I am Second® - Clayton kershaw

When you're out there in the heat of the moment and your pitching, it's a big situation. You're saying, don't throw a ball, don't give up a hit, don't walk this guy. The harder you want to control something, the more it gets out of your control. And you want to get the outside corner of the pitch. If all you think about is, I'm going to hit that, aim it right there, hit it right there, that's the last place it's going to go go. But when you have in the back of your mind where you're supposed to throw it, and then just say, I'm going to throw it as hard as I can, right at that glove-- if you just say that, it will be around there more often than not, if you've done the preparation, and the mechanics and everything is there. It's almost the same in life. The more you try and grip control of your life, the more God's going to untangle that from you. He's going to make things go to where you have to rely on Him. I was just so worried. I was so worried all the time. My parents got divorced when I was 10. I had so much anxiety about my own life. If there was something that needed to get done, I'd rather do it myself than let other people do it for me. Just stuff that I couldn't control, that I was worried about. My mom and I were trying to figure out how college was going to be a feasible option for us. You know, it's going to be so expensive that I can't afford to do that. I didn't know what to do on my own. When I relinquished all control of my life was the day I got drafted. That was life changing. That was something that even talking about now chokes me up, just because it's just amazing the providence God had in my life. God was there the whole time. I just didn't bother to look. I never thought in a million years I'd ever get to play professional baseball, get to play in the major leagues, get to live out my dream. Since I was a kid, that's all I ever wanted to do. But at the same time, if you're playing baseball, why are you playing baseball? Is to have good success on the field and be a Hall-of-Famer or whatever it is? Sure, that's everybody's goal. But then what? For me, it's about the legacy you leave off the field. It's about how many people can I affect through the platform that He gave me. I got to go to Africa last year with my wife, Ellen. She's been working with some kids over there that she's gotten to go back and see. One particularly has a touched her heart, and her name is Hope. And she's a double orphan. Both her parents have died from AIDS. You see the cloud in her eyes and know she's scared. Ellen just gave the quickest version of the Good News that she possibly could. And that's all it takes for people in Zambia. It's like they've been waiting their whole lives for somebody just to tell them. And it changed my life. We just started a home called Hope's Home, in honor of Hope, this little girl. And it's going to be an orphanage for about 12 kids. And we just bought the land for it. And hopefully within the next year, we'll see the orphanage built, and we'll see the kids put in the home. We're just an avenue. We're just doing the part that God gave us. You can't think, oh, yeah, we can change this whole country ourselves. No, but God can-- and one more reason to let go of control. Playing for the Dodgers in LA is just saying that. It's amazing. It's ridiculous. The prayer I say before I go out there and pitch is not "God, let me win today," or "God, help me pitch good." It's "God, just be with me." With all the different people and different cultures and different religions, you can just kind of become one of the crowd. You've got to keep reminding yourself that you're supposed to stand out. And you're supposed to be different. And you're supposed to act boldly in your faith. It's definitely not easy, not a great conversation starter sometimes. But it's worth the fight. Clayton Kershaw led the National League in victories, ERA, and strikeouts in 2011. He is he youngest pitcher to win the Cy Young Award since 1985. Whether it be pitching on a baseball mound or living my life outside of the baseball field, it's giving up my life to God that really puts my life in control. My name is Clayton Kershaw. And I am second.