What A Warnerful World

Click on the photo for more.

I recently received an email regarding the story of Kurt Warner, quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals. I have seen and heard things from Mr. Warner over the last several years that has really impressed me, but the story just keeps getting better. I had a hard time believing that an email story could possibly be 100% accurate, so I checked out a few sources and received the following from Snopes.com. This is a bit lengthy, but a beautiful story that will sure to lift your spirits, show you the light of Christ that is among all of us and maybe tip your scale in favor of those Cardinals for tonight's game. I bleed Bronco orange and blue, but...I'm going for the underdog and the guy with inspirational charisma.

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The Ballad Of Brenda And Kurtis The Stock Boy

by Dashiell Bennett
January 28, 2009
Deadspin.com

Sports is a cold and cynical world, but its nice to know that uplifting tales of goodness can be found in the abyss. Oh, look... your mom just forwarded you an email from 1999!

For the second time this week, we have gotten the email chain about "Kurtis The Stock Boy and Brenda The Checkout Girl." It's the kind of thing you might read in a "Chicken Soup For The Arena Football Player's Soul" and it's popping up in inboxes and message boards all over the Western world this week. Here's some excerpts::

In a supermarket, Kurtis the stock boy, was busily working when a new voice came over the loud speaker asking for a carry out at register 4. Kurtis was almost finished, and wanted to get some fresh air, and decided to answer the call. As he approached the check-out stand a distant smile caught his eye, the new check-out girl was beautiful. She was an older woman (maybe 26, and he was only 22) and he fell in love.

Let's skip ahead to "KURTIS" and "BRENDA"'s first date, where she explains that she can't go, because she has two kids and the baby sitter canceled.

To which Kurtis simply said, "Well, let's take the kids with us." She tried to explain that taking the children was not an option, but again not taking no for an answer, he pressed. Finally Brenda, brought him inside to meet her children. She had an older daughter Jessie, who was just as cute as a bug, Kurtis thought, then Brenda brought out her son, Zachary in a wheelchair. He was born a paraplegic with Down Syndrome.

Kurtis asked Brenda, "I still don't understand why the kids can't come with us?" Brenda was amazed. Most men would run away from a woman with two kids, especially if one had disabilities - just like her first husband and father of her children had done. Kurtis was not ordinary - - - he had a different mindset.

Are you crying yet? It goes on like this....

When her son needed anything Kurtis would take care of him. When he needed to use the restroom, he picked him up out of his wheelchair, took him and brought him back. The kids loved Kurtis. At the end of the evening, Brenda knew this was the man she was going to marry and spend the rest of her life with.

Those two crazy kids got married and had five more babies of their own. Have you figured out ... the rest of ... the story?

So what happened to Kurtis the stock boy and Brenda the check-out girl? Well, Mr. & Mrs. Kurt Warner now live in Arizona , where he is currently employed as the quarterback of the National Football League Arizona Cardinals and has his Cardinals in the hunt for a possible appearance in the Super Bowl. Is this a surprise ending or could you have guessed that he was not an ordinary person.

OMG I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING! WHAT COULD POSSIBLY MAKE THIS STORY ANY BETTER?

Both Brenda and Kurt are active born-again Christians.

Yes, this email is not without a purpose, but surely it made the rounds before, when Kurt was leading the Rams to two Super Bowls. There's long been talk that his inspiring story will become a movie someday, but the real tragedy is that this cheesy email actually shortchanges the Warners, because almost all the details are incorrect and not as interesting as real life.

This internet legend has already been chronicled by Snopes.com, which breaks down the inaccuracies and points out how the true story is even more sad and inspiring. Brenda was never a checkout girl. She met Kurt when he was still in college and before his career took its unfortunate turn for the worse. (She actually stuck with him, despite his many football failures.) They were together five years before they got married, not one. Her son, Zachary, is actually her oldest child and he doesn't have Down's Syndrome. His birth father dropped him on his head when he was an infant, leading to brain damage and blindness. (The trauma of that incident let to the father leaving Brenda, while she was pregnant with her second child.) Also, left out: the tornado that killed Brenda's parents in 1996; the spider bite that cost Kurt a tryout with the Bears; and Brenda's first career as a freakin' Marine. This family [has]* perseverance.

So, yeah ... their story is pretty awesome—which is why I just assumed that everyone had already heard it before. But I guess maybe your great aunt just got her first MacBook so you should probably send it along just to be safe.

* word changed by Woman on a Mission to better suit her blog readers.

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For information on Kurt and Brenda Warner's First Things First Foundation, please visit www.kurtwarner.org.
Support your brothers and sisters who are doing things in the name of Christ!

Link to the Snopes article: http://www.snopes.com/glurge/warner.asp

Of Faith and Football

If you're an avid football fan like I am, then you'll know that there are stadiums across the country on a beautiful Sunday as this, that are full of fans who have turned out for the passion of their team. Adorned in team gear, sometimes with faces painted, they turn up with spirits and hopes high and a prayer or two in case their beloved team has a run in with the turnover fairy.

I love football. I love it on Friday nights when the high school crowds are all jazzed up. Though I haven't been to a high school game in quite some time, I remember fondly the days when I would go just to be a part of it all. I love football on Saturday's when I proudly cheer for my OU Sooners! I love it on Sunday's when the Broncos are bringing their game to the opponent. I love the unity of fans around you...everyone cheering for the same thing, screaming and clapping for jobs well done and bowing their heads to pray when a team mate falls in pain. The OU Sooners call this Sooner Nation. It's a gathering of people who have come together for one goal and together feel the joy of the wins and the sorrow of the losses.

I think our faith families are like this for us. They are a group of people who show up, even when the weather is not so beautiful and icicles are hanging from their eye brows. No one screams louder when you succeed and no one prayers harder when you're down and out and need to get back in the game. The great thing about faith families, is that unlike football, you don't have an opponent of people really, it's an opponent of temptations. But like football, when we get together and are led as a team by God, the best coach imaginable, we are sure to win...even if we get knocked down from time to time. You see, we'll all suffer unfair blows, bad calls, turnovers, fumbles...but none of those really matter at the end. What matters is that you played with heart and that you played together. Christ was the greatest example of this frequently heard expression, "One for all and all for One." God's the coach, Jesus the captain and we, we are the team...and we're all for the One, because the One was all for us...and still is!

As a side note, a while back, hubs and I rented a movie about faith and football. It seemed like a no brainer since we love both so much. We truly enjoyed the film and I would like to suggest it to you. It's a great family movie. One must realize it is a little dry compared to the big Hollywood box office hits. Don't sit down thinking this is an Oscar winner, but sit down as if it were a Bible study...you will truly be touched by the film Facing the Giants.