MY STORY (part 1)
Hi, I’m Grace Graber. I’m a singer/songwriter currently located in Portland, Oregon. I play guitar, ukulele, dabble in a little production and I’ve been songwriting for about 10 years now.
I wanted to share part of my story with you.
I woke up the other morning and thought “What if I started a blog? I could make it a place that’s mine, share my stories, share my songs & thoughts... What if?” With music and songwriting comes stories and experiences that should not be left unshared.
I hope by doing this, it'll help you get to know me better along the way. It's a very vulnerable thing to share your heart on the internet. I'm gonna have to embrace it if I'm going to be obedient to God. Every one of our testimonies should be shared.
I grew up as a Pastor’s kid (or a PK for short) in Northern California and since I can remember I’ve believed in Jesus.
Because I was known for being a PK, I would get made fun of by my peers for loving Jesus and my innocence was used against me.
This was particularly bad in 7th grade.
I was followed home from school and was verbally and physically attacked. It got to the point that I had to switch schools. Once I was put in another one, we discovered that the bullying had followed me by spreading over Myspace & my parents were forced to homeschool me.
Before I was officially diagnosed with Major Depression & PTSD, I became suicidal.
I felt a crippling fear that I was always being followed & that everyone in my life felt the way my bullies felt about me.
Right before I was about to take my own life, God called to mind the song “Take Me” by Hawk Nelson
“Take me under your wing tonight, Make me so perfect in your eyes, Hold on, it’ll be alright. you’re not alone… And you’ll be here forever, forever you’ll stay & you promised to love me, you’ll love me always.”
Instead of ending my own life, these lyrics became my cry for help & my response to God coming through at that moment.
Now, even though that song doesn’t directly mention God by name, I experienced something Holy through those lyrics that Hawk Nelson wrote. I felt hope.
I immediately became their biggest fan & it led me down an alternative Christian rock band rabbit hole.
While being homeschooled in 8th grade, I learned how to sing to those songs. Taught myself to play guitar to those songs. And I started to write my own songs. Going into High School, I met multiple bands at their meet and greets and festivals. The question on my mind was:
“If the people who knew me, could be so cruel and hurt me…..Then, why are these people, who don’t know me, so kind and loving?”. I learned quickly that this kindness was because of their belief Jesus. I experienced the love of Christ through those alternative rock boy bands & now I want in! Now that I personally know Jesus through the kindness of creatives, I want to keep that ball rolling. I want to save lives, just like they saved mine.
I started out my music career by becoming a worship leader at church, playing for some local youth groups and opening for local bands my sophomore year of high school.
And my biggest dream, my biggest dream was to one day sing with Hawk Nelson.
There’s a lot more to this story. I plan to share more details in the future.
But that’s my “why”. I do this because it was done for me.
I feel extremely honored to be releasing my own songs & pursuing it like those I look up to.
What God did next was insane!
Gg.
(Stay tuned for part 2)
