Colton

I down the rest of my coffee before quickly brushing my teeth, my last step as I prepare to head out for a band meeting about the next tour I'll be heading out on. For once, I'm actually running a little early, but that never lasts long.

I head downstairs and rinse my coffee cup, transferring it to the dishwasher before noticing my travel mug set out on the counter. I never get away with only one cup of coffee, and Annie knows me too well. I can't help but smile as I pick it up and walk into the next room, where I find her sitting on the couch, watching her phone screen with one earbud in.

"You're the best, Annie," I tell her, and she looks up, smiling a little distractedly.

"Oh... well, I just know my man and his desperate need for caffeine."

I tilt my head slightly, raising an eyebrow at the glazed look in her eyes and distant note in her voice. "Whatcha watching?"

She sighs slightly with a more genuine smile this time, because she obviously knows I noticed her weird behavior.

"Not really watching," she tells me. "Just listening. But you have got to hear this, Colt... if you have time."

"I always have time for you," I reply, grinning as I cross the room and sit down beside her, taking her offered earbud and leaning over to look at her phone screen.

The screen is just what looks like an album cover, a picture of a girl that's filtered and edited enough to not really show much of her face, with "sky lance" across the stop and lower, larger, and a little offset, "never gone". Well, that sounds familiar.

When Annie presses play, the piano intro I hear does as well, before my own lyrics quickly make it official.

Lights off. A shot in the dark, we get lost.

When we're playing a part, we lay blame,

Like we know what's best... it's a shame.

We break, when we fall too hard.

Lose faith, when we're torn apart.

Don't say you're too far gone... it's a shame.

I'm still standing here. No, I didn't disappear.

Now the lights are on. See, I was never gone.

I let go of your hand to help you understand.

With you all along... oh, I was never gone.

There's space between our lives... hard to face.

But I know we try to revive... bring it back to life.

Don't walk away. Don't walk away.

I'm still standing here. No, I didn't disappear.

Now the lights are on. See, I was never gone.

I let go of your hand to help you understand.

With you all along... oh, I was never gone.

I never ever left you, never left you, no.

He said, I never ever left you, never ever left you, no.

Jesus never ever left you, never ever left you, no.

He sees us even in the darkness. Now you know you're not alone.

I'm still standing here. No, I didn't disappear.

Now the lights are on. See, I was never gone.

I let go of your hand to help you understand.

With you all along... oh, I was never gone.

I'm still standing here. No, I didn't disappear.

Now the lights are on. See, I was never gone.

I let go of your hand to help you understand.

With you all along... oh, I was never gone.

Annie's looking at me expectantly when I finally tear my eyes away from the screen. I shake my head slowly as I return the earbud I was using to her.

"Wow," I tell her finally. "That... that was amazing."

"Right?" she breathes. "This girl... this is the only one I've listened to, but she's got a little collection, a twitter, a blog... here read this."

She taps to open the description, and I lean over again to see.

Hey, guys. Sky here again. However the heck you stumbled onto here, thanks so much for checking out my cover of "Never Gone", by Colton Dixon, aka my all-time favorite artist. This song is so beautiful, but so hard to believe. I'm so grateful for people like Colton, whose music gets me through the darkest nights. Anyway, if you're ever bored out of your mind, below you'll find links to my pathetic excuse for a blog, my twitter account, and my first cover, posted a week ago, a different take on the song "Priceless", by for KING & COUNTRY. I don't know how it happened, but thanks for being here, fam, and I'll see you next week for another cover.

I nod slowly as I pull back. "Wow. It sounded super professional, but do you know why she doesn't show her face or anything? It's not how most covers are done."

"I don't know, but I'm planning on checking out the rest of her stuff," Annie tells me. "It looks like she has at least five videos posted, plus the blog and twitter she mentioned."

"Awesome. Sky Lance?" I doublecheck the channel name, see I'm right, and make a mental note of it. "I'll turn her channel on in the car and check out the other stuff whenever I get bored with the meeting."

My wife laughs, shaking her head. "I would argue, but it'll do no good. And by the time you get back, we should both have seen what this girl is all about. All I know is she's really, really talented."

"You can say that again," I agree. I pick up my own phone and check the time, chuckling ruefully. "Well, looks like I'll be late after all. See you in a few hours, Babe."

She leans up to kiss me briefly. "See you then, Rockstar."

I'm already typing in the channel name on YouTube as I head out the door. Another video immediately catches my eye, because it's another one of my songs... this time "Breathe", off of Identity. And once again, she completely blows me away. Her voice is unedited, I can tell, but it's just beautiful... entrancing, vulnerable, especially because I'm guessing she can't be over eighteen.

With her uploads shuffled, the next video loads, with a vaguely-familiar intro, once again put to the piano. When she starts to sing, I recognize tobyMac's "Hold On". That turns into "Let It Go", and then a rewritten cover of "Priceless". And suddenly, I think I'm starting to understand this girl. The vulnerability I hear in her voice is the pain put forward in her version of the lyrics to this song.

It's not a new battle for me to see... so many of my Messengers deal with the same struggle, and it kills me every time I look at a precious, beautiful young woman consumed with a false sense of worthlessness... but all of a sudden, I feel my heart breaking in a new way. It's like God is suddenly communicating things to my heart that I have no other way of knowing about this girl, and I know by an undeniable whisper from that still small voice that this girl really just needs someone who knows and loves the real her.

The thought is barely fully formed before the cover ends and my ears are met by completely unfamiliar notes. I pull into the studio parking lot and park, reaching for my phone and checking the song name. All it says is "Sky Lance—Inside". I think this is an original of hers.

I'm already late, and I know I should go in, but it's like the minute she starts singing, I know I have to hear her out.

I remember the moment. Oh, I remember the day.

No matter how hard I try, with you I can never hide the pain.

I told you a lie, but you said I wasn't foolin.

Asked if I would tell the truth, but that would be so foolish.

Still, I remember the moment. Oh, I remember the day.

And if you could see me on the inside, I wonder what you'd do.

If you could see past all the skin lies, I wonder what it'd prove.

Would you hold me tight? Would you keep me near? Would you tell me it's okay?

And if you saw the scars on my arm, my heart, tell me, would you walk away?

Would you act like everything's alright, and you never saw the pain?

Or would you push too hard to get me past the dark, and make me run away?

And I can still hear the heartbreak that edged inside your words.

You were hugging me to say goodbye, and I guess my curtain tore.

Are you doing okay? Yeah, I'm doing fine, and

You just hugged me tighter... I know you knew I was lying.

I can still hear the heartbreak that edged inside your words.

And if you could see me on the inside, I wonder what you'd do.

If you could see past all the skin lies, I wonder what it'd prove.

Would you hold me tight? Would you keep me near? Would you tell me it's okay?

And if you saw the scars on my arm, my heart, tell me, would you walk away?

Would you act like everything's alright, and you never saw the pain?

Or would you push too hard to get me past the dark, and make me run away?

You say I'm beautiful. Do you really see my heart?

You say He's listening, but I don't know where to start.

So, Jesus, can you hear me? Come and prove me wrong.

Show me that you are still here, cuz it's feeling like you're gone.

Show me You can me on the inside and show me what You do.

I know You can see past all the skin lies but show me what it proves.

That You'll hold me tight, and You'll keep me near, and You'll tell me it's okay.

That tho You've seen the scars that mar my arm, my heart, that You'll never walk away.

Prove You don't act like everything's alright, and You never saw the pain.

But that You won't push too hard to get me past the dark, so, I don't have to be afraid.

You say I'm beautiful. Do you really see my heart?

You say He's listening, but I don't know where to start.

So, Jesus, can you hear me? Come and prove me wrong.

Show me that you are still here, cuz it's feeling like you're gone.

As the song finally ends, I exhale slowly, snapping out of the daze I fell into while listening to it. Literally everything God was telling me about this girl was just confirmed. And my heart feels like it's shattering into a million pieces for this child of God, this princess, who's so entangled in so many lies.

That's not the only thing that's been confirmed, either... that song also proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that this girl is sheer, raw talent that God is going to do great things with. I know I need to pray about it long and hard first, but I can only hope that maybe, just maybe, He could use me in this girl's life. Because an attachment was just made between my heart and her pain, and I don't think it's an attachment that will be easily broken.