Our Inspired Journey

It's been a year since we got the call.  We were busy packing up our house in Illinois, getting ready for our move back out to California when our friends, Bryan and Sarah called us to tell us that the book was finished.  Our friend Bryan had gotten the incredible chance of writing his life story for the world to read.  And it's a story worth telling...


If you don't already know him, let me introduce you...

Bryan Clay is referred to by my kids as "Uncle Bryan," but to the world and to our country, he's much more than that.  He's the defending champion of the 2008 Olympic gold medal and winner of the 2004 Olympic silver medal in the decathlon.  He has, over the last 12 years of devotion to a sport he loves, earned the title of "World Greatest Athlete"...but even as he's climbed to the top of his sport and the world, achieving more than he ever started out thinking he could, the lessons he's learned along the way have been the real prize.
In his new book, REDEMPTION: a Rebellious Spirit, a Praying Mother, and the Unlikely Path to Olympic Gold...Bryan along with author Joel Kilpatrick, tell the story of Bryan's life from the time he was a boy living in Hawaii to the moment he stepped across the finish line in the Beijing Olympics earning the gold medal for the United States in the decathlon.

Our family has known Bryan and Sarah for years, but through the pages of this incredible book, I gained a deeper sense of appreciation and respect for the journey God has taken our friends on.  It's really hard to put into words how moved I was reading the first few chapters where he very honestly tells of his struggles growing up.  They are not light.  This isn't a book where someone who has found success tries to dig dramatic moments up from their past to try and sell a good story.  The issues Bryan faced growing up were intensely real...so real I found myself trying to read through tears during much of it.  My heart broke over and over again, as I imagined our friend enduring all he had growing up, but since I know him now, I knew if I kept reading - I'd find God in the midst of the chaos....and I did.

The first part of his story is literally heart-wrenching, walking through the life of an angry, confused, desperate boy who tries everything to prove to others he's worthy of their respect.  The last half of the story is an absolute miracle.  There is no other way to describe it.  No one but God could have been persistent enough to pursue a life, that on the outside, seemed callous to all the things of God.  But just like God does, He saw Bryan, not for who he was then, but for who he was meant to be.  

One chapter in particular, impacted me deeply.  As moving as the entire story is, there was one spot right in the middle, that already has me thinking about my life in a different way...The Lessons of a Champion.  For those of you who think you have to be a track star to appreciate this book I want you to know, you're wrong.  I DID learn a lot more about track and field and the sport of the decathlon from reading it...in fact, I feel like I'm all ready to watch a meet and actually understand what's going on, but I learned far more than that.  In this chapter, Bryan shares about the routines he goes through leading up to each important meet and eventually the Olympics.  Once he found rhythms that worked, he stuck with them, knowing they would lead him to operating at his best.  

Talking about track he says...

"If I was committed to it and loved it, I would not quit when it got hard.  By sticking with it, I was honoring and reflecting Christ's love for me.  He had committed to me, knowing that I would make bad choices, even run from Him for many years, that I would grieve Him.  But He didn't walk away.  That was the kind of commitment I needed to have to the sport....Some mornings it's a big step for me just to get out of bed.  It's another big step to get into the shower.  It's another big step to get dressed. After a series of steps, soon I am in the weight room and actually accomplishing something with my day."

When I read this quote and the chapter that followed, I knew that this book was no longer just a story of Bryan's life, or just for those who love track and field....
Bryan's is not a story of a free ride to anywhere, but of a decision to follow a God who told him in the midst of a defeated, worn-down spirit..."Go out and do your best, and I will take care of the rest."
I read much of this book at my parents house, as my kids were playing all around me.  My mom looked at me, amazed that I could read while they were less-than-quiet, surrounding me with their games, toys, questions and energy, but I told her more than once, while I was right smack dab in the middle of a sentence..."I can't put it down...this story is unbelievable."


It really is, and I want you to read it.  Not just because I'm so excited to share the story of a friend, but because I believe his story is one who can and will change the lives of those who read it.  You will be drawn to believe anew or reminded once again that a life lived for God in a moment-by-moment kind of way leads to victory every time....it's when your story becomes His story.

So...it's time for a GIVEAWAY!  YIPPEEE!  Not only am I giving away a copy of Bryan's book, but one he autographed moments before hopping on a plane with Sarah for a pre-Olympics run over to London.  So enter!  There are several ways you can earn more than one entry, so leave a comment and then find out all the other ways you can enter to win an autographed copy of REDEMPTION. :)

Let's make it a New York Time's bestseller!!!  Tell your friends and family to grab a copy too!  It'll be in Barnes and Noble stores this next week, and is available for pre-order from Amazon now to be released on May 1st.  Let's make a story of one man saying YES to God, known.  If you've been following this blog long, you already know how passionate I am about stories like these...may God get all the glory from yet another life devoted to Him!!!

Thanks for spreading the word about his book, and praying for Bryan and his family as he strives to make the US Olympic team again this year, attempting to become the first athlete ever to medal in the decathlon 3 Olympics in a row!  We are watching history in the making!!!  For more information about Bryan or his foundation he started to help kids realize their potential and dreams, visit his website www.bryanclay.com
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