Brian Schindler

I don’t think I’ve ever resonated with a sermon from you more than this one, Pastor @stevenfurtick. However you classify this time in your own heart, it cannot be overlooked that the Lord is doing something in the hearts and minds of people everywhere. I’m thankful for the reminder that I’m not normal because the God is serve isn’t normal. It’s not normal to multiply a child’s meal to feed thousands, to be born of a virgin, to overcome death, to turn water into wine, to make a rock pour out water for a nation, for a slingshot to take down a war villain. And I’m glad I belong to a God who isn’t normal because if there’s one thing I know, it’s that I haven’t fit a mold my entire life. I’d rather cook you a nice meal than throw a football. I’d rather sing Disney in the car than listen to hard rock. I’d rather cry than hold it in. And heaps more that I know will be helped by this sermon and this truth. Thank you Pastor, love you. Heart and soul. | #lookingforwardtonormal #elevationchurch

A Resurrection Sunday like no other, and yet it was one of my favorites. In the distance of a church building, the truth of Sunday hit even harder. It’s a personal truth that Jesus died and rose again, and we got to experience that in our personal homes. I couldn’t tell if my tears were from that realization or because I miss worshipping with my favorite church crowd ever (@elevationworship ya’ll gotta warn us when you bring that choir online next time 😭). Regardless, it was a beautiful day. It was an intimate day for an intimate and invasive truth and I couldn’t have loved it more. I couldn’t love our church more, Pastor @stevenfurtick and @hollyfurtick more, our leadership more, or this day and our God’s sacrifice for us more. Also thank you to our neighbor Katrina for this beautiful reminder that we’ve seen all weekend, even when it’s dark the cross still shines. Also pictured, our focaccia and coffee Easter Sunday breakfast. Amen. | #gonnaliveagain #drybonesrattling #rattleofresurrection

Big news for this guy that’s no longer a secret. If you know me and we’ve talked business, I’ve talk about @storybrand_. Heck, even if we haven’t talked business you’ve heard about StoryBrand. It fueled my business in a way that was so exhilarating. I couldn’t get enough! Alongside that, as my business coaching platform grew, we knew that this was how I wanted to expand my knowledge and become more established. To be honest, it became an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. But to be honest, we thought this was a couple years out and a little unattainable. Well, no longer that far out, because I begin my training in 48hrs. On Monday I begin the process of becoming an official StoryBrand Certified Guide! What does this mean? Well, a lot. I’m still 100% self employed and now I’ll be a certified expert in this process and will use it on all my consulting clients. Why is it great? Because I couldn’t think of a better company to partner with and be led by in today’s business world. What about photography? It’s still there, don’t worry ;). It’s important to know that coaching is from the deepest part of my heart and what I’ve loved for my entire life. This now gives me an avenue to make that even a larger part of my professional life and we couldn’t feel better about it. I’ll be spending a lot of time on Zoom over the next week and I couldn’t be more excited, more nervous, more humbled, and overall more ready to see how God uses this in our lives and in the lives of the people who trust me to help with their dreams and their business. Thank you to all who counseled us, prayed with us, and supported Sweet Hannah and I in the pursuit of this decision! Here’s to new adventures!

4 years since our first date ☺️❤️. It’s remarkable to look back and see that a belief in hearing the Lord tell me you were going to be married would lead us into a better life than I could’ve ever dreamt up myself. We’ve traveled the world and we’ve walked in our neighborhoods. We’ve climbed mountains and we’ve experienced low valleys. We’ve grown in our path together and we’ve watched each other succeed and cheered each other on now more than ever. And in all that, you are undeniably what I prayed that you’d be; constant. In your faith, your love, your trust, and your belief in me as a man and now your husband. Thank you Sweet Hannah for allowing me to be yours and to be trusted with your heart for it is my greatest possession ❤️. I cannot believe it’s been 4 years to the day since our first date, eating burgers, brownies, and talking about everything under the sun while the sun went down. I knew then and I especially know now that God has put us together for a purpose that we are seeing unfold each and every day. Thank you for being my teammate, my best friend, my dance partner, my safe place, and the one who I love making smile every day. Happy First Date Anniversary little one ❤️❤️❤️. | also, for a laugh, swipe all the way to the end to see the photo I sent @bradstraarup and @paigestraarup (who were my only friends who knew about our date) to help me pick which shoes to wear with my outfit. I went with the white 👟.

I haven’t been able to get these words out of my head since Pastor @stevenfurtick said them a couple Sunday’s ago. When I proposed to Sweet Hannah, I said I’d do whatever I can to build a life worth it’s weight in Joy. Somehow, for some reason, Joy is what I’ve always clung to because I feel like it’s the first thing we give up when we’re faced with disparity. In the midst of chaos and uncertainty, we are continually learning that the fruits of the spirit are so precious to us, and that makes them vulnerable. What we gain from the Spirit the enemy will try to take in his greed. Thankfully, he can’t, but he can convince us that there’s nothing to be joyful about, patient with, loving towards, or even having self control. So as you go about this strange and unprecedented period of time where the enemy is screaming despair, the Spirit is reminding you from within to keep the gifts that He‘s given you protected. Because if they’re precious, they need to be protected. And if they’re protected, then you know right where to find them. 🙌🏻

Tonight’s dinner courtesy of @halfbakedharvest 🥑🌮🥘. Now, more than ever, I’m thankful for really great and easy recipes, in all seriousness. Also, 10/10 for this one. Who are you loving following along with right now for good recipes? Drop that @ in the comments ✌🏻

During this time, I miss my city. I miss seeing the people I would in coffee shops, walking around, and even at my favorite grocery stores handing out high fives and hugs like no ones business. When we are faced with a problem with great magnitude, it can feel like we can’t make a difference. However, what I’ve realized and begun to cling to is that serving those closest to me and immediately around me is the most important thing I can do. I love that as I felt this way, @ElevationOutreach and @ElevationChurch started the #servesmall campaign and I’m so glad to be partnering with them to help spread the message. - Serving small can look like: writing/sending mail to someone who’s alone // buying a gift card for a local business // FaceTime a loved one you haven’t seen in a while // Picking up groceries for those who can’t at this time. - I’m teaming up with Elevation Church and Elevation Outreach to give a 1 hour photo session (redeemed at a later date and in Charlotte, NC) to one of you! Here’s how to enter: 1 - like this post 2 - thank someone publicly by tagging them below and share how what they did helped you and end your comment with #servesmall // The winner will be announced this weekend! - Let’s make the biggest impact by serving those closest to us!

Bentley is LOVING quarantine life. 😂🐶

We’re in a fight. Yes a fight against something that attacks our physical health, but even more for most it’s attacking our mental health. It’s invaded our homes, our conversations, our dinner tables, and we felt it last night. Part of it felt weird, awkward, and even difficult because we said that we wouldn’t talk about it at all during date night. Turns out we realized that we didn’t really talk much at dinner. Maybe that says something more outside of what’s happening in the world currently, but we realized that we’d fallen vulnerable to the attack. Our back door had been left wide open to be consumed and plugged in rather than present with one another. We pushed through (less graceful than we’d like to have), we laughed, we cuddled up to watch Frozen 2, and we smiled and realized that above all things, God is still good. We still have each other. We still have Bentley. We still have today. And overall, we still have hope. Hope is the antidote to despair, love heals fear, and during this time we’re going to be faced with the lessons that we HAVE to learn and the battles we HAVE to fight. And that, is a gift. Because at the end of all of this, we will all be better at being with one another and for that, I am so thankful. | #whatilearnedfromdatenight

Stay now for the ability to love later.

Chances are you’re stuck at home and don’t really know how to manage the whole “work from home” thing 🤦🏻‍♂️. After doing this for almost a decade, I feel like I now get to be the coach for the COVID-19 Distancing Olympics that you’ve found yourself in, now it’s time to succeed as best as possible. Here’s some friendly tips/routines I do every day! 🚿 Shower and get ready for real - Trust me, there’s nothing like putting on real clothes to make you feel like you can still be productive. 🚜 Create the Zone - this could be the dining room table, the spare room in your home, or even just an area of the living room. This gives your work boundaries in your home, which is vital for your mental state to not feel “overrun” by your job. 🔌 Unplug without guilt - There’s nothing wrong with an unplugged 5 or so minutes, imagine how much time you waste in the office with small conversations! This is no different. 🌮 Eat Lunch as a Break - Remove yourself from work for an hour and use it to enjoy a meal, talk a walk outside or even catch up on an episode of your favorite show. 💻 Utilize Technology and Better Your Skills - Meetings can still happen but you can also use this distraction free time to get better with your written communication. ☀️ End the Day - End the day normally and then transition. Clean up the work zone, close your computer, and re-enter your home as if you’d just come home from work. Most importantly, understand that your mental state and health play heavily into the success and comfort you feel now that your job has moved into your sacred space. Let it live somewhere, turn it off when you need to, and enjoy this time that you get to learn new boundaries! And if you can, get as many puppy snuggles as possible because they help too ☺️🐶.

Today I'm going to fight fear with kindness, I'm going to fight doubt with faith, and I'm going to fight anxiety with love. So many things that we face cause us to continually spiral INWARD that we forget that we are a people created by God with OUTWARD expressions of the Holy Spirit. Today, social and mainstream media are flooded with things that cause you fear, and while we should pay attention to some, most will just cause the downward spiral. Caution and fear are two different sides of a coin that we rarely want to toss. Caution allows us to still make decisions for ourselves, we still conquer what's in front of us, and caution allows us to talk ourselves out of what is in our own minds. Fear does every part of the opposite; it causes panic, hatred of people who aren't you, and pushes the idea that you are indeed alone on an island. Thankfully, we serve a God who silences ALL fear, who's conquered ALL death, who has foreseen EVERYTHING, and who is still good and sovereign. As believers while we can take the precautions we need to in times like this, we can also cling to faith in the power of God and the truth that He is in control. All the while, loving each other and everyone else in the process. This is our prayer to silence our own fears and our minds by letting what we know to be true in our hearts go before us; that God is Sovereign and He is Good.

I thought I’d heard heard something crash down, turns out I was right. When we moved into the house we had this dilapidated old treehouse in the backyard that needed to be taken down. Sweet Hannah and I had spoken about it numerous times and our neighbor Jeff and I joked about it every time we had a backyard chat (these happen frequently). Knowing that we’re first time homeowners, Jeff has been invaluable in his help. Yesterday he had a bobcat for some personal yard work and what did he do? He happily (his own word) took the chore away from us and knocked down the treehouse. Our first response was shock, a part of it felt kind of weird but the more I thought about it the more I remembered each conversation that we had had concerning the treehouse. We joked about it often and I kept saying, “we’ll take it down as soon as we can”, and yesterday he did it for us. We live on a street where people help each other. The young look after the widowed or widowers, the friendly bring pies to each other, the capable mow the lawns of the ones who need help, and yet it has felt so foreign to us. Sadly, that’s the reality, and even still in yesterday’s moment I realized that this is exactly why we are told to love our neighbor, because sometimes you’re the one that can do what they can’t. We’ve made it a point in the time that we’ve lived here to get to know people, to keep our blinds open, and to let people see us and know us. Keeping your blinds and your doors open is vulnerable and even weird in today’s day and age. We are told that privacy is priceless and you should do everything to keep It. Neighborly love doesn’t just let people into your own four walls, it understands the needs of those around you and helps meet them. Keeping your blinds open lets the light in and makes it impossible to ignore the people around you. This light is what we all need and it’s found when we open the blinds and let others see into our lives, one yard work favor at a time. So today let the light in, love your neighbor, get to know their name and their story, push yourself out of the self-centered way we’ve begun living, and I’ll go see if Jeff will let me drive that bobcat. 🏡🚜

Some recent work that I’m really loving. Stretching my muscles, basking in the sunshine, and doing my best to still tell honest and beautiful stories. ✌🏻

I started writing something for content’s sake and I kept hitting a wall. Why? I don’t know, probably because it felt forced. A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine posted a quote that in short said, “the best way to figure out what’s meant to be is to start looking at what flows from you naturally.” Real talk, the internet makes me tired. It’s full of opinions, full of half honest dreams and ads, and void of a lot of honesty. So with that, can I be honest? While the business that I’m building/growing feels incredible, it’s also really scary. It’s new and while it’s shiny, it’s still vulnerable. When we pursue our dreams we put them at risk of letting what’s “successful” be what defines them. Which in turn defines us because when we place too much value in the feedback we overlook the freedom that comes from doing what we know we’re meant to do. We live in a culture that pushes passion and pursuit of what you love, and I’m here for it. I didn’t get a conventional 4 year degree and I don’t even have the actual paper of my associates degree in my possession. I took my time, worked really hard, and while my LinkedIn might not have the accolades that my graduating classmates have or even some of my friends, that’s 100% okay. Why? Because our passions take us on different paths, and it’s okay to celebrate that. It’s okay to celebrate small growth, big risks, and the pursuit of passions because if there’s anything that we’ve learned is that payoff is all in perspective. Our lives have slowed down a LOT and we aren’t mad about it one bit. We know our neighbors now, take Bentley on walks and meet more people and dogs, grab phone numbers, and borrow tools when we need them. And what I’m working on is only going to make that more and more doable in the years to come and it feels really good. So here’s my encouragement to you if you’ve read this far, it’s okay for things to start slow because slow growth is sustainable growth (if you’ve ever worked with me you know I preach this until the cows come home). Dreams don’t happen overnight and I don’t think I’d want them to, because if dreams are a pursuit then they need to happen one step at a time. 👣