part three: how do you say thank you?

(Nikole and I, 2008)
Part 1// Part 2

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  Community.

It was something that I'd been in search of for months. The people from my church and in my youth group were blessing me beyond measure. I was learning more and more, and growing in my spiritual walk with the Lord, but the community that I found on downhere's message boards was completely different. We all had a mutual love and appreciation for our favorite band which is what brought us together in the first place, but God had woven this community together and I "just so happened" to stumble into it.

I started realizing that we all had much more in common than just liking the band downhere. Many of us had struggled with making friends in the past and had felt like outcasts at one point or another in our lives. I suppose you'll find that you have many things in common with a group of people when the band that drew you together in the first place sings about "the broken, the beat up, and so called losers". My church family and the downhere community were pouring into my life, and I couldn't help but overflow with the things that God was doing in my life.

I no longer felt like an outcast because I was accepted. The loneliness? It was gone. The presence of God was permeating from my every pore and I couldn't keep it inside. Remember my high school friends that had stopped talking to me? Well, one day while I was sitting at home doing my school work, I got a myspace message from one of them. This was the first time we'd communicated via myspace in months, even though we saw each other frequently each week for colorguard practice. In her message she said that she noticed that some things had changed in my life. She could tell that I was changing by the words that were coming out of my mouth, and she said that I seemed much happier than I was before. It was purely by the grace of God that the changes that were taking place in my life were now visible to those around me. But it was true! I was happier than I had been in a long time. After that myspace message from my friend, things started changing in our relationship. While we both knew that our friendship would never be the same as it was before, we were talking to each other and we were able to enjoy each others company again.

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 (Brad, Sarah, Ryan, Gina and me at Perkins in Clermont, FL, December 2007)

(Jason Gray and I, December 2007)

Throughout 2007 I was getting to know more and more new people through the message boards, and found out that one board member grew up in South Florida just like me. She lived in Michigan now and was going to college there, but she visited her family in Florida a couple times a year. In December of 2007 we had planned to meet each other at a Jason Gray concert a few hours away (it was through downhere's music that I discovered my favorite musician and friend, Jason Gray). I was awkward about the whole thing, and didn't let on to my mom or step-dad that my friend Gina and her brother Ryan would be there, and that I knew Gina from online. So I tried to play it off all cool like I didn't know that they would be there, and I had just bumped into them. It didn't work for long, and my step-dad called my mom and told her that they were there. Of course, my mom was a little worried and told Brad to keep a close eye on me and make sure they were good people. They were. And Brad and my step-sister Sarah ended up loving them. We laughed a lot, and it was like we had known each other forever! After the concert we hung out while we talked to Jason for a little bit, but it was still pretty early so my step-dad asked if I wanted to invite Gina and Ryan to go to Perkins with us for a little bit. So we followed each other to a Perkins at 8:30 at night. We laughed until our stomachs hurt and had tears falling from our eyes. Sadly, Gina and Ryan had to drive back home that night, while we stayed in a hotel to wake up the next morning and see Jason Gray play again.

Unknowingly, downhere introduced me to three people who would enrich my life in more ways than I knew at the time. After that weekend, I listened to Jason Gray's music non-stop. And when I say non-stop, I mean I listened to it over and over and over again. It was the only thing I listened to for a week after I saw him. And the kindness he showed toward me when I met him, and through e-mails and facebook messages and comments was encouraging. And Gina was always praying for me and answering questions when I had them. She taught me how to rely on God and trust Him with everything.

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It was in February of 2008 when I logged onto myspace and clicked over to downhere's page when I realized that dates were posted for their upcoming Spring tour. I scrolled and scrolled and scroll...DOWNHERE IN KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA ON APRIL 18TH WITH JASON GRAY AND SHAWN MCDONALD! Jumping and screaming and clapping and cheering ensued, and my Mom promptly told me I needed to get a grip on life and calm the heck down. So then, I waited for the opportunity to meet my favorite band...


to be continued...