One Call Away Book Review

Answering Life's Challenges with Unshakable Faith

SUMMARY:  What can you do when your well-laid plans fall apart and life takes an unexpected turn?

     Brenda Warner is best known as the outspoken wife of NFL superstar and Dancing with the Stars alum Kurt Warner.  But years earlier, she found herself living through any woman's nightmare: a healthy baby tragically injured in the bathtub; a sudden end to a career she loved; betrayal and divorce; poverty; public humiliation; a deadly natural disaster that destroyed her foundation and shook her to her core.  One shattering phone call at a time, Brenda Warner's life came to resemble little of her dream.

     But each time her plans fell apart, Brenda faced a choice:  to collapse in the face of tragedy or press forward and survive.  She chose to keep going.  In the process, she's learned that the unexpected is only one call away.  Her story provides hope and encouragement for anyone facing life's challenges and shows us that our circumstances don't tell us who we are, nor are they a measure of God's love.  God has a plan for us, even when our plans fail.  Brenda's life is proof that sometimes the best dreams are not the ones we dream, but the ones that come true when we least expect them.

REVIEW:  This book was 351 pages long and it took me just over a day to read.  It was that good and that easy of a read.  Brenda had her life all planned out.  She would join the Marine Corp, marry a Marine and make serving her country a life long career.  But, after her son had an accident in the bathtub, her plans changed and her path would be a very rocky one.  Brenda's faith in God kept her head above water (sometimes barely) during the trying and troubled times.  She also shows us that being the wife of a superstar athlete is not always the perfect life you may think it is.  When she tries to protect her family and straighten out misinformation, the backlash is tremendous.  She will be quick to tell you she is not perfect and, if she could go back, she would do some things differently, but her faith in God and her testimony of what He can do is something she will not ever give up.  This is a great book!

This book was provided by Booksneeze (Thomas Nelson Publishers) for review without compensation.

Brenda Warner is a speaker, philanthropist, and New York Times best-selling author.  She is the mother of seven children, a registered nurse, and a Marine.  But most of all, she is a storyteller who candidly shares her struggles in hopes that her life experiences can help other women.  Brenda is also Vice President of the First Things First Foundation, an organization she co-founded with her husband, NFL player Kurt Warner.  You can learn more about her and the work of her foundation at kurtwarner.org.

Jennifer Schuchmann loves her job of helping incredible people tell their stories.  She is the author or coauthor of eight books, including the New York Times bestseller First Things First by Kurt and Brenda Warner, and is the host of the television program Right Now with Jennifer Schuchmann.  She holds an MBA from Emory University and has an extensive public speaking background.  She and her husband, David, have been married for over twenty years, and together they have a teenage son, Jordan.  You can find her online at wordstothinkabout.com.