My experience last Friday night in Jasper, Indiana celebrating HOPE with Olivia Lueken and her family was something I won’t forget for a long while. The incredible story of this young woman’s desire to live her life as a humongous ray of hope, in spite of her debilitating disease, is so inspiring.

We had met because of the Lueken’s love for the films of Kelly’s Filmworks—several of which I’ve been a part! Olivia, in particular, loved my song “Emmanuel (You Are With Me)” as heard in the film “The Perfect Gift” (in which I play the story’s bad guy, too!).

What started as a conversation with her dad about possibly stopping by their house sometime…turned into a concert for several hundred people at the beautiful Jasper Community Arts Center (and their Bösendorfer Grand piano!). The crowd was amazingly engaged…we laughed and cried together…and celebrated God, each other, as well as Olivia.

The fact that Olivia loves my music is unbelievably meaningful to me.

To think that my words and melodies could bring an ounce of joy to Olivia’s life is such an honor. To think that something I do could somehow lighten the load one person has to carry…is humbling…and keeps me moving forward on this path God has me on.

So to Olivia I say, “Thank you for letting my music into your heart! I long for the day when we will no longer be imprisoned by this wretched bag of bones our souls have to drag around. You are proof that life is not what happens to you, but rather, how you choose to respond to it. The fact that you choose hope, encourages me to keep choosing it as well.”

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