20 minute read
Sonya Curry
SONYA CURRY SONYA CURRY
STOPS TRYING and STARTS TRUSTING
by Laura Neutzling
SONYA CURRY KNOWS GOD has a plan for her life. And over the years, she's watched that plan unfold in ways she never could've imagined. As a child, the native Virginian remembers she had two distinct interests: sports and education. She’d spend hours in her room playing “school” with the other kids in the trailer park where she grew up, holding recess, hosting snack time, even handing out worksheets. She also honed her love of sports into a scholarship that, along with Pell Grants, became her ticket to Virginia Tech. There Sonya played basketball, became an all-American volleyball player, and met Dell Curry, who later became an all-time leader in scoring and three-pointers for the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets. Together, the couple passed their athletic talent down to their three children. While their daughter Sydel became a decorated volleyball player in college, their two sons became NBA stars: Seth, a point guard for the Brooklyn Nets, and Stephen, a World Champion point guard for the Golden State Warriors who’s regarded as one of the greatest—if not the greatest—shooter in NBA history.
While Sonya’s family achieved on the court, she achieved in the classroom. She eventually fulfi lled her childhood dream of working in education when she started her own school. “I know without a shadow of a doubt that He had a plan for me in the arena of education, in the arena of nurturing other people,” she says. “By lining that all up for me, He gave me my occupation.” But despite her roles as an educator and the matriarch of a prominent sports family, Sonya found it wasn’t quite enough. While she wanted for nothing, something wasn’t clicking. She just couldn’t put her fi nger on what it was.
A church goer all her life, Sonya took her children to church too because, as she puts it, “that’s what you did.” One day, she was sitting in church and the words from the pastor’s sermon felt personal. “If you’re tired of doing the same thing over and over again, and you want something new,” he said, “the altar is open, and Jesus is waiting for you.” Sonya knew Jesus, but she didn’t really know Him. And at that moment she realized, God, I really want a personal relationship with You. I don’t know what that looks like, but I’m just going to surrender to You. After that moment, her life began to shift. “I had my school,” Sonya says, “and I realized it needed to be a part of where I was going with God. So I added spiritual development to the curriculum and changed the name so it became a Christian Montessori school, teaching the Bible and leading by biblical principles.” Sonya’s family began to see the transformation in her. She was praying more and doing morning devotions before school each day. She wanted her kids to see that they could also fi t God into their schedules. “They began to see the Spirit’s transformation in action versus just words. They saw the joy I had and the focus on being content where I was. I went from being religious and going to church to having a really personal relationship with God—and it just saved my family. It saved me and got me more focused on living out the potential God had placed in me.”
Like lots of moms, Sonya felt she had to do everything and fi x everything for her family. When she realized she could stop trying so hard and start trusting God, her days began to have a new sense of peace that remains with her today. “Doing my daily devotion and prayer time grounds me. It reminds me who I am, where I come from and who I’m here for. Jesus Calling speaks to my soul because it sums up the totality of my life experience—the things that are built on the foundation of God have never failed. He’s got a plan for me, and I just have to stay focused on Him. It’s an everyday work of progress.”
Adapted for print from the Jesus Calling Podcast. Put your phone in Camera mode and hover over this code to hear more of Sonya’s story! Sonya’s book, Fierce Love, is available at your favorite book retailer today!
Big Dreams REVEAL THE BIGGER PICTURE
DIY TikTok Stars Noell and Daniel Jett Find Happiness Beyond Their Dreams
by Abigail Nibblett
EVERYONE DREAMS OF HAVING THE PERFECT HOME. A cozy cabin hidden in the woods. A cottage just steps from the beach. Few people get the chance to build a house from scratch. But Noell and Daniel Jett of St. Augustine, Florida, did, all by themselves. It was the ultimate lesson in DIY—and so much more than they bargained for. Married for eleven years, Noell remembers when she and Daniel, a contractor, fi rst began dating, he confi ded that he’d always wanted to build a home of his own, ever since he watched his parents build their own in the nineties. The home was woven into the fabric of the family as the setting for decades of holidays, birthday parties, and meaningful moments together. It didn’t take long for the dream to become Noell’s too. It didn’t take long for the hurdles to show up, either. The fi rst? Money. “As a business owner, I was trying to grow my team. I was trying to grow my clientele,” Daniel remembers.” We were like, ’Okay, if we’re going to grow the business and build this house, we have to make sacrifi ces.’ And after much convincing from my wife, we decided to buy a camper to live in. That was an absolute no for me for probably two months, and looking back, it was one of the best fi nancial decisions we’ve ever made.” “Financial and personal,” Noell pipes in. “It was the happiest time of our marriage, really. It forced us and our kids to focus on each other and spend time with each other. We found that circumstances change, but true joy, true happiness is found within yourself, within God, within your family.” While they lived in the camper, the Jetts searched for land among Florida’s low-lying areas. Then one day, Noell stumbled on a piece of land that was nearly perfect— except it already had owners on it. Daniel decided to knock on the homeowners’ door and introduce himself. After taking some time to think it over, the elderly owners agreed to sell, and the Jetts were ecstatic—until the owners changed their minds. Months went by while Daniel and Noell clocked more time in the camper while looking for a place to call home. Finally, right before Christmas, Daniel made a last-ditch plea to the couple to reconsider their decision. And they did. Eighteen months of land clearing, planning, and building ensued. The Jetts broke ground in July 2018 and put together a list of must-haves for the home: space for their four kids to play outside, room to entertain their large extended family, a big kitchen, a wrap-around porch. As the house went up, they began to post their journey on social media, which took off unexpectedly—to the tune of nearly 5 million followers across
joy, true happiness is found within yourself, within God, within your family.” While they lived in the camper, the Jetts searched for land among Florida’s low-lying areas. Then except it already had owners on
Instagram and TikTok, which helped the couple off set their building costs. But what looked like a blessing at fi rst turned out to have a few strings attached.
“As the platform grew and grew, it seemed like the fi nishes on the house had to become nicer, the details had to be more intricate,” Daniel remembers. “So we had this added pressure—the house had to become almost a show house at some point.” Through fi nancial diffi culties, roadblocks, changed plans, complex designs, and delayed building materials, the couple kept putting one foot in front of the other. Finally, in November 2019, they moved into the home they’d painstakingly built together. Less than two years later, they sold it. “Basically what we thought was the pinnacle turned out to be a stepping stone,” Noell admits. “Everyone gave us such a hard time on social media. ’I thought this was your dream home! You don’t sell your dream home!’ But your dreams change. You can get so caught up in the daily, the monotony, the materialistic aspect of things, but there’s a bigger picture at play here. We have a purpose. We have a bigger calling in this life.” Daniel agrees. “For us, and for our kids.” The Jetts are renting a home on the beach while they wait for their fi fth child to arrive, enjoying a season of rest after years working seven days a week to make their dream home a reality. But they’re still keeping their eyes on the next chapter, a new dream they’d like to build together. “We just think it’s so important to connect with God each day and keep your mind focused away from the things of the world. The house was a tangible thing, right? But that’s not the point. This home opened up a whole new platform that we’re able to use to make an impact and share the love of Christ with the world. That’s the bigger picture. That’s the reason why we’re here.”
Getting to Your Dreams
Adapted for print from an upcoming episode of the Jesus Calling Podcast. Put your phone in Camera mode and hover over this code to hear the Jetts’ episode airing November 10!
You can fi nd the Jetts’ book, Create Your Dream Home on a Budget, at your favorite book retailer today.
AND LOVING THE LIFE YOU’VE BUILT
Make peace with putting in a lot of time and hard work to reach your goals. Be willing to make sacrifi ces.
Position yourself properly. When opportunities arise, and you’ve taken the steps to point your life in the right direction, you can rise to the occasion.
Be patient with the process.
Realize that happiness, true contentment, and peace aren’t found in external circumstances.
An exclusive excerpt from Sarah Young’s all-new, 365-day prayer devotional Jesus Listens
October 10
My Jesus,
YOU KNOW ABOUT every one of my troubles; You have collected all my tears and preserved them in Your bottle. So please help me not to be afraid of tears—or of the hardships that cause them. I know that my problems are not random or meaningless. You’ve been teaching me to trust You and fi nd comfort in Your sovereignty. I’m confi dent that You know what You are doing!
Because Your perspective is infi nite—unlimited by time or space—Your ways of working in the world are far beyond my comprehension. If it were possible for me to see things from Your God-perspective, I would marvel at the perfection of Your will—and revel in Your Glory. But now I see only a poor refl ection, so I must live with mystery.
Your assurance that You preserve my tears in Your bottle shows me how precious I am to You. And the Bible promises that someday You will wipe every tear from my eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. How I rejoice in that glorious, heavenly future awaiting me!
In Your victorious Name, Amen
PSALM 56:8 TLB • 1 CORINTHIANS 13:12 NIV
REVELATION 21:4 NIV
EXCERPTED FROM JESUS LISTENS, COPYRIGHT 2021 BY SARAH YOUNG. USED BY PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Tapping into the Power of the Holy Spirit
by Max Lucado
Oak Hills Church San Antonio, Texas
We are weary from the loads we carry and the challenges we face. We have questions we cannot answer and problems we cannot solve. Yet, what if there is help? Someone to walk with you and guide you, to shoulder the load? And what if this help was heaven-sent? Someone who is ever strong. Never tires. Always near. Unhindered by what hinders us. This is the promise of God—the presence of heaven in our hearts. God is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. Though we struggle to understand this, there are similarities in our lives. I am one person, yet, I am a husband to my wife, a father to my children, and a grandfather to Rosie and Max. I am one person expressed in three diff erent roles. The Holy Spirit is the person of the Trinity through whom God is most active today. Scripture employs more than a dozen metaphors to describe the work of the Spirit. In fact, it is a testimony to His grandeur that one metaphor will not suffi ce. The Holy Spirit is the ultimate teacher (John 14:26). He is our intercessor (Romans 8:26). The Spirit is the dove of peace who calms us, the gift giver who equips us, the river of living water who fl ows out of us to refresh the world (Matthew 3:16; 1 Corinthians 12:1–11; John 7:37–39). Our Good Shepherd has commissioned the Holy Spirit to guide us down the winding roads of life. Who led the ex-slaves through the Red Sea and through the wilderness? The Holy Spirit. Who leads the children of God today? The Holy Spirit! We have what the Hebrews had minus the manna. The Spirit is a person. And, like a person, the Spirit has intellect, emotions, and will. He can be lied to, grieved, insulted, and blasphemed. When we dismiss the Holy Spirit, we quench His infl uence over our lives. Conversely, as we receive Him, sense Him, and obey Him, His infl uence over our lives increases.
The greatest force in the universe is your ally, your spokesperson, your advocate. So ask Him to guide you. Seek His will. I’ve noticed that He often speaks to me through my own thoughts. This is not surprising. He owns my mind. My body is His temple. I should not be surprised that His answer to my question would come in a form that I can understand. Forty years of ministry has left me convinced we do not have what it takes to heal this hurting world. We might create programs, train staff , and build wonderful sanctuaries. But I’d gladly exchange them all for one raindrop from the Spirit of heaven. We need His help.
Find Max’s latest book, Help Is Here: Finding Fresh Strength and Purpose in the Power of the Holy Spirit, at your favorite book retailer today.
FOR MANY CELEBRITIES, their appeal stems from the ability to tell a rags-to-riches story. With grit and gumption and a turning-point moment, their nominal life becomes phenomenal, and it wraps up neatly with a “happily ever after.” At fi rst glance, the same lens looks like it applies to country music legend Travis Tritt. The singer has lived a life where his dreams have, as he says, “more than come true.” He’s worked with many of his childhood heroes: Ray Charles, the Eagles, Charlie Daniels. Rich experiences fi ll the pages of his life. “ My dreams have more than come true.
Grand Ole Opry. He dreamed about sharing the stage with them one day. Eventually, he graduated from high school and began to work for a heating and air company, nursing his country music dreams as he sang at a local restaurant on the weekends. Tritt’s turning-point moment came when he realized he was making more money moonlighting as a country singer than working his 9-to-5. But he was scared. He didn’t want to leave his day job only to fail as a singer and fi nd himself broke. The choice was between safety making more money moonlighting TRAVIS TRITT and risk. Tritt knew, however, the boss at his day job had his own
On Life’s Turning-Point Moments regrets for taking a safe route of his own. At his own turning-point moment, his boss chose to manage by Michael Scott Overholt the family business instead of accepting an off er to play guitar for Carlos Santana. Tritt poured his heart out to his boss, who empathized with the young man. The manager lamented that he’d always wonder what could have happened had he, too, pursued music. He didn’t want the same for his employee. “Go follow your dream of playing music,” he said. “If it doesn’t work out, your job will be waiting for you.” It was the “the kick out of the nest” Tritt needed.
But how do “happily ever afters” happen? And who has a hand in them along the way?
Growing up in Marietta, Georgia, which the singer still calls home, Tritt’s love of music began with the gospel he sang in church. As he grew, so did his love for country music. Some of Tritt’s fondest memories from childhood come from sitting in lounge chairs with his family in the front yard on warm Saturday nights, listening to who was performing on the Talk to Tritt for long, and you'll fi nd he repeatedly acknowledges the people who helped him learn to navigate Nashville and the country music business. Most notable is Charlie Daniels.
FROM LEFT Travis and Ray Charles; Grand Ole Opry with Vince Gill and Joe Diffi e; Travis with Charlie Daniels
During the National Finals Rodeo of 1989, Tritt landed a week-long gig opening for Daniels at the famous Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, home of the Rat Pack. Night after night, Daniels watched Tritt from the stage wing, where Tritt remembers glancing out of the corner of his eye to “the silhouette of that big hat he wore.” At the end of the week, Daniels pulled Tritt aside. “I love watching what you do with an audience,” he said, “And I think you’re going to have a career in this business for as long as you want one. It can be diffi cult to navigate. Sometimes it feels like you’re in a stormy sea without a compass. But if there’s any way that I could be of any help to you, here’s all my numbers.” “To this day,” Tritt insists, “I would say that ninety-nine percent of everything I know about the business side of music, I learned from Charlie Daniels.”
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DAVID ABBOTT, JIMMY CRIBB AND TRAVIS TRITT God repeatedly works through people to accomplish good in others’ lives. Call it His default move. Tritt’s story is no exception. People with vital information and life experience assisted Tritt, and he repeats this theme in his life, his songs and his stories, if we have the capacity to hear it. This message should encourage us. Who are the people around us? What wisdom and assistance do they off er us? What kindness can we off er them? You never know how fi nding your own turning-point moment might impact another’s success.
Adapted for print from the Jesus Calling Podcast. Put your phone in Camera mode and hover over this code to hear more of Travis’ story! You can fi nd Travis Tritt’s latest record, Set in Stone, wherever you stream or buy music.
