December 2011/January 2012

December 2011/January 2012
Jackrabbit FCA Newsletter
Power Verse of the Month:
Using Your Platform—Fawn Weihl
Women’s Swimming and Diving
Hometown:
Omaha, NE
Tell us about your
family:
I am the daughter of two
amazing parents, Chip
and Jan Weihl, who
have supported me in all
of my endeavors. I am
the middle child of three
girls.
My older sister just
graduated from college
and my younger sister is
about to graduate from
high school.
I’m so thankful and
proud of each of my
family members and
their accomplishments.
Major:
Exercise Science/PreMed
What do you like
most about Brookings/SDSU?
I love the small town
feeling, being able to get
to know people and participate in the community, and only having to
drive 5 minutes to get to
places in town!
What is your favorite
Bible verse and why
does has meaning in
your life?
It is so difficult to pick a
favorite Bible verse but
one verse in particular
has been in my heart
since middle school. My
youth leader asked me
what my favorite thing
about Jesus was and I
answered “his unconditional love,” and he proceeded to introduce
Zephaniah 3:17 to me;
“The Lord your God is
among you, a warrior
who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will bring you
quietness with His love.
He will delight in you
with shouts of joy.”
Every time I go back to
this verse, I am reminded of how much my
heavenly Father loves
me and am comforted no
matter what is going on
in my life. The fact that
God is always with me
and delights in me, a
sinner, is so wonderful
to me.
There is nothing I can
do to change His mind.
Jesus has seen all of my
failures and shortcomings and yet still took
my place for God’s
judgment so that I could
be reconciled with my
Father. His grace and
love is more than sufficient for me.
Tell us about your
experience with FCA
and its impact on you
as a student athlete:
I started attending FCA
my freshman year in
high school and have
been involved ever
since. The FCA here at
SDSU has been such a
blessing and a passion in
my life. T.J., the leadership team, and everyone
who attends is so amazing and has made a huge
difference in my college
career.
I’ve been able to participate in fellowship, learn
more about God’s Word,
and start to really understand what it means to
have a relationship with
Jesus. I’m learning how
to give 100% in my
studies and my swimming career for God’s
glory and His kingdom.
I look forward to every
Wednesday night when
we meet to have fun and
to absorb more of God’s
Word.
www.JackrabbitFCA.org
“Haven’t I commanded
you: be strong and
courageous? Do not
be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD
your God is with you
wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9 (HCSB)
Fawn Weihl
Every platform is important in
God’s eyes. Make the most of yours.
“You’ve been entrusted with a unique
set of circumstances, relationships,
and opportunities. No one else stands
precisely where you do. Your day-today relationships elevate you to a
singular position of importance in the
lives of your family, friends, coworkers, teammates, and neighbors– the
people all around you. They believe in
you and derive value from your input.
No one else can have the same impact
in their lives.”
-Tony Dungy “The Mentor Leader”
Jackrabbit FCA Newsletter
Page 2
Inside Story
You are FCA
With your help in
2011 we were able to:
 Strengthen a student leadership
team of 12 student
-athletes from various sports.
 Give away over
300 FCA Bibles
 Grow existing
huddles and begin
new huddles in our
area high schools.
 See our weekly
huddle grow in
numbers averaging
over 50 student–
athletes.
 Launch studentled team bible
studies at SDSU
called Winning
God’s Way, we
have about 85 students involved
from soccer,
swimming and
diving, track and
cross country, volleyball, women’s
basketball and
football. This is an
area of emphasis
for us to keep
growing.
 Begin two coach’s
huddles each
week, one with the
football staff and
then this past semester we started
an all sport
coach’s huddle.
Together we have
had over 20 coaches in a huddle this
semester.
 Host FCA breakfasts for state tournament athletes,
when tournaments
are hosted in
Brookings. We
also began the
community Breakfast of Champions
event, and continue to enhance
Fields of Faith- all
meant to share the
gospel of Jesus
Christ.
bility. Specifically being available to Jesus
Christ. He did an
amazing job of sharing with the audience.
Bobby Bowden
Event
Thank you to Josh
Ranek, Jordan & Ketty Paula, Mills Property Management, First
Bank & Trust and
Backyard Grill for
sponsoring tables for
the FCA Bobby
Bowden Breakfast on
1/28. We were able to
host several athletes
and coaches from
SDSU and the Brookings area. The event
was attended by almost 600, and Coach
Bowden shared about
the importance, not in
ability, but in availa-
For even more pictures, video and other information on FCA at SDSU follow us on Facebook
www.Faceboook.com/JackrabbitFCA
Page 3
Jackrabbit FCA Newsletter
Thank You to the Prairie Striders Running Club, they
chose our Brookings-area FCA as their beneficiary from
their Hobo Day 5K this past November. Thank you
Prairie Striders for your donation of
$2,876.43!
For more information about Prairie Striders and upcoming events visit them online at
www.prairiestriders.net
For Jackrabbit Athletic Schedules and
Ticket Information, Please Visit
WWW.GOJACKS.COM
Go Out and Support our Jackrabbit
Athletes and Coaches!
Please support our business partners as a way of saying “thanks” for their support of FCA.
www.millsproperty.com
697-3175
www.bankeasy.com
www.wisemandental.com
Ron Borchardt
Realtor
690-1999
borchardt@brookingshomes.com
692-3663
Contact TJ for more information or questions about FCA
605.651.3592 or tcarlson@fca.org
697-3100
692-9555
Page 4
Jackrabbit FCA Newsletter
Closing Thought
At one point during his youth, baseball great
Jackie Robinson began to run with a gang. In
later years, he recalled while he had wished
for a better life as a boy and teen, he had no
understanding that a gang was not the way
to achieve it. An older friend finally came to
Jackie and made him realize how much he
was hurting his hard-working mother, as well
as how much he was limiting himself. Robinson said, “He told that it didn’t take guts to
follow the crowd, that courage and intelligence lay in being willing to be different.”
Jackie listened, left the gang, and traded his
wishbone for a backbone. He began to work
on developing his own physical potential and
within a few short years, became a sensational athlete. Starring in football, basketball,
Your support Makes a Difference!
baseball and track at UCLA, he was the first
person to win athletic awards at all four
sports at the university. He went on to play
pro football with the Los Angeles Bulldogs
before being drafted for World War II duty.
After the war, he signed with the Brooklyn
Dodgers. Not only did Jackie Robinson become the first black baseball player in the
major leagues, but he was voted rookie of
the year.
Your gifts are vital to what God is
doing through FCA at SDSU. Whether
it’s a one time gift or monthly
partnership.
All financial gifts to Jackrabbit FCA
should be sent to:
Backbone accomplishes more than wishbone.
SD Fellowship of Christian Athletes
1601 E 69th Street, Suite 301
Sioux Falls, SD 57108
Please add memo: “T.J. Carlson”
Many a good man has failed because he
had his wishbone where his backbone
should have been.
You can also make a gift (one time or
monthly) online at our website:
www.JackrabbitFCA.org
Thanks for being a part of FCA!
If you receive a hard copy of our newsletter and would consider switching over to an emailed copy to help us save resources
(printing/postage and time) please email T.J. to be added to the email list—tcarlson@fca.org
Jackrabbit FCA
306 Hickory Street
Brookings, SD 57006
www.JackrabbitFCA.org
Facebook.com/JackrabbitFCA
Twitter.com/JackrabbitFCA