Circleslide

back on november 7th, something happened that really wrecked me.

I was in a hotel lobby in san antonio, working on my macbook, finishing up some details before the show, when i did something very stupid and incredibly illogical, i carried my open macbook on my palm, like a waiter carries a tray of food. I was in a hurry to print a few things…when i walked to the business room i saw that the printer was being used, and in my haste i did a kind of ’spin’ move…and you know the rest. The computer wobbled, i lost control, and it fell to the cement floor…bouncing a few times…each time, a punch to my stomach.

the now closed computer rested upside down on the floor. I picked it up, and walked to a chair in the lobby…i was sitting there, knowing that when i flipped the screen, i would not be happy…but i breathed a prayer, and opened it anyway. A kaleidoscope of black and blues flickered in front of me like stained glass…only much less inspiring.

my screen was beyond damaged…and i felt sick. This year began with a broken down van, and so this feeling was familiar to me…helplessness. Like the van, here was  a tool that i had taken for granted, but one so essential to my job, that to be without it, was inconceivable to me…but Life, and the show, had to go on…so we took the stage at Godstock.

But like a bad report card in your back pocket that you know you HAVE to show your parents…I knew there was a painful reality waiting for me as I went home.

This was all very frustrating and yet, in the time that i didn’t have my mac…i instead spent it praying, interceding, and talking with God about all of this and so much more.  He knew my financial situation. He knew there was no way I could replace or even repair this thing…the budget had gotten rather tight.

And so rather than wasting time on ‘youtube’ or ‘rottentomatoes’ or ‘facebook’ or ‘hulu’…I buried my face in God’s word…and the more i did, the more  i found myself hungry for it. I was thirsty for true water…and I began to realize how spiritually dehydrated I really was.

Later, we performed a concert at a place called, of all things, ‘the miracle center’. Afterwards, i met a couple as I left the stage…some friends from a long, long time ago.

we spoke for literally 10 seconds, I shook their hands…as I was rushed by the church staff to our merch table to sign autographs.

they got a hold of my dad, somehow, and told him they wanted to buy me a new guitar…and that it would be available sometime in february.

I was very excited, as you can imagine, and then an idea popped into my head…i mentioned to my dad that more than a new guitar, i really, really needed a new computer.

weeks went by, and i forgot about this offer…but a couple of days ago my dad relayed the message to these amazing people and when they heard i was in need of a new computer, they told him that i should email them, and that they would buy me a new computer right away.

that was yesterday.

i just got back from the store and picked  up a new macbook…the one I’m using right now to type these words. It’s a miracle…that’s all I can say.

i was able to transfer all my backed up files…and so all my songs, emails, documents…are right here…as if i’d never busted my other mac.

This shows me God’s faithfulness in such a powerful way…and encourages me so much, i can’t even put it into words…

I’m so glad to be ‘plugged’ in again…i really am…and yet…I’m so grateful for this ‘break’ i’ve had. I’ve been fed, and i’m hungry for more…I’ve been reminded of the words of Christ when He said, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

amen to that…

gabe