Somewhere Out There
Somewhere Out There takes a song on K-LOVE and uses it to connect people who are far apart. Do you have a story about someone important in your life that you’d like to share with us? Fill out the form below to share your story and a song for us to play for your loved one!
June's Featured Stories
Story 1: Kimberly in Oklahoma
Sickness can be a lonely journey. I couldn’t imagine facing what we did as a family without God. My daughter Quinn was diagnosed with cancer a little over two years ago. Immediately, our family went into fight mode doing all we could to get our daughter well again. On our first day in the hospital we met a nurse named Crystal. She was this bubbly, colorful (her hair was always a new color, it seemed) and almost Taylor Swift-ish lookalike that my daughter Quinn instantly became attached to. The two talked about their favorite colors, Disney princesses - anything and everything to make the treatments easier to handle.
During overnight stays Crystal would often come and sit with us, even after her shift was over, talking with me, chatting away with Quinn and always praying with us before she would head out for the day. Crystal was a godsend to us during the 500 or so days we traveled for treatments, stayed overnight and fought the battle of our daughter’s life.
On day one in the hospital, all was quiet...too quiet. All we heard were the sounds of hospital hallway chatter and the beeping of machines. So, I turned on K-LOVE for her to have some familiar music. She asked me to never turn off her Jesus music. Crystal entered our room shortly after and mentioned seeing TobyMac in concert recently. Quinn pipped up quickly saying, “We've seen him too!” That was the start of our friendship that has lasted even beyond the 500 days fighting for Quinn, who, by the way, as of two weeks ago is 100 percent cancer free!
Story 2: Duke in California
Any time spent behind bars will change you. From the overnight stay to a decades-long sentence, you are not the same person who walked in when you walk out. I’ve spent most of my adult life walking in and walking out of prisons. For the last 30 of those years, I’ve walked in and out freely as a Prison Pastor. I grew up in gangs, in and out of jail and living a hard life until I found God behind bars myself. That one day forever changed my life.
Five years ago, I met Junior at the start of his prison sentence. At only 22 years old, this was his third time in jail. In Year One, we didn’t interact much. He never wanted to hear about that “fake church, take my money and false promises stuff,” as he called it. In Year Two, something changed. He was targeted and was severely injured. He said to me, “I was laying in bed and I heard God. He said, today, give me your heart and things will change.” The next time I saw him he came over and told me the story. I asked, "Well, what did you do? What did you say?" He said, “I said, 'OK, is that enough?'” I laughed and said, “Yeah, that’s enough.” Over the next three years, we prayed, we talked and I watched God change the stone-cold heart of a gangbanger to a tender heart for God.
Two weeks ago, Junior was released and I told him, “I never want to see you ever again...in here!” He smiled, put a hand over his heart and said, “I’ve made God a promise and I don’t break promises.” I told him when he gets back home to listen to K-LOVE. I hope he does, and I hope he hears part of his story - a story that gives me hope to keep walking into these prisons looking for hearts to rescue in Jesus name.
Story 3: James in Tennessee
Long-distance relationships are so hard, and my girlfriend, Shannon, and I have been dating this way for three years. We do little things to close the gap all the time. We FaceTime a lot, we’ve used Zoom meetings to connect for movie nights and have spent WAY too much money flying back and forth to visit each other as often as we can. Through the stress of my medical school, she’s been there for me. Somehow, during a particularly stressful week, she flew here, convinced my Mom to dress up in one of those inflatable T-Rex suits with her and they both surprised me as I was walking to my car by chasing me through the parking lot. I laughed so hard when my mom unzipped from her T-Rex suit, but when I saw Shannon my heart did a back flip. I was a mess of stressed out tears mixed with joyful ones.
One way we connect has been through K-LOVE - from here in Nashville all the way to her in Denver - and I know she listens to this segment in particular because she told me how hard she cried over the Rufus in New York story. (Rufus made a lot of people cry - he was so, so sweet.)
So, by now, she’s either texting me from hearing this or trying to call me, but Shannon, listen really closely to what I’ve written for Carlos to share. “Shannon, I love you, and I hope to spend the rest of my life chasing you around the world in T-Rex costumes. Will you marry me?” Shannon, your office is in on this which is why your boss is having you wait in the lobby. If you walk outside there’s a very happy T-Rex waiting for you in the parking lot.
