Centered by Jason Brown and Paul Asay

An NFL player giving up a lucrative career to become a farmer? That's exactly what Brown did. His path, he says, was from a big fat kid to an NFL starter to a clueless farmer. “God was plotting my path one strange step at a time.” (124/2759)

Brown's is an amazing story. It is well written and inspiring. He heard God call him and he responded. The lessons he learned along the way were painful. He learned the difference between merely being a church going Christian and having a life giving relationship with God. He learned how to trust God, really trust Him when the millions he had in stocks and investments evaporated. He learned the lesson of humility, again and again. He learned what real contentment is.

I love how Brown is so honest. He tells many stories of when he believed God for something, such as a tractor, and God came through miraculously. But he also shares those times when he believed God and got badly rained out. “I wasn't called to be successful,” he writes. “I was called to be faithful.” (2127/2759)

This is a great memoir of one man who had it all, money and a successful NFL career, yet gave it up to obey God. Through his First Fruits Farm, he and his family have given over a million pounds of food to the poor. In reading this book you'll learn much about the pressures on faith and family an NFL player experiences. You'll be encouraged by the acts of one man obedient to God's call. And you'll be challenged to reevaluate what you think about money and stuff.

You can find out more about the work here.

You can watch a short video about Brown and his farm here.

My rating: 5/5 stars.

Jason Brown grew up in Henderson, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina where he played both guard and tackle before moving to center. He was drafted in the fourth round by the Baltimore Ravens in 2005. He became a free agent in 2009 and was signed by the St. Louis Rams for $37.5 million, making him the highest paid center in the league at the time. He was a free agent again three years later but instead of signing a new contract, he left the NFL and bought a thousand acre farm near Louisburg, North Carolina. He has been farming since 2013 and gives nearly everything he grows to the poor. He and his wife have been married since 2003 and have eight children.

Paul Asay is an award-winning author, journalist and blogger. You can find out more at http://www.paulasay.com/. 

WaterBrook, 224 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the Publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)