By Dave Andrusko
It’s not uncommon but every time an athlete praises his parents for their contribution to his success, it’s a reminder of how important all parents are.
If you wish to watch grace under pressure, check out Steph Curry who last week led his Golden State Warriors’ team to another world championship. His three-point shooting was otherworldly. (He was named the NBA Finals’ Most Valuable Player.)
But there was a moment in time, 34 years ago, when Sonya Curry, his mom, was all the way into a Planned Parenthood parking lot. As she was about to enter, she felt the Holy Spirit intervene, as she relates in her new memoir, “Fierce Love: A Memoir of Family, Faith, and Purpose.”
“God had a plan for that child. There could be no Stephen. If I would have gone through that, there would have been no Wardell Stephen Curry II,” Sonya Curry said, Aleteia reports.
But it was oh so nearly a different fate. Writing for the Christian Post Maria Donovan says
Writing in an intimate tone, Sonya offers an honest account of motherhood and her accidental way of getting there. Growing up poor, Curry was always determined to be a success, focusing intently on her education and her athletic skills as a competitive volleyball player. What she viewed as her plan for her life went in a different direction when she faced an unplanned pregnancy. Unsure if a future with the child’s father was possible, and with her education unfinished, Sonya scheduled an abortion at a Planned Parenthood facility in Virginia. She was sitting in the clinic’s parking lot when she had a change of heart and decided to take a leap of faith.
Fierce Love is an “in-depth look into the challenges Sonya faced raising three kids and running a Montessori school while her husband Dell, also a prolific shooter, was often away from home over the course of a 16-year NBA career,” Donovan wrote.
As Steph Curry shared: “From the beginning, my mom has been a rock of encouragement, faith, discipline, and gratitude for me and my siblings.” He shared with Christianity Today the origins of the celebratory gesture he uses on the court:
“I pound my chest and point to the sky, it symbolises that I have a heart for God, something that my mom and I came up with in college. I do it every time I step on the court as a reminder of who I’m playing for. People should know who I represent and why I am who I am, and that’s because of my Lord and savior.”
The dad of three also shares his love of God physically, with a tattoo on his wrists with the words from Corinthians 13:8 that say “Love never fails” in Hebrew. He also has some lace loops on his “Curry One” basketball shoes that have “4:13” on them, in reference to Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Writes Cerith Gardiner, “It is incredible that over 34 years ago his mom was a young woman on the verge of making a life-altering choice. Thankfully, she found the strength to listen to God and take a leap of faith.”