Olympian Kelly Clark

Kelly Clark: Head Over Heels in Love

By Shaun Brown and Barbara Cornick
The 700 Club

CBN.com – “Being 16 years old and growing up on the road by yourself without supervision, you get into some pretty bad things.”

Champion snowboarder Kelly Clark is at the top of her game literally. She won Olympic gold in 2002 as the youngest member of the U.S. team. In February 2005, Kelly boarded her way to first place at the World Cup competition in Italy.

You’d think that with all this success, Kelly’s life was ideal. But if you ask her, you might not get the answer you expect.

“I achieved the highest in my sport. I was famous,” she says. “I had money. I had an Olympic gold medal. Everything that anyone could have wanted, and I found out that wasn’t what I was looking for.”

So Kelly did what she thought would fill the void in her heart.

“I strived to drink the most. I strived to be the rowdiest... all this silly stuff. That didn’t seem like a very good idea, but at the time that was what I thought was gonna make me cool. I wanted people to like me.”

Neither Kelly’s gold medal nor her partying was enough to take away her deep sense of emptiness.

“I had spiraled into this depression and into this place that was just real dark. I was at this contest, and I was staying by myself. I spent the morning writing about how I didn’t want to live anymore and how it wouldn’t even matter.”

Kelly didn’t know it, but she was about to find out just how much her life did matter and to Whom.

“Snowboarding’s still going great from the outside perspective. My life’s great. I’ve got it made. I’m living the dream, but on the inside I’m dying. I’m standing at the bottom of the pipe.

“This girl comes down, and she’s crying ‘cause she fell on both of her runs and she didn’t qualify. This other girl goes up to her, [and] I’m standing there. They didn’t know anybody was listening. She was like, ‘Hey, it’s all right. God still loves you.’ I was blown away. If there’s a God who loves me like I need to know Him.

“She was staying in my hotel, and I found out what room number she was in. So that night I knocked on her door. She told me about having a relationship with Jesus, and she started telling me that was what it was about. My Creator wanted a real relationship with me, and He loved me very much.”

After taking some time to think about what she’d just heard, Kelly made a decision.

“I gave my life to the Lord that day," Kelly says. "It was pretty cool. The Lord really apprehended me at that point.”

United States snowboarder Kelly Clark is one of the most aggressive riders on the team. Usually in a competition like the half-pipe, a rider drops into the pipe along with their board. But according to Kelly, this year she’s not going in alone.

“Now having a relationship with the Lord, I find that there’s a lot more freedom in snowboarding for me," she explains. “I’m just so in love with Him. Every time I think about Him I have to tell Him I love Him ‘cause I’m head over heels. He makes me smile.”

Gotcha Day

Today is Jason's Gotcha Day. It was 3 years ago today at 6:35 EST that we met our little boy in the hotel lobby in Guatemala. After about a year of waiting we first held the adorable little 8 month old that was our forever child. We are so thankful to the Lord for this amazing gift and Sandie and I truly say that the Father in Heaven handpicked our two boys for us. Thank you, Jesus. I can hardly remember and can't even imagine life without Jason.

Be forever be thankful for the gifts that God has given you - especially your kids.

Super Bowl Commercial

With the Super Bowl coming up one things comes to many people's minds - Commercials!! For a couple decades the Super Bowl has produced some of the most memorable TV Commercials ever. Companies spend millions of dollars producing these 30 second moments and even more millions to purchase the air time. One ad that is stirring controversy even before it has been aired is one where star quarterback, Tim Tebow tells the story of how his mom ignored recommendations to get an abortion when she was pregnant for Tim. I am definitely looking forward to seeing it. Here is a Great Article on the story behind the the life and faith of the Tebow family. Enjoy!

Are people understanding

"You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.” - Lee Iacocca

One of the ideas that Iacocca and Chrysler got across was the mini-van. Chrysler had a really good idea that people really wanted. (even though they didn't know they wanted it.) So Iacocca took this struggling company and used its limited resources to pitch the mini-man. I think he did it pretty well. :-) The American family responded and the mini-van craze was birthed.

As I was reading that quote the other day and thinking about our first Dodge Caravan, it really forced me to think about how we as the Body of Christ are doing at getting across the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please understand that we have the most amazing message ever: God has made a way for sinful man to come into relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. That is really good news. And people want that message. (Even though they don't know it yet.) Are we communicating that message well?

I may take a few posts this week to contemplate what it means to be an Ambassador for Christ. It's an amazing privilege that God has given us and we should take it very seriously.

Snow Plow for Jesus

I love winter, and I especially love the snow. I have always said that if you are going to live in this area, you have two choices – enjoy the snow or move. I have chosen to enjoy it. I know I’m a little odd, but one of my favorite things about the snow is plowing. I like shoveling, I like using the big snowblower and I especially like driving the plow truck. I sometimes get to plow the church parking lot. Not because no one else will do it. I do it because I enjoy it.

One snowy Sunday, very early in the morning, I was over at the church driving the truck and a few of us were working pretty hard to clear the parking lot and sidewalks so people could get in the building. As I was plowing the Lord taught me a wonderful lesson.

I was clearing the snow away for one simple reason – so people could safely and easily get into the building. The hope is that once they get in there, they will grow closer to Jesus through a variety of means. My job as the plow guy is to make the path easier.

That’s exactly how it is with our lives. Our lives should be a pathway to the Lord Jesus. Everything about us, our walk and our talk should be pointing to Christ. You see, there is a blizzard that has dumped a pile of snow between most people and a loving God. Our call is to shovel the snow.

John the Baptist said that he was a “voice of one calling in the desert, “Make straight the way for the Lord.”” May we also be that voice.

Most people have no idea the name of the guy who plows their road, but they are sure thankful that someone does. May we each be that person who clears the way. May we be a snowplow for Jesus who makes the path to Him easier for someone else to follow.

A Job Description for Jesus?

In all our jobs we all have some kind of Job description. Is it possible that Jesus also had one when he was on earth? This Sunday, Pastor Ed from Gateway Church taught at PF out of Is. 61:1,2 . He said this is Jesus' job description.

Here it is: He was sent to:

1. Bring salvation

2. Heal the broken hearted

3. Bring physical healing

4. Bring freedom for the captives

5. Set at liberty those who are bruised

6. Proclaim the year of the Lord's favor (Hope)

That's a pretty awesome job description. This isn't a list of what He might do if He gets around to it. This is what He came to do. And if the Church is His Body, it is also the call on us. Wow! May the Lord continue to walk out this ministry through us, His Body.

Memories from Elim

Today I went up to Elim Bible Institute to join them in their annual week of prayer. This is a week they set aside every January to seek the heart of the Father. In the three years that Sandie and I attended there from 96-99, those were some very special weeks. It is always good to go back and spend time in the place where I met God so many times. We had chapels in the Tab four days a week and He was so faithful to let His glory be evident to all. I walked around campus today and as I looked at buildings, the lawn, classrooms and even our little apartment, I was drawn back to those precious times with Jesus.

As I drove away I was reminded by the Lord that as excited as I am about today and about the future I should never lose sight of the past. We should always be remembering those times that God showed Himself faithful over and over again. I hope you have memories of precious times with Jesus. And I hope that the things happening in your life now are producing memories that in ten years you will back upon as being very precious.

And, by the way, if you are looking for a good Bible School, Elim is one of the best. :-)