Creative Revolution http://www.c-rev.com/blog Brent's Blog Thu, 27 May 2010 18:16:40 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Our Third Child http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=45 http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=45#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 05:20:46 +0000 Brent http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=45 I want to start out by saying thank you to Pastor Jeff Gokee. Thank you. Thank you for your passion. The video they showed at CornerStone was moving, without a doubt. But I connected with Jeff’s heart when I saw the look in his eyes when the Indian child he adopted came on the screen. I knew instantly who she was without anyone even saying. That’s when I felt the tug in MY heart. I have been at a dozen concerts with a dozen different Compassion International tables. I think part of me kept my heart closed to those tables on purpose, if I spent time looking into those kids eyes, maybe I would have felt something and connected. I have never in my life felt pulled to missions, or called to other nations. I have seen heartbreaking need in videos and pictures, and have paid small financial support when I could to connect in a small way with their need, and growing up my family often supported children in other countries throughout my childhood, but I never FELT that connection to someone, someone I have never met. Tonight I felt pulled to attend the informational meeting at Cornerstone about what our church is doing to partner with Harvest India, and what, if any, my role in that story could be. We watched the video again, and again, i found myself watching the eyes of those who had been on the previous India trip. These people LOVE the people I was seeing on that screen, they honest-to-God loved them. I could see it in Jeff’s Face again like the first time, and I could see it in Suresh’s eyes. A man who has connected to THOUSANDS of children, older folks, and ransomed prostitutes looked like he knew every one of them by heart. We spent a portion of the evening asking them questions, and I kept to myself. Not for lack of questions, but because I kept hearing the word ORPHAN…ORPHAN…ORPHAN. Man, I couldn’t escape that word. These are thousands of children that have no parents. No one they could call mommy or daddy, no parents laps to climb into when they are scared, or sad or just want to be held. That hit me like a freight train. Amanda had brought up earlier that she wanted me to get info on possibly sponsoring a child, and I had told her that I would get info, but on the inside, my heart was closed. The extra cost per month is not something that we are really prepared to take on right now, even though it’s nominal. Heck, we are still paying off Ethan’s birth from almost 3 years ago (He was born 2 1/2 months premature and had to stay for 2 months in the neonatal intensive care unit. But as that word Orphan echoed in my head, the cost didn’t matter. It could have been $100 a day and I would have found a way to make it work. As soon as the meeting was over, I sat a second and prayed, asking for God to show me a child’s face who needed us, a child who wanted us. I walked back and forth looking at the spread of faces 4 or 5 times. I wasn’t connecting….I didn’t see that face. I uncovered all the faces and looked at everyone carefully, and it just wasn’t happening. I paused a moment, and considered the chance that maybe I was wrong, maybe I wasn’t hearing God right, so I moved on to sign up for more information on the India Short Term Mission Trip. Maybe if I took the plunge and thought about going to India, I might have that moment in person. That wasn’t what God was telling me though, I was there to connect with a child tonight. On my last passthrough on the tables I noticed a packet I hadn’t seen before, one someone had just put down after holding the whole time I was looking before. He was the one. He in my son! I know the correct term is that we are sponsoring this child, and not adopting, but hearing Jeff say it just made sense to me. Amanda and I adopted a son tonight, and his name is K. Bala Yesu. He even has the same cheeks as my birth children do. I don’t know anything about him, but I know he’s our child. I couldn’t help but cry on my drive home with happiness, the exact same feeling I had driving home from the hospital when my children were born, the EXACT same feeling. I may never meet my boy in India, I sure hope to, but I know one thing for sure. There is a boy in India who can go to sleep at night now and KNOW that there is a mommy and a daddy somewhere out there who love him and pray for him, who want the best for him, and through thick and thin are going to do what we have to do to make sure that he is cared for and supported. I get it now.

(Please…if any of my rambling meant anything to you…please consider sponsoring a child through Harvest India or any of our other partnerships through Cornerstone. It’s $35 a month through Harvest India, and that support provides food, drink, housing, and education for these children. Please follow this link to get involved)      **   Harvest India – Get Involved! **

and here’s a couple pictures of our boy!

**Update** Here’s the AMAZING documentary that Chris Loope did with Jeff Gokee about the India trip. Chris does some incredible work! Check him out HERE

JEFF GOKEE / HARVEST INDIA DOCUMENTARY from chris loope on Vimeo.

]]> http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=45 5 The Three G’s http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=39 http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=39#comments Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:25:11 +0000 Brent http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=39 My favorite songwriter, Jon Foreman says there are three G’s that he’ll never fully understand. God, Grace, and Girls. God and Grace make sense, but girls? How hard is it for a guy to understand a girl? They’re created to be our counterparts, the yin to our yang, similar yet so different. I am about to turn 26, and I feel like I’ve gotten a pretty good handle on girls over my lifetime. They’re tricky, but not too hard to understand. That is until my wife and I had our daughter. Our son was nearly two by the time we had Madison, and I thought that the whole girl vs boy thing didn’t matter at that age…I mean a baby is a baby, right? It’s been a fun journey being proven wrong. Ethan liked to be picked up and tickled and startled and the center of attention. Madison likes to be cuddled and held, and blend into the scenery as long as she’s not forgotten. Ethan is independent, Madison always wants to be able to see us and know that we’re near, even when she wants to go crawling and exploring. She is just so sweet and kind. Whenever she has a snack (cheerios or baby goldfish) and you get anywhere near her, the first thing she does is try to get one to your mouth so you can enjoy what she’s enjoying. I’m sure she will go through a selfish phase too, but for now I’m reveling in her innate desire to just love and be loved. This Easter Sunday April 4, 2010 will hold a special place in my heart. Not only is it the day that Jesus left an empty tomb so that we may live, it is also marks one full year since my little Madison was born. The air I breathe will be a little sweeter that day as I meditate on just how glorious it is that Jesus gave me life, and a lifetime with this wonderful little girl.

Madison

]]> http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=39 0 Cornerstone http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=32 http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=32#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:55:22 +0000 Brent http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=32 I’ve been trying to think of a good subject to write about for a while. Should I talk about what’s inspiring me and where it comes from? Should I talk about the blessings and hardships of life? Why not combine them into one central thought: Cornerstone. I’m talking not only about my church home, but the theology of its name. All of life’s experiences are rooted and related to where your foundation lies. Good or bad experiences, your starting point makes all the differences. My son recently had an appointment with a cardiologist to examine the severity of a heart murmur. I have a heart murmur, and have had it since I was his age. I knew it was most likely nothing serious, but with all the health issues we’ve been through with him, my heart sank to the ground a few months ago when his doctor first heard it. We’ve been waiting since then for our insurance to approve the appointment, and it’s been hard to try and force the thoughts about it out of our heads in the interim. As we have been growing deeper in fellowship at Cornerstone Chandler, we have been blessed to witness true faith in action. We had the opportunity to take dinner over to the McRae family last week, and my wife was glowing after getting to meet Kate’s grandparents. Their family is traveling through what I can only imagine is the deepest valley of their lives, yet they remain unflinching in their faith, unfaultering of their confidence in God’s grace, and stories of faith like this abound at Cornerstone. Does this church have something special that others don’t? I don’t think so. I think the people at Cornerstone simply are choosing to put into practice what our name means. I am learning to take solace in the truth that regardless of what comes, good or bad, that as long as my feet stay on the rock, God will show me what it means to trust.

]]> http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=32 0 Worship http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=27 http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=27#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:04:15 +0000 Brent http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=27 I haven’t blogged for a while, so I figured I’d throw something up here quickly about this past weekend! On Sunday I had the opportunity to serve with the Worship Team at Cornerstone, my family’s church home. I’m a lover of music. I know that’s a pretty bland statement, that all of us have probably said in their lives, but there’s something special about songs written specifically for times of worship. Worship music is consuming, I feel like it just covers you, covers your thoughts and insecurities, and lets you claim just the right words you feel to speak to our God. Sometimes I’m not the most well spoken, eloquent person. I fumble my words and don’t always have the right thing to say to God. Worship moves past that for me. It’s the chance for my heart and my words to be in synch, if only for a moment, and proclaim my joy for what He has done for me. It’s like giving a beautifully written greeting card to someone. Though you didn’t write the message, it sums up exactly how you feel, and you just want them to know. Singing is a vulnerable time for me. I don’t have any training in it, I simply have been given the ability to stay on pitch for the most part (I hope), and I love doing it. I get nervous when I sing, without fail. But for some reason, God has given me the peace to not be nervous when I am singing worship music. It’s an awesome catch 22 :) . I remember taking part in talent shows in high school because I had friends who were in charge of booking talent and no one would sign up. I was petrified, and eaked my way through them, and of course did not win, but I don’t feel that apprehension when I’m singing to God. I have just been really moved over the past few days meditating on what Pastor Linn said about worship in his past two messages. It’s a showing of faith, it’s a statement that says I don’t care if it’s hard for me. It says I don’t care if I’m not the best singer in the world, or that I have no idea what a “D” or an “G” sounds like :) . I remember a dear friend of mine, Jake LeFavour once told me the only difference between worshipping in the congregation and being on stage is the view. I am honored to get the opportunity to worship God. I am blessed to have had the opportunity to do it from stage and get to see the beautiful view Jake was talking about…a room full of people all loving God together.

]]> http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=27 8 Evan Almighty….and Jimmy? http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=22 http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=22#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:20:35 +0000 Brent http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=22 “Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?”

I was watching Evan Almighty this past week on TV, and this quote really hit me. It seems that so many of us at Cornerstone, if not in the broader community of Believers in general, are severely under attack right now. You can’t seem to strike up a conversation with someone now and not find out some new troubling news, or heartbreaking prayer request. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this though, I mean everyone has their problems. What is it about this time of year that helps people endure? Are people really more caring and loving around this time, or is it just more socially acceptable to love others near Christmas? Our family is experiencing some life changing things now as well, and we find ourselves falling to our knees in desperate petition for God to be with those we love through their struggles and get them to the other side, closer to Him. So often we go to God with requests, rather than praise. I remember on the show “Run’s House,” Run was trying to teach his son how to pray. He told him “You can’t just treat God like Jimmy, and say Gimme Gimme.” haha. It was a very cheesy way of saying something really true. We speak about God as our father, but how good would our relationship be with our Parents if the only time we spoke with them was to ask them for things? I know at the very least they would be hurt. Coming back to the Evan Almighty quote, God is always trying to teach us how to better ourselves, and be more like him. If that’s the case, then truly, when we ask Him for things, is He more to just dump it into our laps, or to present us the chance to better ourselves through specific situations? It makes perfect sense. If I go to God about increasing my finances, is He simply going to dump money into my lap, or is He going to give me the opportunity to prove myself worthy of a raise? If I ask for God to be with someone in a tough time, is He going to simply make things easier for them, or is He going to give me the opportunity to be his hands and help carry their load? It’s just got me thinking. I don’t want to be a person who is constantly asking God to “Gimme Gimme”, rather I want to be more vigilant to spot the opportunities He’s giving me to claim the rewards and blessings He has for me, and to help be a light to those around me, so they may see as well.

]]> http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=22 2 My Son the Comedian http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=11 http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=11#comments Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:05:02 +0000 Brent http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=11 My wife Amanda works the 5pm service in the nursery at our Church Home, Cornerstone every weekend. My daughter, Madison goes with her, as she is in the room Amanda works. Typically during this time, My son Ethan and I will just hang around the house, watch a movie, or just spend time. Tonight, I decided that we should do something special, so we had a boys’ dinner at McDonalds and then drove around looking at Christmas lights around Gilbert where we live. While out and about, Ethan dropped some knowledge on me, that I would like to share with you all.

First of all, we drove by Mercy Gilbert hospital, where Madison was born 8 months ago. I said “Ethan, do you remember that place? That’s where we got Madi!” He said “Oh yeah? Well we better go get her!” I said, well Madi’s ok, she’s with Mommy” and he said “Good, she’s my favorite!” Then as we drove around, I told him we could go wherever he wanted, so he became an instant back-seat driver shouting “That way! More Lights, Hurry!”

I think my favorite quote of the night though was we decided to go through our own neighborhood, which sits on a golf course. Since there’s some bigger houses we figured that there would be some killer lights on the bigger houses, and they didn’t disappoint. Well they didn’t disappoint me anyway. As we turned down the last street, Ethan looked at the lights, and I kid you not, says “….pretty weak, daddy.” Oh yeah, and my son is 2 1/2. I guess I need to quit being so sarcastic around him, haha!

Earlier this week, my daughter was crying and Ethan went up to her and said “Hey, what’s wrong, chief?”…We’ve created a Monster!!

]]> http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=11 0 December: Thanksgiving, a Month Late? http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=9 http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=9#comments Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:54:16 +0000 Brent http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=9 So I’ve been thinking recently about my life, and all that I am thankful for. It’s funny how this comes to mind a month after the thanksgiving Holiday. I’ve been looking at information from the March of Dimes recently, and it’s got me thinking of how much differently things could have been for me right now, without God’s unfailing love. For those who don’t know, my son Ethan, who is now going on three years old, was born 2 1/2 months early, and ended up having to stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Phoenix Children’s hospital for those extra 2 1/2 months before we were allowed to bring him home. I remember how being parents of a child we couldn’t be around all the time became our ‘normal.’ How if we wanted to see our little boy, we had to jump in our car and drive the 45 minutes to Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Don’t get me wrong, they were absolutely amazing people. True angels on earth to my wife and I, but I somehow couldn’t help but resent that place. I know they were only there to make sure my son had the best chance, but in the middle of things, it was hard to keep my eyes on that fact. To look at him now, you’d never know he was premature. God has blessed us with such a little fighter. His intelligence is advanced for his age, as is his speaking and reasoning. Many preemies suffer from hinderances in their learning, and not only were we able to avoid this, but he is flourishing. I remember the late nights at the hospital, looking at his tiny 2 pound body in his Isolette, just hoping that he would be able to breathe on his own. Just waiting for the moment he would wake up so I could get the chance to give him his bottle, or hold him for just 5 minutes before they had to take blood samples or put him under UV lights to fight his jaundice. I remember thinking selfishly that no one new this frustration and anxiety we were dealing with. Now two years later I can say that what we dealt with was just a drop in the ocean. It’s such a blessin to know that God is so faithful and loving, even when we are not. Even when we are terrified and hesitant to let our all powerful Father take the reigns and lead us, He still willingly does. I am thankful for my son, who inspires me everyday, and I know that my love for him is miniscule in the light of God’s love for us. In our darkest night, we still have much to be thankful for! May He continually grant us the sight to see his abundant grace!

Brent

]]> http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=9 0 New Site http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=7 http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=7#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:37:26 +0000 Brent http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=7 Hello again, I’m happy to announce that my new website is up and running. I have gone through a series of versions of it, and landed on this current iteration. The new page is built off a template, and is mainly focused on showcasing my logo and graphic work. I’m happy that I have a small space therein to also link a couple of friends on my page. First off, Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, is my family’s church home. We have been a part of the Cornerstone Community now for about a year and a half and consider ourselves truly blessed to have had the opportunity to join this awesome movement. Secondly, Point7West is a La Quinta, CA based production company specializing in Corporate Video and Commercials. They are the best at what they do! Check them out and see for yourself! Lastly, is Tara Keator Photography and Studio Reveal. Tara has been a friend for many years, and her Eye for capturing once in a lifetime moments on film has never ceased to amaze me. We were lucky enough to have her take our Wedding photos, as well as photos of our children over the years. Please check out her website, and keep her in mind if you are in need of a photographer! Thanks for checking out my site, and I hope the continue to grow it in months and years to come!

]]> http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=7 0 Welcome! http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=1 http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=1#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:33:27 +0000 Brent http://www.c-rev.com/blog/?p=1 Welcome to my blog. I hope to provide some words of wisdom, as well as probably do a great deal of rambling. I hope to add sort of a play by play of my methods and inspiration when I create something new, and if I’m working on a project, I’ll try to update on the process. I hope this ends up being a worthwhile read for anyone interested, and that I’ll be able to show some of the methods to my madness.

Thanks for stopping by,

Brent

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