Eli has loved music all of his life.  He loves to sing country music and worship music.  We have received countless testimonials that he inspires people when he sings.  Over the past few years he’s been writing lyrics to his own original songs.  Today we are releasing his debut CD (actually three-song EP) of original songs: Nothing Is Impossible!  You can listen to it using the player below.  You can also find it on iTunes and most other music services.

We’d be grateful if you would help spread the word by:

a)       Sharing this post using the share bar to the left.

b)      Sharing and/or submitting a rating and review on iTunes here (click link, then click album cover).

Here are the awesome stories of how his lyrics became recorded music and the special meaning behind the title track Nothing Is Impossible:

The Writing, Producing, and Recording Miracle

On December 8^th, 2011, I attended a leadership conference hosted by Mark Batterson and I was thinking about the many great things Mark shared, including the concept One God Idea is Greater Than 1000 Good Ideas.  As I was driving I-95 South from Washington to Richmond my thoughts returned to the stress that I had carried with me to conference.  Six months earlier I had left my business career so that my wife, Tricia, and I could share Eli and our story to help others.  God was using our story, especially Eli’s singing, to change the lives of the people we were reaching.  But I was growing impatient that we were not reaching enough people.   I was worrying that our ministry would fail before it really got started because I could not figure out how to distribute Eli’s music and message.

While driving, I sensed God’s voice remind me, like a loving father’s gentle reprimand: “When you are ready for me to take over, you just let me know.”   Bam!  Guilty as charged.  Even though I knew that we would have to fully rely on God for this ministry to succeed, I was back to trying to figure it all out with my great wisdom, instead of consistently praying for God to show me what he wanted me to do. “OK, God,” I said, “Message delivered.  Message received.  It’s yours.”  An amazing thing happened.  I felt a supernatural relief to my problems.  I just knew that God was going to take over and everything was going to be OK.  Well, it took Him two hours.

My next stop was a small Christmas worship service near our home.  Eli sang Chris Tomlin’s I Will Rise during the service.  Afterward, a lady playing guitar that night came up to me and said, “Hey, you’re Eli’s dad, right?”  I acknowledged and she said, “He sang beautifully tonight!  You may not know me, but I’m Laura K and I’m a professionally trained songwriter and musician.  While Eli was singing God told me to write a song for him.  And also, the guy playing next to me is Marco Guarino.  He owns the studio where I’m currently recording my second CD.  I talked to him about it and we want to donate our time to record a song for Eli.”  With tears in my eyes, I prayed quietly: “OK, God.  I get it.  Thank you!”

Laura and Marco didn’t even know that Eli had written any lyrics or that we have a family ministry!  They just knew that Eli’s voice would minister to many people and they wanted to be a part of it.  In the end, they fully DONATED their time, talent, and studio resources to create ALL THREE songs for Eli!  They also introduced us to Dillon Hinkle who donated his time to play some awesome guitar tracks on God, You Are Our King (Eli’s favorite song on the EP).

The Special Meaning of NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE

Eli and Laura K wrote the songs later in December 2011.  We had no idea at the time that he was beginning a slow and steady decline in his recovery process.  The words to the song Nothing Is Impossible have come to have a very special meaning.

Several weeks ago, we received tough news from doctors that throughout Eli’s teenage years we could expect continued setbacks in his growth and recovery from his brain injury.  At the time, Eli had reverted to being mostly confined to his wheelchair and we didn’t know if he would ever again be able to transport himself without it.  It was the most devastating news we had received since his original accident.

We worked hard and we prayed hard.  Many of you prayed with us as we re-initiated complete evaluations and new treatment protocols by all disciplines of medicine and therapy.  We took him for several visits to his neurosurgeon, neurologist, physical therapist, physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor, and even a new neuro-chiropractor.   He has completed daily physical therapy sessions, started using new ankle and foot braces, started new anti-seizure medicine, and had neurosurgery.

God answered our prayers.   Eli’s making significant progress and has almost returned to his peak progress level where he was last year.

There is still much to be done.  But this we know … Nothing Is Impossible. 

Please leave a comment below to let us know what you think about the songs.

And don’t forget to share, rate, and review the EP on iTunes!  (click link, then click album cover)