That Kurt Warner
Many years ago, Although I was raised in Canada and played Canadian football, and British rules Rugby competitively, I became a fan of the National Football League, not rabid, but interested in outcomes, and in particular in the play and life stories of some of the athletes who competed in the best professional football league in the world.
Not as many years ago, a quarterback surfaced, who had been playing in the Arena League and NFL Europe, named Kurt Warner. His background in a small college, and trying to find work as a quarterback might be the subject of a later posting. When I knew that he was a Christian, I followed his career, and became an Arizona Cardinals fan when he surfaced in Phoenix. I was never a die hard St. Louis Rams fan, and dropped any passing allegiance when Kurt was dumped for the next guy. I confess that I was not a Giants fan when he was there, though I was still a Warner fan. Sadly for football fans, he retired at the end of last year, but happily for those who admire him as a person, he only retired from football, not life.
Kurt was raised in a Catholic split family, and his faith was not a big deal to him, like so many Catholic Christians. But, he met Brenda, a committed Christian, and much of the rest is history. He made a personal commitment about 14 years ago, to make Christ the center of his life, and has made Brenda the one on earth who he sacrifices daily for, along with their 7 children. They are both committed to living out Christ's values on a day by day basis.
My Dear Wife and I are in our winter home of Tucson AZ for a few weeks, and the other day, we walked into a Borders store on the east side of town while out for a jaunt. There I came across a book that Kurt and Brenda Warner wrote last year, called "first things first", which also happens to be the name of their foundation.
"First things first" tells some of their story of raising children, and loving each other, and most importantly loving God, and serving Him through others - seeing Christ in people they encounter daily.
The book is a little about the family rules, all worthwhile efforts to bring them closer to God and to each other, and to mankind, but also tells the story of how one family is making a difference.
It is available through Amazon here, among other places, and I recommend it, as I recommend reading the web site linked above.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in your love for Kurt and Brenda Warner and their family and all those they reach out to and touch.
God Bless the Warner clan.
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