I wrote In Moments Like These early one sunny Sunday afternoon at my cousin Robin Graham’s place located in the mountains bordering the western edge of northwest Montana’s pristine Flathead Valley. Eight years after completing his re-known solo sailing trip around the world, a trip he had began at the age of sixteen, Robin and his dear wife Patti were now living on a 120 acre piece of land in a cozy spot the locals called “Haywire Gulch.” We had gathered there after church that day for a joint-family barbecue.

As Robin put a match to the charcoals, I decided, on a whim, to go back to the car, grab my well-worn guitar from out of the trunk, and take a quick hike a few hundred feet up the steep hillside just east of the house. Maybe two minutes later I sat down, instrument in hand, under the shade of a tall Douglas Fir tree. As I scanned the the scene down below me, I couldn’t help but get a little teary eyed. For me, what I gazed at down below was nothing less than a miracle. The first and most obvious thing in view was the large log home Robin had fashioned with his own hands. From up on the hillside above one could clearly see he had built the handsome structure in the shape of a cross. The design was clearly a statement of a most meaningful new faith he and Patti shared together so very deeply, for both had once been far away from God and had now given their lives “full on” to Jesus.

And down the hillside I saw the girl I loved, my amazing wife, Kathy, who was totally committed to the Lord and, for some reason–to me. Just a few years earlier, she had been willing to completely uproot with me from our home in southern California, leaving friends and family behind, to pioneer a brand new life and ministry in Montana. It was very late Christmas night in 1972 when, with only $500 in our pocket, we gently put our three sleeping babies into our 21 year old beater of a car and headed north. Pulling a trailer behind of old furniture and belongings, we traveled some 1400 cold winter miles to a much different part of the country, all the while, having no idea where we would be living or what we would being doing once we got there. And, Kathy, always a loving and devoted wife, mommy, and family intercessor, always trusted that God was with us, and leading the way.

And, From up on the hillside, I could also see and hear our, now, four children, Michelle, Kimberly, Jeffrey, and Michael–the four little people I loved so much–I could hardly stand it. There they were–living life. Along with their two little cousins, they were laughing, screaming, skipping, and dancing through the bright yellow dandelions which decorated the rich green grass surrounding the great big–cross.

In those few special moments, up on a hillside, I was over-taken with emotions for all the things God had done for me–for us. Among many other things, God had provided us with a wonderful home, incredible new friends, and an exiting growing ministry. I was so filled with thankfulness to Jesus for gathering us all up in his arms and changing all our lives forever. It was then I began lightly strumming a sequence of chords on my guitar, and then, seconds later, singing words I had never heard before. In not much more than a minute or so, at the conclusion of my mountain top moments–I sang out a new song. “I sang out a love song to Jesus”.