Thus, when one band member experiences a loss, that pain is shared, but so too are the blessings.

“There were some very painful times in the past couple of years. Our sound guy is one of our dearest friends,” Haven shares. “Year before last, in August of 2014, his wife went into labor, but their daughter passed away at birth. We went to the funeral. No casket should ever be that small. It was a time of real pain for all of us. But we had a tour coming up later that fall and invited him to bring his wife along in hopes that we could just love on them and be supportive of them.

“We were in Amsterdam, just walking around and found a restaurant named Pieper. That was the name of their baby. We had never seen it spelled that way before anywhere else. We ended up going to the restaurant and as we were getting up to leave, we noticed there was an award for hospitality. The award had Pieper’s name on it and when our friends noticed the date on the award, they burst into tears. It was Pieper’s birthday. On the other side of the world, the only thing on the wall just happens to have her date on it. It was a glimpse that God is with us through even the darkest nights. That moment was seeing God’s angels at work.”

A similar moment came in Josh’s home church when a 19-year old girl, in the prime of her life, was killed by an impaired driver. The loss sent the church reeling, wondering why God would remove such a shining star. But when it came to her funeral the following week, the event was a celebration of the love this young girl had for Jesus. Thirty people ended up giving their lives to Christ at her funeral.

As the band members reflected on these events, they took to scripture, noting how beautifully the book of Job captured such searing loss.

“Job lost everything and he shaved his head, fell to his knees and worshipped God,” Havens says. “When we face struggles in life, we have a choice. Do we blame God and be angry or see what He is doing? The thing the Bible says more than anything else is do not be afraid. Even with the heavy things that we’ve been through in the past couple of years, we know that in Christ, fear has no place. We pray that our journey and the album that has come about from it will be an encouragement and a weapon to fight fear with light and faith in the hope of our Savior. Throughout it all, my biggest encouragement is from people who have been there for me. I hope we can do the same.”

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