Well, it has officially been a  year since Gian Paul Gonzalez dribbled the 2008 NYC Marathon. Can you believe all that the Lord has done in one year??? But even greater than the 2 Marathons, 2 Half Marathons (by our first female and international runners), and the 100 Mile Challenge, are the people that the Lord has brought to come along on this journey. GP’s NYC Marathon actually was the start of a story many of you don’t know about that has changed Ball for Lives forever.

You know those family friends you consider cousins but really aren’t? Well, I grew up with a “cousin” named Whitney. Our families got together every Thanksgiving for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC, and every Memorial Day for the softball event of the year  

After high school, Whitney and her family moved, and I didn’t see her for several years. Even after she moved back to West New York (the city I teach in!) we really never connected again–until the 2008 NYC Marathon.

My mother told me that Whitney wanted to join us when her church gathering was over to cheer on GP. After a million missed calls we finally met up after the race was done. Whitney went out with us to eat as we celebrated our second straight NYC Marathon finish.

And yes, that simple action on Whitney’s part changed Ball for Lives forever.

In the past year, Whitney

Helped coordinate our second Ball for Lives benefit dinner, which was a HUGE success,

has mailed out over 50 assembly packets trying to get Create the Crossover into more New Jersey and New York City schools,

has contacted hundreds of media outlets for Dribble the World events, resulting in articles like this one in a New York Post Brooklyn News Paper: 

B-Ball Dribbling Marathon Goes Through Brooklyn

not only ran 5 miles of the 100 Mile Challenge, but also made an incredible slide show (which you’ll get to see next week on DribbletheWorld.com)!

has either driven me or let me use her car to get to several huge speaking opportunities,

has reminded me countless times of things that REALLY need to get done,

and this past weekend,

set up an AMAZING pancake breakfast benefitting Ball for Lives! Over 50 people were in attendance, with around 40 being high school students ready to make a serious difference who heard about our motivation of Jesus Christ,

housed Eric, his wife Rachel, and their friends Dan and Frank in her Weehawken apartment for the entire Marathon weekend (and Ashley on Saturday!),

and led a group of 8 other people around NYC cheering Eric on throughout the race WITH NO SUBWAY MAP!!  Someone who will remain nameless took all the copies she had printed out

 Most importantly, Whitney has become an incredibly special friend to all of us who encourages us, makes us laugh, brings us together, and points us to Christ.

Do you wonder if what you do matters? Do you ever begin to doubt that God is working in your life when life doesn’t seem that exciting? Next time you feel discouraged, remember a girl named Whitney who took a simple action to get involved, and ended up leading a movement.

We love you Wit!