Tennis Pro Finds Her Silver Lining

CBN.com Go back to 1979. Andrea Jaeger was the 14-year-old phenomenon of professional tennis.

"It was great growing up with my family playing tennis because we all competed and it was fun. We didn't care who won or lost. We were never like that. On the tennis circuit, people care! They definitely care about that," says Jaeger. "I worked so hard, focused, had great discipline. My dad was my coach, a tremendous coach, but I kept beating these people and they'd be so hurt -- I mean, they'd cry."

But other times were like a fairytale.

"I had the most incredible experiences," she explains. "How many people can say they beat Billie Jean King on Center Court at Wimbledon? That victory, to me, it was priceless."

Then there was the 1981 French Open.

"We didn't care if we won or lost; we just went out and hit the ball. They all landed in and we won the tournament!" Jaeger states.

So what's it like behind-the-scenes of professional tennis?

"I thought I'd just go out there and have friends and have fun, but it is a business, an individual sport, a career -- for many people out there, that was their career," she says. "Then I also started asking myself, What am I doing? Am I changing the world by winning this tennis match?"

By age 19, Andrea had already had five hugely successful years in tennis. Then at the 1984 French Open, she hit a backhand that would change her life. She later wrote, "I felt as if a shark had ripped my shoulder out of its socket. It was the eeriest, most painful noise and feeling I had ever experienced."

Says Jaeger, "I knew other people looked at me and thought, 'She's nothing now. She can't play. Who is she? Won't become anything anymore' and that I failed. I knew that God had something planned. He definitely had something planned."

So what do professional tennis players do when they retire? Well, Andrea Jaeger spends her time encouraging kids with cancer at this ranch she founded in Aspen, Col.

Since 1990, Andrea's Silver Lining Foundation has been providing incredible experiences for children with cancer. Andrea, her co-founder Heidi Bookout, and staff return to these kids some of the "carefree-ness" of childhood. During week-long sessions, these kids get to participate in a host of experiences -- white water rafting, horseback riding, basketball, ping pong, foosball, air hockey, recording their own music (room courtesy of tennis great John McEnroe), swimming, and bowling.

The day we were there, the kids learned tennis tips from former pros Andrea Jaeger and Maja Muric. Later, they went fishing. And guess whose pond they were fishing in? Kevin Costner's!

"The thing that I learned from watching these kids on the tennis circuit is that they had such an appreciation for life," says Jaeger. "They had their childhood taken and totally transformed into something different, yet they find joy, they find a way to smile, and they find a way to have fun."

"I think it helps to get my mind off having cancer," says cancer patient Kyle, age 10.

"I think it's really cool that she did this," adds 18-year-old Anna, who also has cancer. "She didn't have to, and she gave all her money to this, and I just think it's really cool."

The ranch was named to honor its benefactors, Fritz and Fabi Benedict.

"Mrs. Benedict is looking out her window at all this land that she has owned for decades, and she is saying a prayer. That's how it all occurred -- from me calling to her calling and visiting and now this beautiful land, 10 acres of land, worth $10 million!" Jaeger explains.

Then Andrea and Mrs. Benedict met business giant Ted Forstmann.

Says Jaeger, "She looks at him and says, 'So, Ted, what are you going to do? Are you going to help them build on the land?' He did and he said, 'I'm donating $1.7 million.' So we started building!"

The office wall tells the story of the many people who've played a part -- some rather famous.

"Faith Hill came with her husband, Tim McGraw, and sang at a concert for us and didn't charge us anything," Jaeger states. "Cindy Crawford has come to help us. Paul Newman's been a wonderful teacher for me."

Obviously, not everything is "fun" in this line of work.

"You get these calls in the middle of night that a child hasn't made it to their 13th or 15th birthday, but the important thing is this: What have I done to make a difference in that child's life?" she says.

"People ask me, 'What's more important to you, when you were serving tennis balls or serving the Lord?' I never had a great serve!" Jaeger laughs.

Not everyone Andrea bumps into understands her life mission, but that will never stop this dynamo.

Clarifying her new calling, Jaeger says, " [Some have asked me], 'I heard you gave all your money away to kids who are dying. What would you want to do that for? They're going to die anyway and you're going to be left with nothing.' I said, 'These kids aren't dying with cancer; they're living with cancer. God has called me to do this, and that's an honor. I'm so thankful it was this!' "