fun. We allmet. It was I think it
was a September call up, sobut we all made plans to be they
were coming in town, like rightafter September one. We were in the
minors in August, you know,we think of actually where we were must
have been the Orioles and so yeah, the whole family came together. It
was super fun. I bought littleoriel uniforms from my nephew and you have

(45:28):
fun. That's awesome. Hey,Lisa Weston, we can't thank you enough.
And and what a what a greattestimony and the work that that that
you have done over the years withwith Tom Royan with Mickey, with UPI
and all the things that you doyou've done with Baseball Chapel and pro Athletes
Outreach. You know, I Lord'shappy with with you. I could do

(45:52):
you and Mickey and the work thatyou guys are doing. I can tell
you that. And I loved itwhen you said, look, all four
of our kids lived for the Lordnow and that means so much to us
as parents and grandparents. And andkeep up the good work. And I
thank you so much for your time. And I'll let you know when that
that Tom, Mike and Mickey showtake is going out of the road different

(46:14):
Baptist churches all over the country.And sorry that I'm taking your husband out
of the home, but you know, Tom roy thinks we got a winner
here, so you should definitely doit. And anytime you get here to
Milwaukee, we'd love for you tolet us know and we'll take you to
lunch or something like that we'd lovethat. Thank you so much for having
me you, bet Alisa Weston,thank you very much. You've been listening

(46:37):
to Faith in the Zone on theBig nine twenty and your iHeart Radio app
same. You've been listening to Faithin the Zone brought to you by brook
Side Baptist Church, Thought of Itand Jargonson Heating and Cooling and Bic Automotive.
Faith in the Zone airs every Sundaymorning at eight am only on the

(46:58):
Big nine twenty and your iHeart Readya woun