Meeting For KING & COUNTRY
Music moves us: it brings us to tears, gives words to the groanings of our souls and brings healing and hope. During Matt’s leukemia treatment, we found comfort in how certain songs expressed our grief, while others dared to utter our fears. Yet no songs were as meaningful as those that reminded us of God’s presence and power as we sat in the fiery furnace.
One song that became particularly meaningful to Matt was “Shoulders” by @for KING & COUNTRY. The words: ”My help comes from You. You're right here, pulling me through. You carry my weakness, my sickness, my brokenness all on Your shoulders” brought peace and comfort on days when Matt was too sick and exhausted to raise his head; it reminded Matt that with the “help” of a mighty God who created the heavens and the earth, he could keep going.
Fast forward two years to this summer.
A friend invited us to go with her to see the band in concert at the Missouri State Fair. We, of course, said yes! But secretly, I wasn’t content for Matt to simply see them in concert and experience them performing “his” song. I wanted him to meet the brothers of the band, Joel and Luke Sandbone, and be able to share with them how their song (which they co-wrote) had been such a source of encouragement.
After reaching out unsuccessfully to the band, I had nearly given up my pipe dream when I got a text message from a strange number just a few hours before the concert. It was from the band’s operations manager- a man named Chico. He explained that he had spoken with Joel and Luke and they would love to meet Matt. (Insert crazy squeals of excitement)
With Chico’s help, we got Matt behind the stage before I finally had to confess what was about to happen. The moment we shared with Joel and Luke was personal and moving - one we won’t forget.
Here before us were two complete strangers who had blessed us with something so meaningful and sustaining that the connection between us was now overwhelming. Realizing that God had laid a song on their hearts that would eventually speak to ours, filled us with a deep and humbling sense of gratitude. Between the tears, it was difficult to find the perfect words to express what their music had meant to us, but somehow God filled in the gaps and we all knew that He was in our midst. Like always, He showed up to be the bridge between their music and our broken hearts. Afterwards, we sat in those bleachers on that unusually lovely August night and were moved by the power of music and the kindness of the brothers performing it.
A few days later, still enjoying the afterglow of the concert and the meeting, my phone rang. I was shocked to see that it was Chico calling. I giggled and thought he must have dialed me by mistake. But no, he had meant to call me. It turns out that one of the band’s two tour buses had broken down 35 miles outside of Columbia (my hometown) and I was the only person they “knew” in the area. With a concert in Louisville, Kentucky only 12 hours away, the clock was ticking.
I drove faster than I should have along Interstate 70 until I found their black bus pulled to the side of the road. Chico and another band member jumped in my car and I took them back to Columbia where they rented a truck that would haul the rest of the necessary equipment and personnel to make the concert in Louisville possible. (I desperately wanted to ask them to take a pic with me in my car to document the occasion, but I didn’t want to seem overzealous and they were in a hurry.)
The next morning I received an update from Chico telling me that they arrived in Louisville with 55 minutes to get ready for the show. He was grateful and said that the show wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been there to help them. I appreciated his gratitude and kindness but it was me who needed to thank him. See, I had already been on Instagram to watch highlights of yet another amazing performance. I saw the thousands of people and imagined how their lives were blessed by a night of worship. I thought of people like Matt, who had a deep healing connection to the music. And I was humbled and ever so thankful that God allowed me to have a tiny part in the lives of those strangers.
Ever since Matt got sick, I’ve clung to Romans 8:28- trusting that God would use all things (even cancer) for His glory and for the good of those He’s called according to His purposes. But who would have ever guessed God would use it to connect us to a band whose bus would break down just down the road from our house?
God, thank you for letting us have a role in your BIG story. And thank you to @for KING & COUNTRY for inspiring us to dance upon our heartache and to step into a new day!