All New: Songs that Inspire Karen Kingsbury

Ty is our oldest son, and at 18 he has a maturity for Christ that few teens ever have. A couple years ago we were on the K-LOVE music cruise sitting on the deck gazing out at a beautifully setting sun on the open sea. Ty was writing in a journal, scribbling intently, lost in the moment. Every now and then he looked up and studied the sky. The afternoon clouds had parted to reveal streaks of pale blues and pinks. “You know that book you wrote, Mom? Just Beyond the Clouds?”

“Yes,” I told him. “One of my favorite stories.”

“I think there’s a song in that title.” He smiled at me and returned to his writing. Later that night during a Third Day concert, I noticed Ty’s head bowed, his expression intent. When he was finished praying, he leaned close to me and said, “I know what God is calling me to do. He’s calling me to sing Christian music.”

Ty hasn’t swayed from that since then. He is passionate about singing for Jesus, and writing songs that will touch people like you. And it all started with his first song – Just Beyond the Clouds. Ty has performed this song for tens of thousands of you friends at Extraordinary Women events and Women of Joy events. Every time he does, he has countless people come up and say how deeply this song spoke to them. We all need that hope, that certainty that God is in control, that He has great plans for us, and that there will always be sunshine – just beyond the clouds.

My father was always my biggest fan, my greatest supporter. When I was a little girl I’d staple pages together and write a book with crayons. Always, my dad would gush over it for fifteen minutes. Of course, I had great support from my mom – and I am blessed to say I still do. She travels with me and helps me stay on task. But my dad was the one who told me my senior year in high school, “Karen, I love the way you write. Someone has to be the next bestselling author – and it might as well be you. Because one day the whole world will know what a tremendous gift you’ve been given.”

In the summer of 2007, I was at the Christian Retail Show in Atlanta, GA., attending a publisher dinner when I received a series of persistent phone calls from home. Finally, quietly, I answered. It was my husband telling me that my father had suffered a massive heart attack. I hurried home and we were given a very special gift – six weeks with my dad in ICU, loving him, praying over him, sharing special music with him, and talking to him. I left nothing unsaid, and I am completely certain I will see my dad again some day – just like my brother, Dave.

But since losing my dad, there have been many special times in life where I wish maybe Heaven might have a window. Since the saints in heaven are praying for us – and since saints are simply all believers who have gone on before us, I like to think maybe there is a window in heaven. And from that window, my dad can see how much we love him, how much we miss him.

I wrote this song with my dear friend Gary Baker – who lost his mother a few years back. We both had tears on our cheeks as we finished writing, and we knew we had something that would last – a message everyone could relate to.

My dad loved listening to Kelsey and Tyler perform. He would say, “How is God so generous to let me live long enough to see these kids sing like this?” He treasured every moment of music Kelsey and Ty provided. So it is beyond special that on this CD, my sweet Kelsey is singing this song as her recording debut. Dad . . . I hope you’re watching! We love you!