Episode 64 - Building Legacy and Discipleship in the Arts with Aaron Davis

In this episode of the 'Faith in Family Filmmakers' podcast, Jaclyn talks with Aaron Davis (part 2 of his interview) to discuss the impact of the Aletheia Legacy program on young creatives. Aaron shares powerful testimonies of students whose lives have been transformed through creative arts and discipleship. The conversation highlights the importance of community, mentorship, and the integration of faith in nurturing the unique gifts of young artists. They also address the challenges and rewards of pursuing creative endeavors, the role of adults in recognizing and fostering creativity in youth, and the broader vision of empowering the next generation of Christian creatives. The highlights:

• Welcome and Introduction
• Impact on Students
• Encouraging Introverts
• Creative Discipleship
• Raising the Next Generation of Creatives
• Challenges and Encouragement
• The Importance of Community
• Leading the way with Faith
• Conclusion and Future Plans

BIO:

Aaron is the executive director of the organization called, Aletheia Legacy. Aletheia Legacy exists to spread the arts by creating beauty, engaging the culture and inspiring the world with Christian creatives. Before jumping into Aletheia’s mission, Aaron served as a discipleship pastor and teacher in the arts for the last ten years.

Aaron and Alatheia on IG, FB, TikTok, & YouTube:

@aarondavismedia

@aletheialegacy

Content Christian media Conference Discount Code: 50FAFF

Jaclyn's Book, In the Beginning, Middle, and End https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9R7XS9V

The Faith & Family Filmmakers podcast helps filmmakers who share a Christian worldview stay in touch, informed, and inspired. Releasing new episodes every week, we interview experts from varying fields of filmmaking; from screenwriters, actors, directors, and producers, to film scorers,  talent agents, and distributors. 

It is produced and hosted by Geoffrey Whitt and Jaclyn Whitt , and is brought to you by the Faith & Family Filmmakers Association

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Jaclyn: 00:00:00

Welcome to the members only portion of the Faith in Family Filmmakers podcast.

Jaclyn: 00:00:04

My name is Jaclyn and today we've got Aaron Davis with us and I want to learn more about Aletheia legacy.

Jaclyn: 00:00:11

And actually I want to hear a testimony because we talked in the first part of the interview, how, you know, what you do and how amazing it is.

Jaclyn: 00:00:19

And so I want to hear how does that actually affect the students have accessed your program?

Aaron: 00:00:24

First of all, once again, Thank you so much, Jaclyn, for having me.

Aaron: 00:00:28

Happy to be here.

Aaron: 00:00:29

And I love talking about this stuff.

Aaron: 00:00:31

So talking to like minded creative individuals is something I'm always happy and pleased to do.

Aaron: 00:00:36

So I would say, you know, testimony in, in the, the previous podcast, you know, talked a little bit about my story and how I had a sense of loneliness.

Aaron: 00:00:45

I was discipled, but I didn't have any like minded individuals that I could share, you know, my, my thoughts or hold me accountable as I pursued my creative endeavors, and so.

Aaron: 00:00:55

When we started building, you know, art programs and creating opportunities, there was, there's two students, same class that stuck out with me the most.

Aaron: 00:01:03

And one of them, they told me later in life that before we came in and built up a program and created a safe space for them to express themselves and to get into the arts, they felt like they were just so misplaced and they just didn't have any, you know, they struggled with identity and they struggled with where to go next.

Aaron: 00:01:21

And they revealed to me later that they were struggling with.

Aaron: 00:01:25

You know, suicide and until they found a safe place to be comfortable in their own skin and be affirmed and not in a way that I would say that the world affirms and you're just special just because you are who you are.

Aaron: 00:01:37

But we are special because we are made in the image of God.

Aaron: 00:01:39

He has given you gifts that you cannot do with other people.

Aaron: 00:01:42

And one of my favorite things to do is to find those gifts and find those skills in the individual.

Aaron: 00:01:48

Because I really do believe that the Lord creates us intricately and different and unique.

Aaron: 00:01:54

And that's not a bad thing.

Aaron: 00:01:55

And so by affirming this individual in their skills and their talents, and what I mean by that is encouraging her to to jump in and audition for a production that I would think eventually changed their life, I think was very powerful.

Aaron: 00:02:10

And likewise, there was another individual.

Aaron: 00:02:12

He would have never said this to me, but his mother had a conversation with me and after he graduated and pulled me aside and said, I need to thank you.

Aaron: 00:02:21

I need to thank you for opening up this, this door because we didn't have a place for our son and you've given him a, a place where he can, he has a voice.

Aaron: 00:02:30

And I think that's really important for it.

Aaron: 00:02:32

You know, I'm more of an extroverted kind of guy, but I'm the extrovert who likes to find and adopt the introverts and, you know, take them.

Aaron: 00:02:41

It probably

Jaclyn: 00:02:41

doesn't seem like it.

Jaclyn: 00:02:42

I'm always in situations where I'm the extrovert, but I, I'm very much.

Jaclyn: 00:02:45

An introvert in my day to day life.

Jaclyn: 00:02:48

I mean, you give me a mic and stick me on a stage and like, I'll go for it.

Jaclyn: 00:02:51

But I mean, at home in my day to day, most of the time I'm just very private.

Jaclyn: 00:02:55

I don't, I get overwhelmed when I'm around too many people, but at the same time, I need people like you.

Jaclyn: 00:03:01

to pull me out of the house to say, let's go do something or let's go to an event or even just go for a walk.

Jaclyn: 00:03:08

Like, you know, I, I could so easily just stay within my four walls and, and just live in my own little space, but like, that's what introverts, we need people like you that seek us out and say, Hey, there's something special there.

Jaclyn: 00:03:23

Let's pursue that.

Aaron: 00:03:25

Yes, and I, I, that's a big part of, I think, what we do, and if I have to give myself any credit for a skill set is, I think I've done decent at that over the years, is I've found quiet, maybe shy individuals who saw a little bit, I saw a little bit of talent there, saw some skill, we need to pull that out, and through, you know, coaching and encouragement, my goal is to create that pathway for them to have their voice, to be able to speak, and the goal is that they, you know, By being loved on and equipped and trained, not only in their artistry and their skill, but also within the word, the goal is to create a discipleship and we want them to go out there and do the same.

Aaron: 00:04:05

So there's so many faces that come into mind when I think of testimonies.

Aaron: 00:04:09

There, I think the young lady who I think my first theater program that I started with.

Aaron: 00:04:15

He was so new at all of this, and so was I.

Aaron: 00:04:18

I think that I talked a bigger game than I could really bring at that point.

Aaron: 00:04:21

And we were both just rookies, and she was a shy, quiet introvert.

Aaron: 00:04:26

And, you know, we utilized each other for the next few years, where I gave her a platform to build her artistry, and then for her, she allowed me to work with people who were just, who just wanted to learn and just be a canvas and say, All right, what are we going to do next?

Aaron: 00:04:41

And To this day, she's still into creative art.

Aaron: 00:04:43

She's more on the literary side now, and I love keeping up with her.

Aaron: 00:04:47

And so, those stories, those are just a few stories, and I'm approaching them with a thousand feet up in the air.

Aaron: 00:04:53

They get me up every morning.

Aaron: 00:04:55

It's those stories, and all the many other stories like that.

Aaron: 00:04:59

Those individuals that make me think, okay, we got to be very intentional and missional.

Aaron: 00:05:05

We say creative discipleship a lot, but I think that there's a level of creative evangelism.

Aaron: 00:05:09

And I don't mean just fun ways of sharing the gospel.

Aaron: 00:05:12

I mean, going out and finding those creatives and finding them and bringing them onto the team because they're most likely out there.

Aaron: 00:05:20

They are out there, they're hidden.

Aaron: 00:05:22

They might feel like they don't have a place.

Aaron: 00:05:23

And so if we can find them and bring them onto the team, strengthen them, I would love to see the fruits of that labor, you know?

Jaclyn: 00:05:30

Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:05:31

Yeah, like, well, even for myself, like, I actually said I had a closet hobby for years when I was Cause I started writing scripts when I was 11, and, you know, like, other than my parents, I didn't really share it with anyone.

Jaclyn: 00:05:44

And so, it was my closet hobby for over 20 years.

Jaclyn: 00:05:48

That's crazy.

Jaclyn: 00:05:49

And then when I took it to the pastor and he kind of shut it down and said, no, no, don't do that.

Jaclyn: 00:05:55

But like, it was something that was, it was in me to do, like, it wasn't something that I just had an idea and did it one time for fun.

Jaclyn: 00:06:02

It was something I did, like.

Jaclyn: 00:06:04

Nobody had to pay me for it.

Jaclyn: 00:06:06

I didn't do it because I got any recognition for it.

Jaclyn: 00:06:08

I got no attention for it.

Jaclyn: 00:06:10

It was just in me to do.

Jaclyn: 00:06:11

And so that's the thing with creative people.

Jaclyn: 00:06:14

And I even have stories of students that I've worked with that have had like their closet creative hobby.

Jaclyn: 00:06:21

Sometimes you don't even know what kids are up to.

Jaclyn: 00:06:23

For example, I think adults, I think we sometimes forget that when we were kids, we thought we knew what we were doing.

Jaclyn: 00:06:30

Who we were, but we were still learning that from like day to day we were still learning and discovering who we were, but we didn't know that we thought we knew who we were at the time, but we were basically just taking in all of the voices around us and so.

Jaclyn: 00:06:44

As adults now, when we can recognize a youth and, and see that there's something there, some kind of a spark or something, and we can help them to discover that about them in a way to understand that this is part of, like, this is how God made them, like, This, this is a gift that God has given them.

Jaclyn: 00:07:03

This is part of how they can connect with God in this unique way and to help them to really enjoy it and love it.

Jaclyn: 00:07:10

And one of the things that I've done, because I've been a teacher for, I taught like performing arts, like dance and music, piano, stuff like that for a while.

Jaclyn: 00:07:19

And what I felt like my goal was with teaching beginners or, you know, the emerging artists was to help them find the joy.

Jaclyn: 00:07:27

It's not about all of the technicalities.

Jaclyn: 00:07:29

Yes, we'll get there.

Jaclyn: 00:07:30

Absolutely.

Jaclyn: 00:07:31

We'll get there.

Jaclyn: 00:07:31

Yes.

Jaclyn: 00:07:31

This is how you need to hold your hand.

Jaclyn: 00:07:33

Yes.

Jaclyn: 00:07:33

This is how you play the scale properly and whatever.

Jaclyn: 00:07:35

But I wanted them to find the joy because the joy is what really drives people to continue and to persevere when things get difficult, when you can really find joy in something.

Jaclyn: 00:07:46

Like for me, for, for writing and script writing, like it brought me joy.

Jaclyn: 00:07:50

I didn't need the attention from it.

Jaclyn: 00:07:52

Like, and I know extroverts, Okay, sure.

Jaclyn: 00:07:54

Yes, they love the attention.

Jaclyn: 00:07:55

When I was a kid, people would definitely call me an extrovert.

Jaclyn: 00:07:59

I remember my parents telling me, you are not the only one in the room.

Jaclyn: 00:08:02

But there was something there and I'm thankful that my parents recognized it and they allowed me opportunities to pursue it.

Jaclyn: 00:08:09

But with what you're doing with Aletheia in the different churches and schools and stuff, you know, when as adults, even if you're not a creative adult, Just recognizing that if you can help someone who is creative to foster that in a way that honors God, there is nothing like creativity to really give you this sense of being in a way.

Jaclyn: 00:08:32

Like, it's really hard sometimes for artists to not place their identity in their art because it is something that is It comes from so deep down and so there is the importance to recognize like you are not the art.

Jaclyn: 00:08:45

You are the creator of the art and you do that because of who created you.

Jaclyn: 00:08:48

And that's where your identity is.

Jaclyn: 00:08:50

But because art is something that is so personal, to deny it, I think is, it does such a disservice to children or to ignore it or to, I guess, to miss it.

Jaclyn: 00:09:01

If we can recognize it and draw it out, let children have the opportunity to really grow in that and to have that as a way that strengthens their relationship with God.

Aaron: 00:09:11

Yeah, absolutely.

Aaron: 00:09:12

You know, And we're kind of at that point now, not necessarily just with Aletheia, but between when I even first started this, getting into all of this is we have been able to raise up the next generation of teachers.

Aaron: 00:09:25

Some of my former students, some success stories is they're now leading up groups.

Aaron: 00:09:30

They're either directing a performance or teaching an art class or leading up our summer art camps.

Aaron: 00:09:35

And so it's been really cool to Be able to see now that I've been able to pass the baton and kind of become more, a little bit more of the visionary for what we're wanting on a, on a larger scale.

Aaron: 00:09:46

But that was the whole goal was that I did not want our young creatives to go out there and just be squashed by the world.

Aaron: 00:09:53

So whether it's creating opportunities for them to get into film, into theater, visual art, music, we've catapulted some into being able to do that.

Aaron: 00:10:01

Put their stuff out there on Spotify and Apple Music and whatnot.

Aaron: 00:10:05

And we've provided those resources and we've been creating a family slowly, but surely.

Aaron: 00:10:10

And it's been really cool to see that because, you know, at the end of the day, we're doing this for the Christian creative community at large, but also I'm trying to create something for even my family.

Aaron: 00:10:21

I have three little ones at home.

Aaron: 00:10:23

My kids, I got two boys, Abel and Ollie, seven and five.

Aaron: 00:10:26

And then my youngest is my baby girl, Eden, who is.

Aaron: 00:10:30

And they love this stuff.

Aaron: 00:10:32

I mean, they, they eat it up and they're between seven and four and they, they already know more actors and directors and artists and musicians than I, I did, I think most of my life.

Aaron: 00:10:46

And so being able to put them into this world, they're a big part of that as well.

Aaron: 00:10:50

And we would say what we do and what we've created is kind of like our family farm is that this is a group effort.

Aaron: 00:10:56

I might be leading it, you know, as a spearhead.

Aaron: 00:10:58

But I'm held up by my loved ones here at homes.

Jaclyn: 00:11:02

So what are some ways that you include discipleship in this process?

Jaclyn: 00:11:06

Cause we've talked about starting programs for like the creative side of things.

Jaclyn: 00:11:10

So how do you also include the discipleship side of things?

Aaron: 00:11:14

Yeah.

Aaron: 00:11:14

So one, we are growing on our virtual platform side of things.

Aaron: 00:11:19

So whether it's Zoom, Discord, opportunities to bring creatives.

Aaron: 00:11:23

on a national or international level together, but also I would tell, let's say you are a head of school or a pastor who says, Hey, let's talk about this.

Aaron: 00:11:32

What, what should we do?

Aaron: 00:11:33

I would say community needs to be built and it needs to be built locally and then nationally or a wider scope.

Aaron: 00:11:41

So with that, let's use Christian worldview as an example is we got the chance to bring three Individuals within our program to come on as interns and they got to serve and work in within the larger community of Christian filmmakers at Christian Worldview.

Aaron: 00:11:58

They would not have had that opportunity if we did not get to sponsor them and Christian Worldview also sponsored them to to get to attend to that.

Aaron: 00:12:06

They've never met movie directors and actors before, but bringing them on board.

Aaron: 00:12:10

One is an aspiring animator, one wants to be an actor, the other just loves all things creativity and technology.

Aaron: 00:12:17

And so giving them that exposure to the greater Christian film community was huge for them.

Aaron: 00:12:24

But also, likewise, is we have to have those opportunities in community on a smaller scale locally, whether that is.

Aaron: 00:12:32

You know, for us, we would say that we, we meet with the leaders.

Aaron: 00:12:35

Some we have as ambassadors where I meet with them weekly, I pour into them.

Aaron: 00:12:40

And the goal is to have that ambassador next to me leading the next group.

Aaron: 00:12:44

And so that is, we, we typically pluck a handful of other leaders and a leader is someone basically who is really serious about this and aspiring, you know, maybe they would say this a career opportunity, or maybe this is just getting them through their days and they love it.

Aaron: 00:12:58

It's an outlet for them.

Aaron: 00:12:59

And so we pour into them and we, you know.

Aaron: 00:13:02

Regular discipleship, almost like a Bible study, and where we're getting into the Word, but we also, where are we at?

Aaron: 00:13:08

How are we feeling?

Aaron: 00:13:09

We had a virtual online gathering last night, actually, and one of the questions, and everyone laughed at this, is, I said, this sounds like they're two different questions, but I'm sure that they're the same, is, I said, what projects do you have coming up?

Aaron: 00:13:21

And then go ahead and tell me, what stresses?

Aaron: 00:13:23

Are taking over your mind right now.

Aaron: 00:13:25

And we all understand that because especially those who are project based is those are our stresses.

Aaron: 00:13:32

Never goes the way that you always want it to.

Aaron: 00:13:34

It's never that clear, easy, simple paved path.

Aaron: 00:13:36

You're always having to come up with new solutions.

Aaron: 00:13:39

And I acknowledge that even myself is sometimes I don't want to get into community because I have all these other things in the back of my mind.

Aaron: 00:13:46

And so let's not escape that.

Aaron: 00:13:48

Let's go ahead and just bring it to the circle and acknowledge that we all have our stresses.

Aaron: 00:13:52

And maybe by acknowledging that we each have our stresses and maybe it's different.

Aaron: 00:13:56

A music producer can say he has stress because he's dealing with something, a legal issue.

Aaron: 00:14:01

Whereas the filmmaker might be stressed because his SD card.

Aaron: 00:14:06

His wife or, you know, his, his files have been deleted, but we can both talk about those issues and how are we going to overcome them?

Aaron: 00:14:13

And I think that we can find the same path and even use a biblical foundation to overcome that with community.

Aaron: 00:14:19

And so I would say, yeah, I think it needs to be both.

Aaron: 00:14:21

And there needs to be a greater community at large that's a part of making disciples.

Aaron: 00:14:26

And then there's also needs to be the local, which is what I think also church should be.

Aaron: 00:14:30

If you've got the church, the universal church, but then also you have your local church and maybe your local small groups.

Jaclyn: 00:14:35

And you know, you're so right with the community.

Jaclyn: 00:14:39

I had a meeting last week with a guy that we're in the process of helping some people start production for their film.

Jaclyn: 00:14:47

And so we're kind of mentoring them because they're new at it.

Jaclyn: 00:14:50

And, but the thing is, I hadn't spoken with this guy in probably a few months because the project got shelved for a bit.

Jaclyn: 00:14:56

Now we're back on.

Jaclyn: 00:14:57

And so I contacted him so that we could talk about how we wanted to proceed or whatever.

Jaclyn: 00:15:02

But he had been exhausted with some things and he was kind of down.

Jaclyn: 00:15:05

And by the end of the conversation, he was like, this was no accident.

Jaclyn: 00:15:08

I really needed this conversation.

Jaclyn: 00:15:10

I am feeling encouraged in the Lord.

Jaclyn: 00:15:12

Like, and so that's what we can do for each other too.

Jaclyn: 00:15:15

Like, obviously, yes, we all have these stressors because we have projects, but when we come together, when we realize, like, Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:15:21

Well, welcome to the club.

Jaclyn: 00:15:23

This is how it works.

Jaclyn: 00:15:24

This is the process and we can pray for each other.

Jaclyn: 00:15:27

We can lift each other up, encourage each other.

Jaclyn: 00:15:29

And by the end of it, it doesn't feel so heavy.

Jaclyn: 00:15:31

So I love what you're saying.

Jaclyn: 00:15:32

Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:15:33

Well,

Aaron: 00:15:33

if I, if I may give this story, cause I feel like I'm talking a lot about what I've given, but man, I'll just use this past week beyond this previous week, I would say most days, almost every day over the last couple of months have been a fairly optimistic day.

Aaron: 00:15:46

And this past week.

Aaron: 00:15:48

Every other day, it was just something new and then I'd get over it the next day and I was like, you know, had my chin up and I'm moving forward.

Aaron: 00:15:55

Wednesday, we had a financial burden.

Aaron: 00:15:58

Like I said, everyone has different struggles, but most of us can relate.

Aaron: 00:16:00

And so it's like, oh my goodness, how are we going to be able to move forward with this financial burden that we have put in front of us?

Aaron: 00:16:06

And it was super discouraging.

Aaron: 00:16:08

And then, uh, We saw that there was an opportunity that arose out of a meeting, a random lunch meeting that I had with a fellow musician.

Aaron: 00:16:16

And he opened up this door for us to going down to Nashville and we filmed two of our podcasts.

Aaron: 00:16:22

Down there and got us into some awesome circles.

Aaron: 00:16:25

And one of those individuals by the name of Byron Stradlin, and he oversees this.

Aaron: 00:16:31

Essentially like this artistic missionary organization called ACT International, which is Artists Christian Testimonies International, which basically allows creatives to basically be Christian creatives to be like a missionary through their nonprofit, and he helps them with their as a 501c3 helps them with their budgeting and their finances.

Aaron: 00:16:50

And he is in.

Aaron: 00:16:52

Believe in the seventies and I came into that meeting super super discouraged from the day before and the fact that I was even talking with him was an awesome opportunity and I knew that the Lord was working and he just looks at me and he, he gives me all this encouragement, but the thing that stuck out the most was he looked at me, I'm, I'm in my thirties, he's in a seventies and he said, you have to do this, he said, you're going to wake up probably tomorrow and you're going to be discouraged and you're going to want to quit and you have to do this.

Aaron: 00:17:20

Yeah.

Aaron: 00:17:21

And I was thinking, man, that's so great.

Aaron: 00:17:22

And I was like on cloud nine.

Aaron: 00:17:23

I was like, whew, you know, let's take this on the very next day.

Aaron: 00:17:26

I had a huge hurdle and another hurdle.

Aaron: 00:17:29

And I'm thinking.

Aaron: 00:17:31

Oh my goodness, you know, I needed someone older and wiser who knew.

Aaron: 00:17:36

He didn't know because of prophecy or anything like that, he knew because he's been there, he's done this, and he was preparing me, he knew that there would be a moment, he might not have known that it was going to be mere hours later, but Having that from someone else, and having that from someone who's been there, done that, and paid their dues, it encourages me to keep it going, and, and, and I want to give that to other people.

Jaclyn: 00:17:58

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

Jaclyn: 00:18:00

I mean, the verse in the Bible that says, like, do not grow weary, like, I, I think that verse is meant specifically for creatives?

Jaclyn: 00:18:07

Maybe not only, but I, I think, like, it's something, I know I'm not the only one, but it's something we need to remember, because, We could easily just be like, Oh, this is too hard.

Jaclyn: 00:18:17

Nevermind, you know, but someone else that we had on the podcast, uh, a while ago, he was saying about how his project, like they created something amazing.

Jaclyn: 00:18:25

They really did.

Jaclyn: 00:18:26

And then it fell apart at distribution and yeah, like, I mean, obviously these kinds of projects, films, they can fall apart at any part The process, but this one fell apart at distribution.

Jaclyn: 00:18:36

And so, you know, there was like this kind of letdown, but still, whenever he talks about the process of producing this movie, there's so much joy that he gets out of it and he's like, well, I'll tell you this, making movies is better than not making movies and he's not stopping.

Jaclyn: 00:18:53

He's not giving up.

Jaclyn: 00:18:54

I mean, definitely there's this setback, but like, it's not the end.

Jaclyn: 00:18:58

Right?

Jaclyn: 00:18:59

And that's what we need to remember, like, as creatives and as Christians, that God didn't promise that every project is going to go smoothly.

Jaclyn: 00:19:07

I don't even know if he ever promised that one would.

Jaclyn: 00:19:09

Even Jesus, when he came, that did not go smoothly.

Jaclyn: 00:19:12

So, I don't know, we can't expect that.

Jaclyn: 00:19:14

And I'm actually, I'm grateful for this conversation right now because I've kind of been asking God lately, like, so, okay, I've got all these, what's his saying, pans in the fire or whatever, like, I got a lot going on, but everything's kind of, it's sitting there.

Jaclyn: 00:19:28

And it's just got one hurdle in order for things to go, but I kind of feel like it's, it's like popcorn in the microwave.

Jaclyn: 00:19:34

And so it hasn't started popping yet.

Jaclyn: 00:19:37

It's all just sitting there heating up and I'm just waiting for things to go so that it can all like move and like be exciting, but I know it's going to get there and I'm not going to give up.

Jaclyn: 00:19:47

It doesn't really matter, you know, whatever comes my way, I'm going to get through it with God and just keep moving forward.

Jaclyn: 00:19:53

But it can get discouraging.

Jaclyn: 00:19:57

So I appreciate this conversation and it's been confirmation for me to remember that, yeah, this is God's plan.

Jaclyn: 00:20:04

He is more committed to it even than I am.

Jaclyn: 00:20:07

So, you know, I just need to keep going, keep walking with him each day, do what he's called me to do for that day, and I'm good.

Aaron: 00:20:15

Absolutely, very well said.

Aaron: 00:20:18

I fully agree, and that's why we say that we exist, is, you know, it can be super discouraging, you can feel alone, there's this weird neutral or dead zone that I feel a lot of creatives find themselves, that's why we have to talk about it, that's why we have to use language, you know, calling each other artists or creatives, is because In our world with Western culture, you know, we, we really value education and going to college.

Aaron: 00:20:39

Mm-Hmm.

Aaron: 00:20:39

and systems and fall into the system and you'll have your career or maybe you fall into the American dream and when you take a step back though and you find all the people who really change the world are those mm-Hmm.

Aaron: 00:20:51

, who have a creative background.

Aaron: 00:20:53

You know, they thought of the world a little bit differently.

Aaron: 00:20:55

Let's just use Steve Jobs with, with Apple.

Aaron: 00:20:58

He didn't come up with the computer.

Aaron: 00:21:00

Wozniak, his partner, was with the Apple II.

Aaron: 00:21:03

So he was more of the engineer, but I would label Steve Jobs as an artist, as a creative.

Aaron: 00:21:07

He thought of the marketing and the design of what he wanted.

Aaron: 00:21:10

And not only did he do the Mac, but he also, with the, And he just had idea after idea and thought about how to make it practical and how to make it also beautiful.

Aaron: 00:21:20

And he, we wouldn't agree on everything and how to approach everything.

Aaron: 00:21:24

But that is just one example.

Aaron: 00:21:26

Elon Musk is another who is just like, what have we, what have we not tackled yet?

Aaron: 00:21:29

Like, Oh, space.

Aaron: 00:21:31

Let's just start investing into that electric cars.

Jaclyn: 00:21:34

Right, right.

Jaclyn: 00:21:35

Let's do something that nobody's done.

Jaclyn: 00:21:37

Let's like be, you know, pursue the impossible, you know?

Jaclyn: 00:21:40

And I think that's kind of, that's one of those things too, where it's like, we think that it's not possible until someone does it.

Jaclyn: 00:21:47

And then once one person does it, all of a sudden there's a lot of people that do it because it's no longer impossible.

Aaron: 00:21:52

Yes.

Aaron: 00:21:53

We want, we would say we want Christians leading that way, just like they have historically.

Aaron: 00:21:58

I mean, Renaissance art, the epitome of art and culture, right?

Aaron: 00:22:02

You have to think of Michelangelo and how his faith was so intricately wired into his artistry and he was You know, he, he worked with the church, but he had his stuff.

Aaron: 00:22:13

He, he had his own identity and his own signature as a creative, and one of the best ever, and that's just another example of, okay, can we be a Michelangelo?

Aaron: 00:22:21

Can we be a C.

Aaron: 00:22:22

S.

Aaron: 00:22:22

Lewis in literature, or J.

Aaron: 00:22:23

R.

Aaron: 00:22:24

R.

Aaron: 00:22:24

Tolkien?

Aaron: 00:22:24

So down.

Aaron: 00:22:25

We, we want more that are out there and, and not just with a paintbrush and we can paint pretty pictures or write fun stories.

Aaron: 00:22:31

We, that's important and it definitely is needed, but also the ability, this is what we tell families and parents is, well, how is my child going to have a career as a writer or as a painter?

Aaron: 00:22:41

And I say, well, who knows for one, but two, thinking in a more abstract and in a creative environment.

Aaron: 00:22:48

Is I think going to be so much more beneficial for your child as they're growing more than just say memorization of facts and numbers.

Aaron: 00:22:57

I mean, improvisation and solutions.

Aaron: 00:22:59

How can I deal with a current problem?

Aaron: 00:23:02

And I would say if you're, if you don't have a mind that can creatively pivot, you're probably going to drown and suffer very easily.

Aaron: 00:23:08

And you're going to let those setbacks take you away from following your dreams or your accomplishments.

Jaclyn: 00:23:12

Yeah, actually, learning music when I was growing up taught me more than just how to play instruments.

Jaclyn: 00:23:17

It taught me how to persevere and how to be resilient and be disciplined.

Jaclyn: 00:23:23

Like there's so many life skills that I learned from the process of developing that particular art.

Aaron: 00:23:29

Yeah, that's awesome.

Jaclyn: 00:23:30

Thank you so much for being on the podcast.

Jaclyn: 00:23:33

This has been a fantastic conversation and I hope to hear more about what you guys are doing and, uh, and hear more testimonies in the future.

Aaron: 00:23:42

Thank you so much, Jaclyn.

Aaron: 00:23:43

This has been a pleasure and, uh, yeah, happy to be back anytime or just to stay in touch and hear more about what you have going on.

Aaron: 00:23:50

And we'd be happy to share about what we have going on.

Jaclyn: 00:23:52

Awesome.

Jaclyn: 00:23:53

Thank you.

Jaclyn: 00:23:53

God bless.