- [Gordon] He weighed nearly 800 pounds.

- Food made me feel accepted,food made me feel good.

It made me feel likeeverything else didn't matter.

It felt like it loved me.

- [Gordon] Until hesurrendered his identity.

- I had a reverence, a fear of the Lord,

because he created my body, he made it.

- [Gordon] Find out howhe lost nearly 600 pounds.

Plus, she's the widow of theAmerican Sniper, Chris Kyle.

Taya Kyle is here to discusshow she overcomes grief,

and her plan to help othersfind purpose and passion,

on today's "700 Club Interactive".

Well welcome to the show.

The Charlotte Hornet's James Borrego

is the first Hispanic head coach

in the NBA's 72 year history,

and he was hired by oneof his childhood idols.

- That childhood idol,

well none other than teamowner Michael Jordan.

Recently, the coach sat down

with our sports reporter, Tom Buehring

to talk about what it's like

to work for one of basketball'sall-time greatest players.

- [Tom] In a game of rebounds,

James Borrego has theknack for bouncing back.

His resiliency andpersistence turned heads

after long success and two championships

as a San Antonio Spurs assistant,

the Charlotte Hornets hired him

and he became the NBA'sfirst Hispanic head coach.

But the three time head coaching finalist

had to wait his turn.

When was the wait most difficult?

- Believing I was the next guy,

being turned down for finalistagain, two jobs, two nos,

but I kept being persistent,

finding resilience to keep moving forward.

Being an NBA assistantcoach for 15, 16 years,

the wait was long,

but I knew if I continuedto put my work in,

that opportunity would come again

and I'm thankful for it.

- How do you fuel your disappointment

rather than resenting it?

- Well I think you lookat it as an opportunity.

Through disappointments in life,

whether it's on the court, you practice.

In games, as long asyou're learning from it,

I think you get better along the way.

I found a spirit of resiliencyreflected in my mother,

that she could get upand she could keep going

through the ups, throughthe downs of life,

and I was given that gift at an early age

of moving forward and seeing that example.

- Well an owner isn't an owner,

unless you're wearing it, right?

So you come here under the evaluation

of Hornet's owner, Michael Jordan,

so what made that memorable for you?

- First of all, I never met him,

obviously one of thegreatest players of all time,

someone I grew up watching,admiring from afar.

To walk in his home and be interviewed,

and spend time withhim was surreal for me.

Someone that knows basketballextremely high level,

he was interested inme, to hear my vision,

what I could help bring hiscompany, his organization.

It was a wonderful conversationof basketball, life,

moving this team forward.

We spent a lot of timewatching a basketball game,

talking X's and O's.

But he's been a wonderful owner,

someone that brings greatvalue, someone who I trust,

and someone who I know believesin me and this entire group.

- Is there a favorite question he asked?

- Who did you grow up rooting for?

(laughter)

- Your mandate was Bulls?

- (laughs) Bulls all the way.

He didn't know I wasreally Laker fan, but.

- [Tom] Talent aside, what'sat the core of a champion?

- There's a lot there, it's effort,

it's effort in your consistency,effort in your discipline,

effort to stay resilient.

If you have those threethings, you've got a shot.

People look at NBA champions

and they think it justhappens because of talent,

or coaching, or you add this play or that.

You have to put the time in,

you have to put the effort in every day,

and that's a challenge.

- [Tom] What is it about J.B.

that makes him unique as a coach?

- Well first of all he's a great guy.

He's helping me think a lot about the game

and about different situations,and things of that nature.

So I think that's what'sdifferent about him,

he's (background noisedrowns out other sounds).

- We have a great relationship

because he's been with me10 years in San Antonio

and we trust each other.

So when he asked me tocome here and help him out,

I was just happy about the opportunity

and I knew that I can trust him.

- [Tom] Today's NBA player,they're getting younger,

their global, what is a musthave to earn their trust?

- They are getting global,

it's becoming more andmore of a challenge.

You have to be authentic.

Players today, they'llsee right through you,

and you won't earn their trust.

And I think that's whatChrist is looking for in us,

to be authentic and real,

and that's really whatelevates an organization,

when there's real authenticconnection in a relationship.

And I think that's whatplayers are looking for.

- [Tom] What hasmulti-cultural friendships,

teaming taught you?

- Growing up in New Mexico,Hispanic background,

it's about family, that,we pull for each other,

we're there for each other,just as the church should be.

There's room to disagree,

no matter if I'm Hispanic,White, Black, Asian,

we're just a family,

and I think that's whatChrist would want us

to represent and to be about.

That's something I value at my core,

and something that I wantto be known for long term.

- You're doing your doctorate now,

but you have your masters in leadership,

what do you think is most undervalued

when it comes to moving people forward?

- One of the things I'velearned over the years,

watching great leadersand studying leadership,

is listening to people,

understanding people,emphasizing with people.

You can help move them forward,

but you've got to understand people

and where they're at to do that.

Sometimes it's a little messy,

and I think it's about listening.

When you listen to them, you value them

and when people feel valued,

they'll keep coming back to you.

- [Tom] So you werebrought in to help change,

redefine the culture of this organization,

but over your broadexperience with coaching,

what about the pushback thatcomes from leadership at times

where it's like, we don't want to change?

What's your advice?

- Get over yourself.

We're not in it for the ego,

I'm not standing up on a perch thinking

that I've got everything figured out,

but stepping in the muck,in the fire, in the arena,

put ourselves in the battlefield together.

Pull out the best in people,

see what they do well and maximize it.

The good leaders I've beenaround, they go tap into that.

- Coach up the church,evaluate their mission,

their game plan,

what would your encouragementbe to them, to finish strong?

- Probably tell them somethingI tell my players often,

as they exit a huddle, exit a half time,

stay the course, stay together.

This is a long game,this is a long season,

we need each other.

Stay together, stay thecourse, keep pulling,

and ultimately, communicate.

Talking, but it's also listening.

- [Tom] What do you borrowfrom Christ's example

when leading and coaching a team?

- I think of two things,sacrifice and resiliency.

He was the ultimate example of that,

the ultimate sacrifice for us.

Never giving in, always gettingback up, always being there.

Just realizing youcan't do it on your own,

that you need a partner, andhe's the ultimate partner.

- He is the ultimate partner,

but you can pick up a lot of wisdom

just from James in thatlittle short piece,

and the biggest one is,don't look at failures

as anything other than opportunities.

If you're disappointed,

if you're not getting what you think,

well then, okay, where'sthe opportunity here?

What a great piece of wisdom.

- It takes it all to make it work, right?

Well up next, she's thewife to the late Chris Kyle,

better known as the American Sniper,

Taya Kyle is here to tell us

how she's continuing her husband'slegacy, right after this.

(light inspirational music)

How do you deal with grief?

The Bible tells us that Godcomforts us in our sorrows

so that we're betterprepared to comfort others.

Well, sometimes hearing stories of triumph

encourages those of us who aredealing with life's trials.

Taya Kyle has experienced despair,

now she's helping othersone life at a time.

Take a look.

- [Reporter] Taya Kyle

is a New York Times bestselling author

and the widow of AmericanSniper, Chris Kyle.

Chris and his friend Chad Littlefield

were cruelly murdered by aman they were trying to help.

In Chris' honor, Taya has founded

the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation,

which focuses onstrengthening the marriages

of military spouses and first responders.

After her husband's death,

people shared their own stories of tragedy

and triumph with Taya.

She highlighted over30 of them in her book,

"American Spirit".

- Taya Kyle joins us now,

welcome, it's so nice to have you with us.

- Thank you, it's nice to be here.

- You've called the "American Spirit"

a love letter to the country,what do you mean by that Taya?

- You know, I just think it'swhen you see someone hurting

or angry, and you thinkthere's more to them,

and you try to reach theirsoul and get past the anger,

and I feel like that's wherewe are in this country.

It feels very divisive and polarized

and I see this countryas still having a soul

and I think that's the healing process.

We need to get to the soul

and remember that, justbecause we hear loud extremes,

that's not the majority ofwhat's happening in this country.

The majority of what's happening

is people loving each otherand lifting each other up

without any knowledge ofthe other person's politics.

- Well, and sometimes, you know,

that spirit can spread like wildfire

and we all need to learnto take three deep breaths,

think a little bit while we're doing that,

and then come at it froma different perspective.

You talk about the pioneeringspirit that built America

and, I mean, our countryis really founded on that,

and great because of that,discuss that a little bit.

- Well, you know, it'sinteresting because,

I know a lot of timespeople get frustrated

if we talk about the founding fathers,

and there's a mix of what they wanted

which was border control,and currency, railroads,

and that's about it, right?

The Federal Government wasdesigned to not do much,

and I think that was brilliant there

because it allowed peopleto help each other out.

But, you know, aside from that,

we had this spirit of helping one another

get across the mountain passes

and, you know, if they weresick, you helped your neighbor,

who else was there?

And the blessing was

that people figured outthe kind of grit they had,

they figured out what it took,

and what the purposewas kind of in the pain

when they came together.

And I think that part ofour spirit's alive and well.

- Well, and there is abig core of your book

is about the fact thatthere is purpose in pain.

That sometimes whenyou're going through it,

as I'm sure you found yourself,very difficult to see,

or even to hang on to.

How did you get to that place?

- Well, you know, it's interesting because

I find that sometimes itfeels impossible, right?

When you're going through it,

and I think the more perspective you have,

the more experience youhave getting through things,

the more you start tosee the beauty in it,

and you have faith that it's okay.

So I definitely see thewisdom in God's plan,

because I think, it's sort of like,

if you knew your child wasgoing to have an amputation,

you would prepare them ahead of time,

and then you would be with them there

and you would take care of them afterward.

And I see that as what God did with me.

I was prepared in littlebits before the amputation,

the having, you know, Chris' life taken.

- [Terry] Just jerked out of your life.

- Right, and there were waysthat I see he prepared me

to be able to withstand that

and put people in place to help me.

But there's a story in here,

can I take a minute and tell you about it?

There's a story in here thatI really, I kinda had a moment

where I felt God in thegreenroom back there saying,

"Talk about this one".

Solutions for Change,

I haven't talked aboutit on any other show,

but, you know, Chris Megison,his story is amazing.

He starts out as a marine wholoses a volunteer contest.

You know just, littlethings add up, you think,

oh that's too bad, youdidn't get what you wanted.

That puts him into a placewhere he had to volunteer,

where he volunteers,

he sees a guy who hasfought drug addiction

and is miserable, and death of loved ones,

and he's hurting, and he'sin this homeless shelter,

and he doesn't talk to anybody.

That pain is used for good, right?

So the two of them meet

and then they connect,

and that puts Chris onthis different path,

where now, he not only helps people,

but he does the whole biblical thing

of teaching a man to fish, right?

And the cool thing is,

the guy who's fought all these addictions,

and had all this trouble, and is homeless,

he doesn't want, I mean,he appreciates the fact

that he has food and money,but he doesn't want just that,

he wants his life back,

he wants somebody to see him as a person.

And so, Chris goes

and creates a two and a halfyear program for people,

you know, there's a storyin there of how it happens,

but where people actually changetheir lives for the better.

So, I take that and I think,

one little thing at a timethat we would see as horrible,

actually ended up beingthe most amazing blessing

for all of these families

who now have a totallydifferent trajectory.

- That wouldn't have happened

had he got what he wantedin the first place.

- That's exactly right.

- It's a Romans 8:28 moment,you know, God takes sometimes

what the enemy has plannedfor you that's not good

and turns it into somethingthat's a blessing for many.

- I think he does that every time,

we just have to be wise enough to see it

and we have to be open enough,

and not have fear rule our lives.

And sometimes my life has been a journey

of turning fear into faith.

I was very afraid of a lot of things,

and the longer I live, I see,

if God can get me through the worst,

he can get me through the littlest.

And at one point I would have thought

he wouldn't care about the little things,

and I think the beauty of this book

and why I had to share this story is,

he does care about the little things.

How magnificent is God

that he could care about the little things

in all of our lives?

That is mind blowing.

- Speaking of caring about little things,

how have you helped yourchildren through all of this?

- Yeah, you know, it'sfascinating to me too,

that's another part of mylearning experience with God

is I see that peoplesay kids are resilient,

but what I see is theirsouls have been changed

in a way that is positive,

and that should not have happened, right?

Because my biggest fear

was telling my kids thattheir father had died,

and then when I actually had to do it,

it was one of the worst thingsI've ever done in my life.

He was an amazing father.

And then I look at it and see,they are soulful, faithful,

they're strong, they havea different perspective.

You want to talk about a bad day, I mean,

I remember my daughtertelling me at one point,

"Mama, sometimes I would havethought as this as a bad day,

"but my dad didn't die today, so really."

It kinda took my breath away.

Yeah, and I thought, that'sa lot for a little person,

and she was very young at the time,

and I just see them as somuch smarter, and stronger,

and more compassionate.

- And I was gonna say,smarter and stronger,

and yet, gentler in a way,more compassionate as you said.

- They really are, they lookout for other people, you know,

and they don't sit in their grief.

I think that's the otherthing, you think at some point

that when something likethat is taken from them,

I wondered, would theirfoundation ever be okay?

And I've had other men in their lives

who are strong, married, Christian men

who cared enough about ourfamily to care for my children.

They've had people step in every way.

So without being marriedagain you always wonder,

will my kids have an understanding

of what a healthy home looks like?

And they do, because they have friends

who have healthy marriages,and homes, and they get it.

- And isn't that reallythe message of your book?

That all around us, life is happening,

and we need to step in.

We need to step into the moment,

we need to step up to theplate, we need to be the one.

- Right, and with that Iwould suggest this to you too

is that, I remember thinking,

I'd hear those things and I'd think,

there's no way, I'm a mom,

I would love to change theworld, I can't do that, right?

And I think that the power in this book is

you see that it's actuallythe small things you do

and it multiplies, yes,

and just taking reallygood care of your kids

and giving them that foundation,

ripples out more thanany work you could do

if you were showing up ateven a non-profit everyday.

- It's a great legacy, whatyou leave with your children.

Well the book is called,"American Spirit",

it's available wherever books are sold.

It's a wonderful read,

it's a wonderful inspirationand encouragement.

Thank you Taya, it's greatto see you again, Gordon.

- Up next, he was a secondgrader who weighed 200 pounds,

over time, that number nearly quadrupled.

- They would say things like,

"Well, you're fat,you're ugly, you waddle",

that stuff would makeme want to go to food

because it just made me feel good.

- [Gordon] Hear how he experienceda total transformation,

after this.

(light inspirational music)

Justin Willoughby walkedinto the doctors office

for a routine checkup,he left in an ambulance.

That's because Justin weighed 799 pounds.

At the hospital he knewhe needed to lose weight,

and he needed to changemore than just his diet.

- Yeah, when people see picturesof me when I was younger,

and they look back at those pictures,

they really can't believethat's who they're looking at,

that it's me.

- [Reporter] From an early age,

Justin Willoughby had a passion for food.

- Food was like my best friend,

it would comfort me, itwould bring me pleasure,

and it took away the anxiety,

took away all my emotions for a moment,

numb me, if you will.

Hitting second grade Iwas around 200 pounds.

Going through middle school

I probably hit around 350, 400, 450.

- [Reporter] As his weight climbed,

the attacks from classmates increased.

- They would say things like,

"You're fat, you're ugly, you waddle",

just a bunch of vulgar names,

and then that stuff wouldmake me want to go to food.

I got a lot of pleasure fromit, a lot of acceptance,

because it just made me feel good.

My panic attacks started at 14 years old.

The doctors put me on medication,

the medications helped ina temporary sense to where,

you know, they would makeme feel a little numb,

and kinda tired.

- [Reporter] Justin grew more sedentary

and his weight increased,

but nothing freed him fromhis depression and fear.

Around this time a friend ofhis mom, a woman named Marge,

started talking to Justin about Jesus.

- She talked to me

about how God can help methrough the anxiety attacks,

and such, and that he wouldn'tleave me or forsake me,

that he was with me always.

To know that somebodycould love you that much

and to know that I could be forgiven

of the wrongs that I've done,

of the things I'm not okay with,

the things that wouldhaunt me day and night,

like why did I make this decision?

Stuff like that, it attracted me.

- [Reporter] But Justin wasn't willing

to surrender his food addiction.

- Food made me feel accepted,food made me feel good,

food, you know,

it made me feel likeeverything else didn't matter.

It felt like it loved me,even though it didn't,

but it just, it made me feelsatisfied and fulfilled.

It was this condition I guess I had

that I didn't want to give up.

So, yeah, there was this battle going on.

- [Reporter] When he was16, Justin went to a doctor

for an insurance physical.

- And the doctor lookedat me and he was stunned.

He looked me over, he checked me over,

and he was really anxious,

he was really unsure if I washealthy and if I was okay.

- [Reporter] He was sent by ambulance

to a hospital in Pittsburghfor more testing.

There, the seriousness of hismorbid obesity became real.

- I remember my parentsbeing at the foot of the bed

and they looked at the bedscale, my mom walks up to me

and she says, "Honey, do youknow how much you weigh?"

And I said, "No, I don't".

And she goes, "You weigh 799 pounds".

And I was, I was blown awayand numb at the same time.

And I thought thingslike, "Who could love me?"

"I'm so large, who can,who would love me?"

"I don't offer much, Ijust sit here and I eat."

And those are real thoughtsthat entered my mind, for sure,

and those thoughts plagued me.

I guess I felt like I wasin a prison at that moment,

just not knowing where to turn next.

- [Reporter] Lying in his bed,

Justin remembered whathis mom's friend Marge

told him about Jesus' love

and he cried out to God for help.

- When I gave my heart toJesus and surrendered over,

there was a peace.

I felt loved and I felt valuable,

I felt like, even ifI was that much weight

and wasn't confidentand happy about myself,

I felt like the Lordsaw something different.

He saw my identity as hischild and I allowed God

to take a messed upbroken person that I was,

and I allowed him to changeme from the inside out.

I gave my heart to Jesus in August 2003,

and I realized that I was loved by him,

and that he cared about me,

and I had value and identity.

- [Reporter] With a new identity,

Justin started functioning differently,

he was motivated to eat better

and started moving.

- I would have to startwalking a little bit,

so I remember taking a couple steps,

maybe three, four, five steps,

and then I would have to goback to the bed and sit down,

but that was a milestone for me

because I was able to actually move,

I was able to actually function.

- [Reporter] He wasdischarged after six days.

Once at home, Justin startedworking with a therapist

and a nurse to continuebuilding his strength.

It took him 33 days towalk a total of one mile.

- And then I startedwalking a little bit easier.

It took me less days, 20some days the second time,

I did another mile,

and then, less time to do my next mile,

and eventually I startedwalking around stores,

and going out, and actuallybecoming part of society again.

- [Reporter] The first year,Justin dropped 200 pounds

through dietary changes and exercise.

The second year he dropped another 200.

He learned to rely on God

anytime he felt like givingin to his food addiction.

- The closer I got to God,

the closer I grew in myrelationship with Jesus,

I do believe my body got healthier.

It's because I had areverence, a fear of the Lord,

because he created my body.

He made it, he created it in such a way

to where it is a temple,you know, he lives in it.

If God comes to live in you,

if he dwells in your body,if he dwells in a temple,

don't you think that templeshould be taken care of?

- [Reporter] Today, over 10 years later,

Justin remains addictionand panic attack free.

He is married and has sharedhis transformative story

on radio, TV, and church meetings.

As a weight loss coachand motivational speaker,

Justin enjoys pointing others

to the life changing power of Jesus.

- God made you you,

and he wants you to bethe best version of you,

and that only comes fromsurrendering your life over to him

and allowing him to shape youinto who he wants you to be.

- What he has done forothers, he will do for you.

What Justin said is a great key,

when he was talking about food,

it made me feel like it lovedme, it made me feel that way.

Even though it didn't,

and even though food waskilling him, that act,

the eating of it made ithim feel like he was loved.

I think that's the key to all addiction

and all compulsive behavior,

and you find it in Hosea,where God talks about idolatry.

He talks about harlotry,and then he says, new wine.

What they do is they enslave the heart,

and when you understand thatyour heart's enslaved to it,

it makes you feel like you're loved,

even though it's killing you.

This applies to anything,

and whether you talk aboutfame, or internet addiction,

or video game addiction, oralcoholism, or drug addiction,

or food addiction, what itmeans is your heart is enslaved

and you're doing thingsthat, on a repeated pattern,

are actually destroying you.

But I've got great news for you,

you can take that love andreplace it for something real.

And that is the love that God has for you,

the dignity that that love gives you,

and then the confidence moving forward,

that you're changed fromyour inner-most being.

That what you used to loveto do that destroyed you,

can now be changed into love

for the one who loves you infinitely,

and wants you to be withhim for all eternity.

If you want to experiencethis, give us a call.

All you have to do is say,"I need to find Jesus today,

"I need to know that I'm loved,

"I need to know that I'm forgiven,

"I need to know that I'mgoing to be cared for

"for the rest of my life,and then for all eternity."

We're here for ya, we'renot here to judge ya,

we're here to set you free

and let you know that God loves you.

Call us, 1-800-700-7000.

Here's a word from Psalms,"And those who know your name

"will put their trust in you."

"For you, Lord, have notforsaken those who seek you."

God bless.

(upbeat music)