CHANDLER "JIMMY" BRAZELL – …Psalms 16:11

March 7-10th, 2012 was the first annual ‘Go Light Your World’ National Speech and Debate Tournament in Tyler, Texas.  Chandler “Jimmy” Brazell was remembered and honored by the theme ‘Go Light Your World’, the Tournament put on in his honor, and by all the volunteers who served in honor of Jimmy.

There were almost 200 students and over 500 total including students, parents, judges and volunteers who assembled to compete and serve.  Students came from over 6 states and from as far away as California and Missouri.

Students competed in Speech categories such as Interpretation, Persuasive, Impromptu and Apologetics.   Debate categories included Parliamentary, Lincoln-Douglas Value Debate and Team Policy Debate.

Hannah Campbell and David Nix received the "Light Bearer" award! These students were not debaters but gave 4 days of their time as Judge Liasions.

I was so impressed with the maturity, the skill and the knowledge base of the sudents competing and was very encouraged by the thought that these young adults represent the future leaders in government, business, church , home, etc.   I repeatedly heard similar remarks from judges and other volunteers.

Jimmy and our family were additionally honored and blessed by the tournament winners who, instead of receiving trophies, donated the value in money to the Jimmy Brazell Foundation to be used to continue the work Jimmy pioneered at the Dandelion School in Beijing, China.  Thank you to all of the winners!

Jennifer Woolsey and Wendy Baker were the organizers of the event.

Our family is very humbled and grateful to Jennifer Woolsey and to Wendy Baker who are the founders and organizers of the ‘Go LIght Your World” Speech and Debate Tournament.  They both invested months and countless hours of their time to host this event.   Our family would also like to thank all of the many volunteers who sacrificially gave of their time before and during the tournament.  Many of them donated their time in honor of Jimmy.  Thank you!  It was a beautiful event that was extremely successful.  I believe that in all aspects of the event, our Lord was glorified and that all involved were given the opportunity to increase their speech and debate skills but also were challenged to live their lives more intentional and to ‘Go Light their World.”

‘GO LIGHT YOUR WORLD!’,

Chuck Brazell

Debaters were able to share how they were going to Light Their World on 3x5 cards. A group of debaters from Dallas arranged them into 'Jimmy's ' name.

[Show as slideshow]

 ONE WORD: LOVE

Those who know Chandler are well aware that he often spoke of Love.  Studying all his sayings, songs and journal entries have revealed to me his deep and mature understanding of love.    He truly loved his Heavenly Father and transferred that love to those around him.   Through this series of posts I would like to share Chandler’s understanding of Love.   Below is a speech he gave in 2010 as he was running for office at TeenPact Leadership Schools.

 “My slogan is          One Word: Love.

I believe that all purpose begins and is carried out in love! Everything good, everything beautiful is rooted in love! All light is rooted in love! All of the other themes and slogans that others are using are(or should be) rooted in this one word: love!

Love is what Christianity is all about! Love is what life is all about!!!!

When I say “Love” I do not mean to be “in love”. For being “in love” is nothing more than a petty, fleeting feeling. Instead, when I say “Love” I mean “to love” with the pure, true, selfless love of Christ! To shine this love on everyone around you! To shine it upon the other Christian brothers and sisters in TeenPact! To shine it upon the world outside of TeenPact(this is what it is all about!!!!)!!!!
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”(Matt.5:8). “…God is love…”(I John.4:7-21). To see God! To see Love!

I believe that if we were to see this pure, true Love, we would naturally shake on the inside with overflowing joy and excitement, desiring to share it with others! Desiring to shine and express that same radiant, living love to all!!

Children of God, Children of Light, and Children of Love, please join me on this journey!!!”

-Jimmy Brazell

Next post:  What is Love Part 2:   “I Love God Too Much!”

In this post we will look at what Chandler was referring to when he links Matthew 5: 8 with I John 4:7-21.  QUESTION:  How do YOU link together “the pure in heart shall see God” with “God is love?”  Please share your thoughts in the comments section!

Happy Valentines Day!

In His Love,

Chuck Brazell

This is my son……

I had lunch with Chandler today.  I ordered some Chinese food to go and headed to the cemetery.  I was there to spend time with my son.  I was there to talk to him, to think about his life and reflect on some of our times together.  I was basically there to love my son!  You see, tomorrow January 31^st is the 6-month mark of his death and therefore makes 6 months that I have been without Chandler.  Tonight I went back to the cemetery with my wife Rhonda, and we spent the late afternoon and early evening together with Chandler.

We brought the blower and rake to clear the grave and the surrounding area from leaves
and fallen branches from the last rain.  Earlier in the fall we had spread winter rye grass seed and it’s now a beautiful soft green all around this peaceful area where we now spend so much of our time. The batteries to the ever-glowing candle needed to be changed and the fresh flowers needed to be watered.  Rhonda and I talked of Chandler as we hugged and cried together.  I love my son and want everyone I meet to know him and know that I love him.

So, if I may indulge on this 6 month anniversary, let me SHOUT to all…

I love my son Chandler and I am so proud of him; who he is and the man he was becoming.  I am proud of his travels and teaching in China and I am proud of his worship leading and song writing.  I am proud of this parent honoring and obedient son.  I am button popping proud and honored and thankful to God to be Chandler’s earthly father!  I could keep going…..

Most of all, however, I am proud that Chandler loved Jesus and was a sold-out disciple, sharing the love of Christ where ever he went.  “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth”.  III John 4.  I am very blessed to have the assurance that right now, Chandler is in heaven fellowshipping with his Heavenly Father and with the other saints                                                                                    who have gone home.

God loved His Son too!

Please don’t think I’m weird….  God did the same thing in Luke 3 where He says, “ This is my Son.  In Whom I am pleased!”  Later He says it again, while Jesus was on the mountain at the transfiguration saying, “This is my Son, whom I love.  Listen to Him.”   God made it very clear how He felt about His Son and that He planned on glorifying Him for all eternity.

I have learned from God’s example in this manner.  I find it amazing, but I learn so much about my relationship with my children and their relationship with me through my relationship with my Heavenly Father.  Have you ever noticed that?  Anyway, as the Father wanted ALL to know that He loved his Son, I find myself wanting ALL to know that I love my son!  Now to be clear, I am obviously not comparing my son to Jesus.  I’m simply proclaiming a father’s love for his son.

Yes, I love my son!  I am so proud of him, I miss him terribly and I can not wait to see him and embrace him again!

  “Go ye into ALL the world and preach the Good News to ALL creation.”  Mark 16:15

Last summer on our vacation in Montana we drove through some of the most beautiful scenery that you can imagine.  Upon coming down from the mountains in Glacier National Park a voice from the backseat rang out, “ooh, look at that meadow!  I want to lie down in it.”  Anyone who spent much time with Chandler knew of his love for meadows.  He was particularly fond of open and green meadows, especially when they were outlined by forests or mountains.  Whenever he spotted an “awesome meadow” he always pointed it out and talked about how he wanted to go run through it.  And many times he did!

When I see a meadow, I typically imagine myself lying down in the cool grass, dozing in and out of sleep while the warm sun beams down on my face.  But what about Chandler?  What did he think of when he saw meadows?  Well, one of his journal entries we found this month explains his thoughts.

“Whenever I’m in the middle of a big open meadow, I have an urge to walk.  To walk across the unconquered space.  This is how I see the world and my calling to go and make a difference.  I’ve got to be a burning fire. Ready to ignite, to go and be a missionary to the lost throughout the whole world.  I am urged by the Spirit, compelled by the (love of Christ) and called by the (Father).  I must go.  Lead me, oh Lord.”  

Chandler was 15 years old when he made this journal entry.  What did Chandler think of when he saw a beautiful meadow?  He thought of unconquered spaces.  Spaces so vast and unexplored that they seem to call for someone, to go and search them.  To conquer them.  He wanted to walk across those fields.  But further, these meadows symbolized the WORLD and of all the unconquered space or peoples of the world that need Jesus Christ!  He heard the meadows calling him.  He felt a responsibility to GO.  But to go where?  Into the world.  Chandler linked the physical “world” in meadows to the spiritual “world”, a world that is lost, wild, and in need of Salvation.  Just like he wanted to reach the far end of a meadow, he wanted to reach into the lost world.   To Chandler, to GO was  1) to literally GO and be a messenger of the Gospel to the lost throughout the world.  To him the world included his home in Texas as well as the other side of the world.   And 2) that you don’t just go, you have to make a difference.  In our family we challenge each other with the saying “Go Mad”, which is an acronym for “ Make A Difference.” He recognized that it doesn’t matter if you go into the world if you don’t leave something behind that wasn’t there before.  Regardless of his location and who he was around, his desire was to lead others closer to his Savior.  Thinking of all this must have excited him and his heart!  He said, “I’ve got to be a burning fire – Ready to ignite!”  He said, ” I MUST GO!”.  And then he didn’t plan to just go wherever or do the first thing he could think of.  He ended the entry with “Lead me on Lord!”.  He looked to and listened to and trusted the Lord to lead him.  

So, what about you?  Where are your “unconquered spaces”?  What I mean is what is the Spirit asking you to do and where is the love of Christ compelling you to go?  For you, the Lord may be placing it on your heart to more intentionally be a witness at work or on your high school or college campus, to be a light and share with those you work with or with your fellow students or professors.  Or, you may be asked to step out and go on a mission trip either here in the US or abroad to serve and bring the love of Christ to the lost and needy.  To Make A Difference you don’t necessarily have to go off to China, although it may be a call for some.  In fact, I believe the United States needs as many missionaries itself as other countries do.  You can Go and make a difference right in your own neighborhood.

The main thing is to GO!  To Do Something!  Take action!  It’s obvious based on Jimmy’s journal entry that he had the thoughts of “going”.  But he wasn’t content just with a thought.  And he couldn’t just journal about it.  He acted!   He couldn’t sit still too long in the meadow.  He had to conquer it.  “I must go”, he said.  Jesus said in Mark 16:15 to “Go into all the world and preach the Good News”.   And James 1:22 says to “be doers of the Word and not just hearers only”.  So what is burning in your heart?  Start there, and ask the Holy Spirit to fan that flame into a raging fire.  Let Him lead you.  If you don’t have a starting point ask the Lord to put a burden on you heart.  And listen for His leading.  In either case, as Chandler ended his prayer, pray “ Lead me, Oh Lord.”  May the next time you come across a big open meadow, think of the open and unconquered places that God is calling you to.  And then, go MAD!  Walk across it and Make A Difference!

Our Father in heaven, we thank You for beautiful meadows and I also thank You for your servant Chandler and for what he saw in the meadows.  Thank You for shaping his heart and for the light, Your light, that his life displayed.  We are thankful for the message of the meadow and that it was written down and recorded for us to observe and learn from.  Please bless all who read this post.  Father, lead us to our own meadow and give us the desire and power to conquer it for You!  Ignite our hearts!  Empower us to GO!  Lead us oh Lord!  In the name of Jesus, Amen!   Even so, Come Lord Jesus!

Go find your meadow!  

Chuck Brazell with Christian Brazell

Jesus Commands Us to Go! by Keith Green

(please share your thoughts)

“HI, MY NAME IS JIMMY!  WHAT’S YOUR NAME?”  This phrase is one of many thoughts that Chandler (Jimmy) wrote on his bed posts and slats as he was going to sleep each night.

One night this week, a night I was really missing Chandler, I laid down on his bed and looked up.  And there was this phrase, written in bold letters on the upper bunk slat.  I’m not exactly sure when he scribbled this saying, but I’m guessing that it was last summer before his first trip to China.  He was looking for a comfortable way to start a conversation with people he didn’t know.

(slat above Chandler’s bed)

I decided to use this quote, one of Chandler’s introduction lines, as a way to launch this new blog and as a way to introduce several goals that I have.  The reason I have started this blog in the first place is share with you who Jimmy is!  We have been asked by many friends to share Chandler and the many treasures that he left behind.  So, It is my desire to share with you his heart, his deep thoughts, his songs, his joy, his faith and basically share his life with you.  Through this blog I also want to point to Christ.  I want to give glory to Him who Chandler loved and served, and now is in the presence of and will forever worship!  LastIy, I hope to encourage and challenge all of us who read these posts to live our lives intentionally for our King, never taking a moment for granted but living each day to its fullest.

1) “HI, MY NAME IS JIMMY…”

Chandler truly wanted you to know and understand who he was.  He risked your impression of him to be open and to share details about his life.  Chandler was transparent and was willing to share his passions and his struggles.  He wanted you to know the person Chandler.  The name Chandler means ” bringer of light”.  And that is exactly who he was; a bringer of The Light!

2) “…WHAT’S YOUR NAME?”

One amazing thing about Chandler was that he sincerely wanted to know you, and who you were.  He believed everyone “has a story to tell”, and he wanted to hear it.

I remember last summer I encouraged him to start a lawn mowing business.  So I helped him create a brochure, we rehearsed some sales lines and off he went around the neighborhood to line up yards to mow.  He was gone almost the whole day.  When he finally returned I was eager to hear how many he had found.  Zero!  No new yards, but many new friends.  He would get into a conversation with the neighbor and at a few of the homes spent close to an hour talking about life and listening to their story and even praying with them.  That was Chandler!  When he asked you your name he was asking you to share your story.  And he really wanted to listen.  He also wanted to take your conversation and turn it towards Christ!  And that’s because he was concerned about you!  That’s why everyone considered him to be their best friend.

THE QUESTION!

So, I end this post with the question Chandler would ask.  “What is YOUR Name?”  More specifically, who are You?  What is important to you?  Do you slow down enough to get to know those the Lord puts in your path? Do you care?

Look around and take notice of the people around you.  These are real people.  These people are men and women and children that God loves and is concerned about.  People who have an eternity before them to be spent in either heaven or hell.   Take an extra minute and start a conversation with them by asking “What is your name?”

My Name,

Chuck Brazell- Chandlers dad!

This is the first post in the blog dedicated to Jimmy Brazell!  Future posts will include photos, quotes, sayings, philosophy of life and beliefs of Jimmy.  He lived not a perfect, but a purposeful life.  He lived a life to be modeled.  Fortunately for us, he left journals, songs and notebooks full of sayings and thoughts, and many of his friends as well as others who wished they had known him have asked us to share these with them.  We are happy to share these with you for the purpose of glorifying our Lord, honoring the life of Jimmy Brazell and just as importantly encouraging and challenging each of us to live life to it’s fullest, not taking for granted any amount of time we have on this earth and to serve as soldiers for the King!

Enjoy, and please share your thoughts and memories with us as well!