Finish Strong

Some people go to concerts to hear music and music only. Other people go to concerts to hear the music and the stories that go with the songs. I fall into the latter category.

Such is the reason that I thoroughly enjoyed Sara Groves’ concert on Saturday night. Not only did she sing, play, and make awesome music, but she also talked with the audience about the songs—the people and events that led her to write them—and in so doing opened her heart and soul to each of us there.

The first time I heard Sara Groves’ music was in my car going to and from work. Either my first or second year of teaching, I remember hearing this awesome song on the Christian music station and wondering who had written it. That song was “Conversations,” the title track of Sara Groves’ second album, and it led me to buy both of Sara’s CDs—which was all she had released at that point.

Through the years, I have purchased all of Sara’s ten albums. In their own way, each of the albums has influenced my life and theology—sometimes challenging me, sometimes comforting me, sometimes producing a song that parallels my faith journey so much that I wish I had written it. I have written three retreats based off of Sara’s work, purchased her CDs as gifts more times than once, and included at least one of her songs in almost every Mix Tape (yes I’m old), CD, or playlist that I’ve made since being introduced to her work.

So…to say that I was a little star struck when I had the chance to meet Sara Groves after a concert Saturday night is an understatement. While I knew she was a real person and that she was as genuine in person as she was on stage and in her recordings, I was still extremely shy about speaking to her. I was afraid that I would sound like a rambling buffoon and look like a staggering idiot when all I really wanted to do was tell her thank you for being authentic in expressing her faith journey and for sharing music that has helped me through many dark nights.

I’m pretty sure I sounded like a buffoon and looked like an idiot, but I accomplished my goal and told her thanks (along with lots of other extraneous talk that I could kick myself for spewing). She was kind and gracious—strikingly beautiful—and she kissed Stanley on his head without any prompting to do so. She signed my copy of “Add To The Beauty”—the album I chose to have autographed because of its message and my desire to add to the beauty of this world by loving this earth and the people in it—and she told me that she had written “It’s Going To Be Alright” for herself—for no one else—for her—because she needed to be reminded that things would soon be alright when they weren’t alright in that moment of her life.

After posing for a picture with Sara Groves and Stanley, I found the courage to ask Sara if I could hug her. She said, “Of course,” and hugged me…and didn’t pat my back…but held on in a strong embrace that I doubt I will ever forget. In that one moment, I felt the physical presence of words that have surrounded and upheld me on more occasions that I can count. I said to her, “Finish strong, Sara Groves. I have no doubt that you will.” And she said something like, “I will do my best. And you press on.” I said, “I will press on.” And then Stanley and I walked away singing “It’s gonna be alright…”