First Service - Andrea Jaeger’s Second Life (Review)

First Service

Following God’s Calling and Finding Life’s Purpose

By Andrea Jaeger

Health Communications 323pp. $21.95

Reviewed by Colman McCarthy

If any athlete’s future seemed brighter with stardom and large paydays assured, it was Andrea Jaeger’s. A tennis prodigy from Lincolnshire, Illinois, and the daughter of German immigrants, in 1979 she turned pro at 14. Traveling the world tennis circuit, her rise in the rankings equaled her increasingly large earnings from victories and endorsements. At 16, she won the French Open.

Then it crashed. At 19, Jaegers right shoulder gave out, a career ending injury that no number of surgeries—seven in all—could cure.

Twenty years after that last volley, Jaeger remains in top form—in the life and death game of caring for children living with cancer.

Engagingly, and at times inspirationally, she tells the story of redirecting her energies and graces into a world few of us ever see or experience.

Raised in a non-religious home, Jaeger embraced Christianity as a schoolgirl. Her spirituality is in the classic mold, as found in all God-centered vocations: obedience to Divine Providence. “First Service”, written with clarity and warmth, details Jaegers successes in raising funds and securing land to co-found in 1980 the Silver Lining Foundation, an Aspen, Colorado, non-profit that runs medical and sports programs at a spacious Rocky Mountain ranch. More than 400 children a year are served, with Jaeger the on-site director.

Commensurately modest, Jaeger gives herself no credit. She sees herself as God’s instrument: “He instilled in me the importance of helping children in the world.

Colman McCarthy, a former Washington Post columnist, directs the Center for Teaching Peace, in Washington, D.C.