In December of 2011 Brent had been told by the doctors that his son, Jack, had a serious disease. This meant that Jack, 19 months old at the time, would begin losing the abilities that he had gained up to that point, and eventually the disease would take his life as a toddler. Jack had already been diagnosed with cortical blindness, epilepsy, microcephaly, cerebral palsy, and then this.
The initial distress for Brent and his wife was indescribable…as Brent says, “the kind of thing that puts you on the ground”. After the dust settled, Brent began to accept this truth as a reality and to think about how the future day-to-day activity would look. At that time, his wife and he were both working full-time, and she carried the health insurance. What began to consume him was the idea that his wife would need to maintain employment while they had what appeared to be very limited time with their son. Brent became obsessed with this, and began to pray and beg for answers. He told me that he was praying to a God that he didn’t yet know. He wanted a reset button. He wanted all of this to go away.
Brent had already started playing guitar as a way to bond with his blind son. He had even recorded a song so that Jack could hear his voice when he wasn’t home. The recording was nice enough, and everybody enjoyed the tune. Then a clear message came to Brent … “share your story, and make the song available to the world”.
Brent with Handsome Jack
He sat down and got to work, a few hours later he had a web domain, a digital store front, and his song. He composed an email to his friends and family sharing his feelings and current situation, and giving them an opportunity to purchase his music. Within 5 minutes the song had been downloaded, then again, then again, and again. $100, $10, $100, $200, $2.00… The letter he had sent traveled and before he knew it there were people in Europe, Canada, China, Australia, and all over the US contributing to what he intended to use as a gift to his wife to let her stay home more with Jack.
Did I mention Brent really loves his wife?
After a few days and tens of thousands of dollars later, the phone rang. It was the doctor saying they had revisited Jack’s test results, and he was changing his diagnosis. He said Jack did not have the terminal disease.
*pause*
Praise God? Yes.
Brent says he hadn’t prayed for a cure. He prayed for relief… but the answer came above and beyond his wildest expectations. To pray for a cure wasn’t even conceivable to him at that time.
His wife and he decided that the prayers, support, and rekindled friendships that came out of his email were all that they needed. So, they hit the refund button, promptly returning the financial gains. This process had given them their family and friends back, who they had lost when they isolated themselves from the world early in their son’s journey.
However, Brent had made a promise, both in writing and in his heart. He had said if this works, he would pay it forward to other families like his. All of this had generated quite a stir and what bubbled to the top were the people who wanted to be part of fulfilling that promise.
Brent has since incorporated Giving Songs, recorded 20 songs, earned tax-exempt status, and delivered life changing impact to families like his own. Each one of these events was only possible because God opened His doors. The music? 85% off at the recording studio where his brother works. 501c3 attorney? free – he grew up down the street from Brent and they are childhood friends. The list goes on, and on.
Giving Songs has already put handicapped vans in families with children who have challenges similar Brent’s. Check out the website and consider how this all started….While you are at it, buy some songs.
No Little People No Little Places 