Today is Thursday, March 11th, 2010; Karen's Korner #1774
Several weeks ago, my sister and I traveled to Arizona for parts of six days. Among other things, we caught up with long-time friends Jim and Joan Sellers who live part of the year in Iowa and part in Arizona.
Avid sports fan, Joan and Jim told how much Arizonians in general, Arizona Cardinal footballs fans in particular, have come to love its newly-retired quarterback Kurt Warner. Not only is he regarded for his efforts on the football field, he is also known for what he does off the field as well.
Joan said, "His fans across the Phoenix area and the state of Arizona know that when Kurt, wife Brenda, and their family (the couple has seven children!) go out to a restaurant, they begin to look for a family for whom they might be able to purchase their meals." The Warners try to observe someone who they collectively believe might look to be a little down in their luck or maybe needing a special blessing that day.
"Once the family agrees on who should be the recipient," said Joan, "they tell the waitress for whom they would like to buy their meals. The waitress is not to tell the fortunate diners who bought their meals." She said Kurt and Brenda come from modest means and know how fortunate and blessed for what they have today. They want nothing more than to share some of what they have been given.
What a blessing they are to the area! What a lesson the Warners are giving to the rest of their family! And what a witness to those who are area residents. Those residents are watching, respecting and modeling that behavior. "Others are taking Kurt and Brenda's lead and they do the same thing," said Joan. "Someone will pay for the meal for a car behind them when they drive through McDonald's or are in some other local restaurant." She said she and Jim know of people personally who have done 'the Warner thing' anonymously. Sometimes diners begin to off-handed look around a nice restaurant to see 'if the Warners happen to be dining there'.
So now not only do Iowans love their native-born success story and national football legend hero Kurt Warner, so does the state of Arizona and probably Missouri, where Kurt played with the St. Louis Rams a number of years ago. Joan probably speaks for fans everywhere when she mentioned, "People appreciate his wholesomeness. He is a real guy."
And not only do people know of Warner's athletic successes, they also know of his (their) Christian faith, as they let others know what Jesus taught all of us when he said, 'it is more blessed to give than to receive...."
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