Editorial

Exclusive with the Producer of War Room

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Is your marriage falling apart? Are you losing sleep over your family’s debt? Every year the amount of broken homes continues to grow. In 2000, 60% of all children were born into broken homes. The health of our economy isn’t as it should be. What does this all mean? Does all this leave us helpless and doomed?

Ironically, Alex Kendrick, whose personal I am Second film debuted two--plus years ago, has a suggestion. “It’s time to go to war,” says Alex and his brother Stephen, the producers of the upcoming film, The War Room.  

“Looking at the state of our culture, we see it has become more alarming each year. We are too divided and dispersed. The church is not unified,” states Alex Kendrick. This conviction pierced the hearts of the Kendrick Brothers, the producers of past films Fireproof, Courageous, and Facing the Giants.  With their current film project, they call the church of America to fall on their knees and go to war in prayer.

This family friendly drama, The War Room,  is about learning to begin all your battles on your knees and learning who your real enemy is. This film focuses on the couple, Tony and Elizabeth Jordan, as they go through personal, marital, and spiritual problems. Rising to the challenge of a wise older woman, Elizabeth Jordan decides to take a stand and combat the difficulties in her marriage. She realizes the anger towards her husband and her children have exhausted her family. After setting up her War Room, Elizabeth fights for her marriage while on her knees in prayer.

The message of this film convicted Alex Kendrick to aggressively fight for his family and country. Sharing his personal experience with the filming, Alex remarked, “It has certainly changed my prayer life.  We went from doing it occasionally 3-4 times a week to regularly and more so individually. This morning I was on my knees crying out to God to be with our family, our culture, our church, with ISIS situation, and our family debt.”

Not only convicted, but empowered by the film, Alex confesses, “Our marriage has gotten stronger.  My wife and I have a better understanding of how to challenge and disciple our children. It gives us a greater passion and we take more seriously how we spend our money and engage our culture.”

Even their children have been affected. “Our kids are adopting our standards little by little. Even though we have been considered a strong christian family, we have been pressed to get more serious about our faith. My wife and I have watched our kids start doing their own devotional times without our prompting. They choose to not be apart of things detrimental to their lives. They stand up and choose to be better.”

Through the film, the Kendrick Brothers go to war for their country and their families. Now they challenge us with a battle cry to join them on the battlefield and fight. The War Room comes out late August of 2015, along with other resources including a study for couples and a book called, The Battle Plan for Prayer. To watch the trailer for this upcoming film, click here.

I am Second with Albert Pujols

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"We did not choose Down Syndrome. Down Syndrome chose us."

Albert Pujols’ storied Major League Baseball career has been filled with frequent moments in the media spotlight. 500 plus career home runs will do that. However, only recently were audiences able to get a glimpse into his passions beyond baseball - God and Family. Any conversation about those passions eventually leads to the subject of Down Syndrome.

Pujols sat down with I am Second for a candid interview detailing how he met the love of his life Deidre and her daughter Isabella, who had been diagnosed with Down Syndrome three months prior to them meeting. The love and care Deidre displayed toward Isabella attracted Pujols to his future wife and he proudly took on Isabella as his own when they wed in 2000.

The diagnosis of Down Syndrome can be an emotionally confusing experience that impacts over 6,000 families a year and with medical expenses twelve times higher than the average family. As a single mother at the time, Deidre knew minutes after her daughter was born that she had Down Syndrome. But ask most parents who have faced the challenge and they’ll express a sense of joy and calling as they raise their children.  For Albert and Deidre, this calling took the form of the Pujols Family Foundation (PFF), which they started in 2005 to spread awareness of Down  Syndrome.

The foundation raises awareness, provides hope, and creates supportive and memorable events for families impacted by the condition.  This work extends beyond the United States and into Albert’s native home, the Dominican Republic, to aid impoverished children through education, medical relief and tangible goods.  Altogether, PFF hosts over 100 events every year around the world.

“It is my passion. Having a child with special needs will change everything in your life. Also, growing up in the Dominican I had first-hand understanding of global poverty,” remarks Pujols.

Of all the organization’s events, the proms are his favorite.  “We host a series of proms for kids and young adults with Down Syndrome. Over 1,000 people with Down Syndrome each year attend one of our proms across the country. I love to see the happiness on their faces. I love to see them dance! It is a night of pure happiness and joy. It truly is the happiest place on earth.”

When Albert and Deidre travel around the globe, they are transformed and inspired by the families and children they meet. While special needs came at them like a curveball, Albert and his wife have turned it into a home run for many families all over the world.

Despite Albert’s prolific career in baseball, it’s nothing more than a means to an end.  “God has blessed me with the platform of baseball, so that we can do this work,” shared Pujols.

As demanding as his career may seem, he refuses to let it distract him from his family.  When he steps up to bat, he runs the bases fueled by a passion for his family and the greater special needs community.  In May, the foundation will celebrate ten years of service to Down Syndrome families in the United States and the Dominican Republic.

To hear more of Albert’s story, watch his I am Second film here.

I am Second with Dani Slaton & Breast Cancer Awareness

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I am so thankful for my time at I am Second working on their Communications team. One of my favorite parts was interviewing our Seconds after their films to update what was going on in their lives. Here is more on Denny Slaton and her story with breast cancer.

To read more: https://blog.iamsecond.com/breast-cancer-and-greif

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Reality collided.  Her hope collapsed.

How can you be Second in the midst of grief?  Is it really even possible? We all experience it.  Maybe you grieved over a loss of a friend, a family member or over a personal battle.  Maybe you’re living through the pain on your own.  Is there really any hope?  For Denny Slaton, grief stormed into her life taking her for a spin of a lifetime.  What she anticipated as a regular check-up at the doctor’s office spun out of her control.

Breast Cancer.

To Denny, grief is, “experiencing the death of a dream, a hope, what you thought life was ‘supposed to look like.’” How can you be Second when the world crumbles beneath your feet?  Who knew those two simple words could mean death-- the death of dreams, of plans, or expectations.  Is there life after death? Lets read on to hear about the power Denny found in the death of her world.

Reality came crashing down when Denny met another patient with Breast Cancer, wearing a hat.  “She wore a hat because she had no hair from chemo, and she offered to show me her reconstructive work.  I cried when I saw her.”

Denny recalls, “This was the death of what I thought  my life was-- I was healthy, and had never missed a day of work for illness, but now [I] was faced with being in and out of the hospital for multiple surgeries.  I think it was the death of my self sufficiency.  There was absolutely nothing I could do to fix this on my own.  I had to lay [down] my idea of what life was to look like.”  Denny struggled with the thought of of her children losing their mom, especially having just gone through a divorce three years before.  Denny had fears and questions.

Can you relate with Denny?  How do we juggle a life of Second and grief? Denny fought this battle with grief daily, reminding herself to keep her focus on being Second.  She found peace and hope, remembering who was first.

Her advice to us today is to trust in Him who is first.  Be real about your feelings with people you can trust.  It is not about, “trying to ‘gut it up’ and be strong enough”.  Remember, “the circumstances are not about [you], but about Him.” That is what it means to be Second.

How have you dealt with grief? What advice would give others going through their breast cancer journey?

For more inspiration and hope check out iamsecond.com/grief and iamsecond.com/cancer

I am Second with Navy SEAL Remi Adeleke

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Now this was a fun story to write. I loved my time at I am Second. Check out this interview I had with Remi Adeleke, where he shared his reflections on Veteran’s Day.

As a Navy SEAL, Remi Adeleke recalled “living in a foreign country where you know people want to kill you; you kind of live on edge; you always have to be attentive.”

Jessica, his wife, remembered longing for a time when she wouldn’t need to worry “about the constant threat of somebody harming [Remi] whether sleeping or awake; for him to experience the luxury of a hot shower and a comfortable bed.  And of course to just have him in my arms again!”

But they also knew that living Second in a me-first world was another very real battle they must fight. Fighting to be Second in a world of first is hard.  The battle can be gruesome and exhausting at times.  But we fight, because there is a battle to be won.  There is a victory.

“Being a Navy SEAL strengthened my faith exponentially,” Remi said. “Every day I knew that I could die at any moment. My career as a Navy SEAL helped me to not just read the afterlife promises of God, but to believe them and trust them wholeheartedly.”

As a Navy SEAL, he was trained to fight.  “I had to engage in warfare through many different methods,” he said. “My career in the physical as a warrior has helped me to prepare for my job in the spiritual, as a spiritual warrior.  I had to put on my breastplate, utility belt, helmet, shoes, and bring my weapons on every mission.  If I didn’t I would be combat ineffective.”

Military families face battles on two fronts, overseas and at home. “I really do have a new understanding and appreciation for what many military families go through,” Jessica said. “I took each day one at a time and put complete trust in God.  As long as I did not think my own thoughts, but instead, meditated on the faithfulness of God, I was ok.”

Because of their dedication to the fight for a life of Second Remi and Jessica were able to say, after the deployment the first month back home was pretty “normal”.  Jessica says Remi, “has such a mental toughness and most importantly, a complete trust in God, and I believe these attributes allowed his seamless adjustment back home.  He also spent the majority of his free time on deployment studying God’s word and I could see how that helped him greatly while away and on coming home.”