Brenda Warner - One Call Away: Answering Lifes Challenges with Unshakable Faith

Praise for One Call Away

We have all had the phone ring and our lives changed. Brenda Warners moving and inspiring memoir reminds us all of the power of family, the miracles and misfortunes of life, and the foundation that faith plays in our all too-human existences. Unflinching and fearless, she is the woman I want in my corner: safe, smart, and savvy. A heroine for us all.

Jamie Lee Curtis, author, actress, mother, sister

Brenda Warner remains a soldier fighting for faith and life in the face of unexplainable devastation. The fortitude of this marine mom will grab your heart. If you think Kurt Warners journey is moving, do not wait to read the story of Brenda.

Elizabeth Hasselbeck, cohost of The View and special contributor for Good Morning America, ABC News

Some of the unexpected calls in Brendas life include calls that her horse had died, that her child had stopped breathing, and that both parents died in a tornado. If I were her, I would stop answering the phone. But Brenda shows us how with faith we can face the unexpected and trust God to restore the things that the world has taken away. Honored to read her story and blessed to call her friend!

Sandi Patty, Grammy Awardwinning Contemporary Christian music singer

Brendas courage and strength is both compelling and inspiringa must-read.

Peter Billingsley, actor, director, producer

As a mother of a child with special needs, I know how crucial yet challenging it can be to be a relentless and unyielding advocate for him. You are their best hope for a fair chance at life. I have long been inspired by the strength, conviction, and grace this mother of seven has to take on whatever challenge life presents her.

Holly Robinson Peete, actress, co-host of The Talk

Brendas honest and relatable story of humble beginnings and unwavering faith is one that will inspire and awaken the soul of any woman.

Deanna Favre, author, activist, founder of Deanna Favre Hope Foundation

Finally! After reading First Things First, I wanted to know more about what made this woman tick. This is a poignant, funny, and incredibly honest look at a very unexpected life.

Chrissy Donnelly, #1 New York Times best-selling author, Chicken Soup for the Couples Soul

Brenda Warner is a woman of strength, beauty, character, and love. All of that clearly shines through in her memoir, One Call Away. On the outside, she may look like just another gorgeous NFL players wife, but her story reveals the real woman of God that she is. Thats the woman that I know and love. Her story will no doubt inspire, encourage, enlighten, and transform all who read it.

Debbye Turner Bell, staff correspondent, CBS News

Brendas story of her amazing faith even in times of heart-wrenching adversity is an inspirational gem of a read!

Pat Smith, Founder and CEO of Treasure You

One Call Away

Answering Lifes Challenges
With Unshakable Faith

Brenda Warner
with Jennifer Schuchmann

2011 by Brenda Warner

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Published in association with Creative Trust Literary Group, 5141 Virginia Way, Suite 320, Brentwood, TN 37027.

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Warner, Brenda.

One call away : answering lifes challenges with unshakable faith / Brenda Warner with Jennifer Schuchmann.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-8499-4719-3 (trade paper)

1. Warner, Brenda. 2. Christian biography--United States. 3. Football players spouses--United States--Biography. 4. Warner, Kurt, 1971- I. Schuchmann, Jennifer, 1966- II. Title.

BR1725.W325A3 2011

277.3083092--dc23

[B]

2011019016

Printed in the United States of America

11 12 13 14 15 QG 5 4 3 2 1

For my children: you are my legacy
and for that I am richly blessed.

Contents

Part One
A DREAM COMES AND GOES
19671992

1
Life-Changing Call

T he call came in half an hour before quitting time. I was twenty-two and the lowest-ranking marine in my office. It was my job to answer the phone.

I picked up the receiver. Lance Corporal Meoni.

Sweetheart, said my husband. Immediately I knew something was wrong. Though Neil was at home taking care of our four-month-old son, Zack, he rarely called the office, preferring that I call him during a break. Zacks breathing funny.

What do you mean, Zacks breathing funny?

I dont know. Hes just not breathing right.

Put him on the phone. It sounds like a silly thing to say, but Neil knew what I meant. He held up the receiver to Zacks face, and I listened closely to his breathing. I heard gurgling, so I knew he was getting air.

Do you hear it? Neil asked.

Yeah, it doesnt sound right. What do you think?

I think you should come home.

I hung up the phone and walked around the corner to talk to the staff sergeant. With his permission, I packed up my stuff and headed to the car. After his brain surgery several years earlier, Neil had suffered from seizures that left him unable to drive or work. Though the seizures were under control by now, he still had a few months to go before getting his drivers license back. Each day I took our only car to work while Neil stayed home with Zack.

________________

Neil sat in the glider, holding Zack swaddled in a blue comforter. The baby wasnt crying, and everything looked normal.

Let me see him, I said. Neil pulled back the comforter, and I looked at Zacks chest. It didnt look like it was moving.

Weve got to go! I scooped Zack up in the comforter and ran for the car. Neil got there first, opened the passenger door, and got in so I could put Zack in his arms. I got in the drivers side, backed out of the parking spot, and peeled down the road. There was an emergency clinic just around the block.

________________

My babys having trouble breathing, I told the nurse behind the desk. She took a look at him and immediately ushered us to a separate waiting room.

Wait here. Ill be back to get you in a minute. Then she snatched Zack out of my arms and took him to a treatment room.

There was a flurry of activity in the room behind us. I heard someone call for the doctor, and then a voice said, This child isnt breathing.

I looked up at Neil, and he stared back with a blank expression. I wasnt panicking, but I could feel the denial setting in. This isnt happening. Theyve got a different child. Not my child.

The room felt cold and antiseptic. We stood there, not speaking, just listening to the sounds from the other side of the wall. Then I prayed.