Jason Gray: "Worth Staying For"

In this episode of The Deepest Cut, Jason Gray opens up about Worth Staying For—one of the most intimate songs of his career—exploring themes of abandonment, divorce, and personal accountability. Jason shares how he’s learned to transform pain instead of transmit it, creating music that resonates with his listeners in profound ways. 

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Episode Transcript

S1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Deepest Cut, a podcast about the movement
from painful experiences to meaningful music. I'm your host, Matt Conner.
The goal is not to be the hero. You don't

(00:22):
want to be the victim either. Jason Gray has learned
some valuable lessons over the last 20 years as an artist,
and one guiding principle to his songwriting is to thread
the needle of sharing authentic stories and songs that connect
without ever falling off the side into either territory. That is,
hero or victim. Now, that can prove difficult at times,

(00:44):
especially when the goal is to share deeply personal experiences.
His song Worth Staying For is probably the most visceral
and intimate in his entire catalog. It's a song that
documents Jason's childhood, marked by abandonment and the dissolution of
his 23 year marriage. Even more, it mines not only
his own trauma, but the wounds he's inflicted on others.

(01:06):
And if that sounds heavy, it's because it is. It's
also touchy terrain for a songwriter. Fortunately, Jason has learned
how to not be the hero or victim of his
own songs. Instead, he's found the right balance that's given
his songs lasting and real resonance with his listeners. A calling,
he said, is based upon the meaning of his name
as healer. The results speak for themselves. After topping the

(01:29):
charts with songs like Nothing Is Wasted and With Every
Act of Love. On this episode of The Deepest Cut,
I sat down with Jason for an emotional conversation about
the circumstances behind the song worth staying for, and the
ways in which it's affected both him and his audience.
Some particularly sensitive listeners might find some things here triggering,
so use your discretion. But for those who stay tuned,

(01:52):
I think it's a very meaningful discussion of the ways
that we learn to transform our pain instead of transmit it.
Here's our conversation with Jason Gray. Hello, and welcome back

(02:16):
to the Deepest Cut. My name is Matt Conner. I'm
your host. I'm just so glad to be joined by
my friend Jason Gray here on this episode. Jason, you've
had a little harried morning with HVAC issues and other things,
but are you settling in all right?

S2 (02:30):
Sheesh. Yeah. You know, uh, I grew up in Minnesota,
and I was always in, like 100 year old houses
where we didn't have HVAC, you know? In fact, the
last house I had. Did you see that movie, um,
with Tom Hanks? Uh, The Burbs?

S1 (02:47):
Yeah. Is that the klopeks next door? Is that that movie.

S2 (02:50):
My last house had, uh, the klopeks furnace, you know, uh,
and it was. radiator heat and stuff. So when I
moved down to Nashville, I bought my first house that
that had like an air, you know, central air and it,
it had a dishwasher like, whoa, I can't believe it. Yeah. And, uh,
and all that has been wonderful until today because I

(03:14):
guess HVAC units break down after a number of years.
And and now I got to buy a new one because,
you know, say what you want to about that, uh,
that klopeks furnace and stuff. But it just went long
and strong for, for decades and decades, you know, so.

S1 (03:37):
We're dating ourselves with that movie reference, by the way.

S2 (03:40):
I know, I.

S1 (03:40):
Know, there it is. Obviously we have a lot to
talk about here. I want to talk first about a
quote that came out around the album. In the song here,
you wrote or someone said it on your behalf and
then released it through your publicist. He said that you'd
never want to be the hero or the victim of
your songs, right? Yeah, I'd love to know what informs that.

S2 (04:00):
Hmm. Well, if you're the hero of your own songs
or stories, there's something about that that's a little gross, right? Like.
Like if. Like if I had a a song about
how I. I happened upon a homeless person, and I,
I shared the gospel with them, or I bought them
a meal and, and, uh, all of a sudden, their

(04:24):
life was changed. Well, I don't know. That's just kind
of gross. Like. Like it's it's. Hey, look at me.
Or or an example about it is, um, I just
released a children's book this last year, and, um, I
have a a speech handicaps, obviously. And, uh, one of

(04:46):
the first ideas that we had for the book was, um,
I had this experience. I was on the road and, uh,
and this dad wanted to meet me after a show.
Him and his son and, uh, his son, I'm going
to say, was, like, 11 years old. And also, uh, and, uh,
his dad wanted him to meet me so he could

(05:08):
know that this speech issue didn't have to hold him back,
you know? And, uh, and I got to encourage him, and, um,
it was very, very meaningful, very, very sweet. Well, so,
as his dad spoke about how he had struggled with
having a speech handicap, but all of his teachers love

(05:32):
him because he's so kind and he's always helping the other.
And if one if, if, if he sees a student
being bullied, he'd always kind of step in. And and
so I got down on my knee and I looked
him in the eye and said, oh man, you know,
I'm hearing all these wonderful things about you and I'm

(05:55):
I'm not surprised a bit, you know, because I imagine
you're your speech handicap has been has been painful for
you and has made you feel insecure at times. And
that has caused you to, uh, the insecurities of others

(06:17):
and and the way that they can feel hurt, you know,
and that's the beautiful thing about this speech handicap is
it's already becoming your, your so your superpower, you know,
is how I talked to them about it is very,
very sweet. And I thought, oh, let's do a book
about that moment, you know, and we went down the

(06:39):
road and the of, of, of conceptualizing that. And, and
the idea was, was that the book would be about
this little boy who went to a concert of a
person with a speech handicap, and how it shifted his
understanding of of what that could be in his life. And,
and he got to talk with the artist afterwards. And
that changed everything, you know. And we were going down

(07:01):
the road on that and sort of realized, well, that
kind of makes me the hero of the story. And
that feels something about that doesn't feel right. It feels
a little gross, you know, like a little immodest. What's
that called? Like a hagiography. When you do a documentary
and it's only about the person's shining qualities, you know?

(07:25):
And so we ditched it for that reason, even though
there was a lot of meaningfulness in that. And it
was a true story. There's just something about that that
feels immodest or like it's pointing to me or something.
So I never want to be the hero. Um, and
I don't want to be the victim either. And the
reason behind that is I see my Rue, as you know.

(07:49):
I want to give to my audience. I want to
give them something. If I'm the victim, I'm taken from them. Right.
I remember, uh, an author who I love, Walt Wangerin.
He was speaking at a hutch moot, and I raised
my hand and I asked him, you know, a question?
I asked him, I said, you know, one of the

(08:11):
things that can kind of be irritating to me is that, uh,
you hear these these people who are always giving their
testimony and it's it's after everything has resolved and everything
is tied up in a neat bow. And why don't
we hear from them, like when they're in the midst
of it still, you know, and I, I kind of
had a chip on my shoulder about that and, um, some,

(08:35):
some righteous indignation about all that. And I expected him
to be on my side, you know. And he answered, well,
because if you share something when you're in the middle
of it, you don't realize what you're asking the audience
for something. And at that time in my life, I
was in the midst of my marriage coming apart, and

(08:58):
I was on the brink of divorce. And he was like,
if you shared about that right now, your audience is
going to feel like they have to take your side
or they have to comfort you. They have to make
you feel better. But if you wait until that story
is resolved somewhat, then you have something to give the

(09:19):
audience and you aren't asking them for something, even if
you didn't mean to ask them. Even if you weren't asking,
you know. And that was really helpful to understand that,
you know. So if you're the victim in your story, then, uh,
you don't realize it, but but you're, you're asking your
audience for they may experience it as an ask for

(09:43):
sympathy or for understanding or to feel sorry for you
or to support you or something, you know? So. So
I don't want to be that either. Although I do
want to. I do think it's useful to speak openly
about our pain. I think there's something medicinal, but I
try to be strategic about, you know, where I'm at

(10:04):
in the pain and and how I share it so
that it can be a gift rather than an ask
of the audience.

S1 (10:11):
But you do receive something in the release of these things, right? Like,
it's not all one way. There's got to be a
catharsis that comes with some of this, right? There's got
to be some of that.

S2 (10:20):
Mhm. Yeah I received something, I suppose I, I receive
that um I've, I've made good use of my pain. I've,
you know, there's uh the uh, there's the experience I
get to give myself the experience of um, of dignity,
I guess like that, that uh, I, I I. Yes,

(10:44):
this awful thing may have happened, but it didn't destroy me.
And now I have something to offer. Right. You know,
it makes me feel like it hasn't been wasted, and.
And I can do something useful with it. I can
make good use of it. So I'm not always at
its mercy.

S1 (11:04):
Based on what we're talking about. I'd love to look
at the song Worth Staying For, which is the one
that you chose for this podcast. Yeah, I would love
to analyze that through this lens of if you want
to thread that needle and not like be the victim, right.
Or in that way. Right. What does that mean for
writing a song that's so personal? Like we're staying for

(11:26):
because you mentioned your divorce. That's documented here in the song.
You mentioned your speech, your speech handicap. That's documented here
in the song.

S2 (11:33):
Yeah.

S1 (11:33):
Can you take me into that? And threading that needle
here as as you wrote. Worth staying for.

S2 (11:38):
Yeah. And let me say, I wrote this song with
my friend Andy. And of course, you know who he is.
And he's just one of the best selling writers alive.
As far as I'm concerned, you know, and and, uh,
and he's a good friend. He's a good friend. And,
and and I've always been able to bring him the

(12:03):
pieces of my story that I wanted to write about
and make good use of. But they're very, very tender,
very personal parts of my story that I can bring
to him because he handles them with such care and truthfulness,
you know. So I owe a lot to him for

(12:26):
helping me articulate these parts of my story. So we
wrote verse one and two, like I came with the
idea to him eight years ago now, nine years ago,
like shortly after my divorce, and those first two verses
came out really quick. And for people who haven't heard it, verse,

(12:48):
the song is kind of about this, this core wound
I have of abandonment, of feeling that I will be left,
you know, and, uh, that wound was first cut open
in me, um, when my dad left our family and

(13:09):
my my, my speech handicap. What I understand about how
it works is that, uh, I was genetically vulnerable to
having a speech impediment, and then it it it lays
dormant in you, waiting for some event to trigger it.

(13:29):
And the trauma that triggered it was my dad's departure. Now,
to add insult to injury, When I started to manifest
my s, my grandma, his mom thought I was just
doing it for attention. And, um. And that's a bummer,

(13:53):
you know? But when I put myself in her shoes, uh,
my dad was her only son, whom she loved very much.
And I was her only grandson, whom she loved very much.
I imagine it was complicated for her to hold intention
that my dad could do something that would mar, you know, that.

(14:16):
That her son could, uh, mar her, her her her
grandson in that way. Right. And and so maybe she
didn't know how to how to cope with the complexity
of that, you know. And we got over that. And
she was in an amazing grandma. I was very, very

(14:37):
close with her. So she's not the bad guy in
the story. We all make mistakes, right? So, um, but, uh,
so in the song, I refer to that, you know, that, um,
my speech broke the same day as my heart when
my dad left and my grandma thought I was doing

(14:58):
it for attention, but I think I couldn't get the
question out. Wasn't I worth staying for? You know, so
that's naming the core wound that got, um, reopened when
my wife of 23 years decided to leave our marriage.
And once again, I'm asking, wasn't I worth staying for? Uh,

(15:22):
so the danger in those two verses for me is
that I'm kind of the victim there, right? You know,
and and it might Make you feel bad for Jason.
You know, and that's that's not, uh. I think it
was important for me to write those verses out whether

(15:45):
I ever release them or not, to just kind of
name my own pain, you know? But, um, and it seemed,
you know, what? I, I would play what I had
of the song for a few audiences. Uh, here's a
song I'm working on. And what do you think? You know,
and I and I always felt uncomfortable playing it because

(16:07):
I don't want the audience to feel sorry for me or.
But I noticed that it put them in touch with
their own stories of abandonment and wondering if they were
worth loving and staying for, you know? So I began
to see that it could be a useful song. Now then, uh,

(16:32):
as I, I wondered, well, where's the song supposed to
go next? And one of the ideas I had as
a Christian artist. And please be gracious with me. You
can roll your eyes internally, you know? But, uh. But
I thought one of the places this could go that
might be meaningful to my audience is that, uh, somehow

(16:54):
it it it lands in the place where where Jesus,
my savior, is on the cross, and he's the Son
of God. And though he was nailed up there, he
could have come down at any moment. But he didn't.
He chose to stay there. Why? Because I was worth
staying for. Now, that's a sentiment that I think is

(17:18):
would have been meaningful to my audience. And and there's
and it's true. There's there's truth in it. But every
time I try to write that, it just didn't feel
true enough. It felt like a like it was like
it was too easy. And it it it wasn't. If

(17:40):
the first two verses were, were me really laid bare,
then that ending felt kind of like, uh, like like
conceptual and distant and kind of school a little bit,
you know, and it just never felt right. And, uh,
we didn't. Finish the song until almost eight years later,

(18:08):
after a long, dark night of the soul that I had, um, where.
And Matt, this was a this was a scary song
for me to release, and it's, uh, it's awkward and
painful and scary for me to talk about, too, because

(18:30):
because I, have to go into my shame. Um, in
the aftermath of. My divorce and a divorce that I
didn't want, I didn't see it coming. I didn't understand
why it was happening. And I was very I was
very wounded by it. Um, I understand a bit more,

(18:56):
you know, like like, uh, how how, uh, I wasn't
the husband that my wife needed or wanted. She had
her own journey and demons that she was wrestling with.
But I can I can see how I could have

(19:17):
loved her better and differently, you know? Um, but in
the aftermath of all of that, as I, uh, as
I began to open myself up to love again. Um,
and and I was, I was in I was in
a few relationships, um, where that person. Wanted to love

(19:45):
me and was willing to love me, and, uh, I
just I discovered that I wasn't healed and whole enough yet, like,
I thought I was. That's why I opened myself up.
But then once I got to the starting line and
the gun went off and I started to run, uh,

(20:09):
I realized, oh, shoot, my ankles are still broken. And, uh,
and I ended those relationships. I wasn't ready, I didn't
realize I wasn't ready until I was in it, and, uh, I.
I gave those people that that experience that was my

(20:34):
my core wound. I, I gave them the experience that
they weren't worth staying for. I rejected them and the
dawning realization that I had inflicted on others the same
pain that was so devastating to me that that that

(20:59):
brought me into great shame. I felt like I was
a plague upon the earth, you know? Um, uh, hurt people.
Hurt people. Right? And I was wounding people in the
same way that I'd been wounded. And, um, and the bridge,

(21:20):
you know, is, is is a, um, the bridge of
the song is a Richard Rohr Quote. My pain will
be transmitted if it's not transformed. And it hadn't been
transformed yet. And so I was transmitting my pain, and
the realization of that made me feel so ashamed and

(21:43):
so hopeless that, uh, I, I wanted to end my life.
I wanted to remove myself from the the equation of this,
this pain that had, um, this wound in my life
that had caused so much pain. The idea that I

(22:05):
was acting it out on others, I thought, yeah, I
just need to remove myself. Um. And it was, uh,
I don't know if it was the next day, like.
Like after a long, dark night of the. You know,
if if I'd had the means. I probably would have

(22:26):
ended my life that night. Like if I'd had had like.
Like it was that it was that heavy on me. Um.
And so I don't know if it was the day
after that or a day or two after that, um,
that I was I supposed to go back and work
on a new song with Andy? But, uh, when I

(22:51):
was with him again, I said, hey, do you remember
that song we started eight years ago? I think I
know where it's supposed to end. I think it's supposed
to end with, with with me on my couch, having
the experience I had the other night, you know, and and, uh,
and owning the painful truth that, uh. So it wasn't

(23:20):
only a song about people who had left me, but.
But about how I'd become a lever, too. And, um.
And the grace that we all that we all need. Right?
Like it was never my dad's dream to leave me.
I'm sure he had great pain and regret over that. And, um.

(23:46):
And I imagine my, my ex wife has had some. Um,
version of that. You know.

S1 (23:58):
You mentioned earlier you set down with this boy, right?
Who needed someone outside of him to speak to this
thing that he thought was holding him back, was keeping
him from being his full self? Yeah. And said, hey,
this thing is actually your superpower, right? You talk about
that Richard Rourke wrote that said, you know, if if
we can move it from transmission to transformation, if we're

(24:21):
willing to do that work, which I know that you
have been.

S2 (24:24):
I've been trying.

S1 (24:25):
At least attempting to move it from one to the other. Right.
Which could have a lot of grace for, for the,
for that process. Right. The time and effort involved, it's
almost though, in, in the same way that if you
could find the spirit, if you could find a person,
if you could find a community to be the same way,
to speak to you in that place. Right. And maybe

(24:46):
you already have. Maybe that's what Andy was that day
and other people have been, you know, to speak to
you and say, hey, this, this thing that brings you
great shame, this thing that you think holds you back,
this can be the superpower. Do you think that's part
of what this song has become in your catalog? The
transformation into this being in the same way that you
told that boy, hey, this could be your superpower because

(25:08):
it allows you to enter into the lives of other
people in a different way, through a different bent. Do
you think that's this?

S2 (25:15):
Yeah. I think when I play this song. It, uh,
it has that kind of. I think it's been helpful
to people and has spoken. You know, it's interesting my

(25:36):
and also I'd like to. Put a little more, um,
meat on the bone. Sure. Something I said earlier, like like. Well,
that's dramatic. Why would he want to end his life?
You know, I think it's because, uh, my name actually

(26:00):
means healer. And I don't mean to be all hippie
woo woo about that, but I've. I've taken that very seriously,
and and I do what I do. I write the songs,
I write, uh, in service of my this. I would

(26:21):
like to be a healer in the world. That's what
I want to be. I try to be that and
to discover that I had betrayed that purpose of my life.
That I'd become a wound or was was a devastating,
I suppose, to my ego, maybe to my whole understanding

(26:42):
of myself. So that was why the reaction was perhaps outsized.
You know, it was strong and stuff. But, um, back
to what you were asking me about. Um, it's interesting,
when I play the song, I feel like it's one
of those songs that it hits people according to where

(27:06):
they're ready to receive it. You know, some of them
get what they need out of those first two verses. Um,
it It gives language to this deep hurt that they've had.
Like like. Oh yeah. Like I've, I've that's my wound too.
Am I, am I worth staying for. Why did these

(27:29):
people leave me. And that's what they need in that moment.
And that's what the song is and means, you know.
And they may not even understand where where I go
after that, you know, and but there's a a smaller
number of people in the audience who, um, they connect
with that last part and they and they recognize, you know, um. Oh, shoot. I've, I've,

(27:58):
I've played a part in the sadness of the world
myself and, and I've been carrying the weight of that
shame and I didn't even realize it. And, um. Yeah.
So it's it's interesting. It it it works and it

(28:21):
works according to where the listener is at, I suppose,
you know.

S1 (28:27):
Yeah. Yeah, I do want to get to the song,
but I want to I want to just add one
more thing here. You know, you talked about I don't
want to take too I don't want to take three
dimensional verses and turn it two dimensional. With a quick
Sunday school answer. I get that prompt. I would agree
with that prompt. Although, you know, maybe others would share
a different sentiment there. But but you also don't just
leave it in that darkness like you mentioned the bridge.

(28:49):
When you get to the end, you know, let me
just read here, uh, you know, the lyrics. Wasn't I
worth staying for? You admit I carry it in my
body like it's shrapnel from a war. But then there's
kind of this turn of. And the only way to
heal that kind of wound is to trust the love
I'm hearing in the kind voice of the Lord saying

(29:11):
I'm worth staying for. Can you talk about the application
of that where you're like, I didn't want to put
just a quick bow on things when I first wrote it,
but here I found the place to land. That felt right.

S2 (29:23):
Yeah. Uh oh. You know, I've got a mentor in
my life. Uh, his name is George. And he said
this phrase once that I think about all the time, uh,
that in the conviction of sin, when we feel conviction
versus condemnation. Right. When all of a sudden. I see

(29:48):
this way. I've been getting it wrong in that moment,
I'm I see that. Uh, I see that God sees me,
and I see love in his eyes. He's been seeing
me all along. And I've been operating in ignorance doing

(30:10):
this awful. thing in the world, whatever it might be.
You know, I've been, uh, blind in my in my
self-righteousness or whatever. And then that moment where where all
of a sudden I get a peek behind the curtain
and I can see the error of my ways in

(30:33):
that moment. I'm in the light of God in that moment.
And I see God seeing me, and there's love in
his eyes. And that's why conviction is, for me at least,
it's it's usually very invigorating. I feel loved in that moment.

(30:53):
I usually feel very trusted in that moment, as though
God is like, okay, you've been operating in this ignorance
for many years, for decades, and you couldn't see it.
But now you are. At a place of maturity where

(31:15):
I can trust you with this information. And I'm going
to allow you to see this error of your ways,
because it's time for us to grow beyond this. Right?
And so when I have that kind of a conviction,
it's it's kind of like an honor I feel. I feel, oh,
I can be trusted with this now and yes, let's

(31:39):
let's move on, you know. Um, so in the conviction
of sin, I see God seeing me. And I see
love in his eyes. Uh, at the end of the
verse or that chorus, there I hear love in his voice.
And that's kind of the beginning of a new story, uh,
that I've kind of introduced, I suppose it's kind of

(32:01):
like a cliffhanger. I think about, um, the hope that
usually feels the most truthful and realistic to me is
a hope that's hinted at, and it's just kind of
like a whisper of hope, you know? Uh, have you
seen the movie Magnolia?

S1 (32:19):
Oh, man, is that Paul Thomas Anderson?

S2 (32:22):
Paul Thomas Anderson.

S1 (32:23):
Yeah, I mean, I haven't seen that for a long time,
but yes.

S2 (32:27):
It's one of my all time favorite movies. And there's,
you know, all these characters are going through all this
angst and and pain and there's this, uh, this girl
who her life is a mess, and she's a drug addict,
and she can't receive love and all that. And this
man comes into her life, and and she sabotages it,

(32:49):
you know? But at the end of the movie, he
comes in and he sits down beside her, and he
just begins to speak these words of love, and the
music's playing in the background, so you can't even hear
what he's saying. And in the last frame of the movie,
she looks at the camera and there's this slight smile And, uh,
I think it's one of the most beautiful things in

(33:12):
a movie that I've ever seen. It's one of my
all time favorite movies. And I've talked with people who've said,
I'm sorry, that's not enough. I need more. Like, I
need to know what happens. And I'm like, no, that's
you think you want more? But if you if you
got it, it wouldn't feel as real like it. You know,
it wouldn't land as potent as that. Just that little

(33:36):
slight smile at the very end of the movie. Last scene. Um,
and that's my to me, that's, uh, the most believable
and potent expression of hope is when it's just kind
of hinted at like that. And that's, I think, what, uh,

(33:58):
what I hope happens at the end of this song,
you know.

S1 (34:01):
Yeah. That's your smile at the end of Worth Staying For.

S2 (34:03):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. Yeah.

S1 (34:05):
Well, Jason, we'd love to have you. Um, why don't
you take us into the song so people can hear it?

S2 (34:10):
Yeah. Sure. I don't know what else to say about
it except that, uh, I played it for my friend
Mike Donaghy, and he said, oh, wow. This, uh, song
should come with a trigger warning. Uh, and, uh, I
suppose it's because I'm. I'm going into, uh, layers of

(34:34):
my trauma. I suppose, until it gets down to the
bedrock layer of it and then, uh, and then there's,
there's hope at the end of that, you know? So, um,
I hope, I hope that people experience it that way.
What I, I, I hope people don't feel sorry for me.

(34:55):
That's been my I almost didn't release the song because
of that. Because it's not about that. But but, um,
I hope that that people Find. I hope that people
get connected to their own journey, you know? So yeah. Hope. People.
Hope people like my little banger of a of a

(35:17):
pop song here about my trauma. So.

S3 (35:30):
I spoke without a stutter through the middle of first grade.
Until my little world came apart. When I overheard my
father saying that he just couldn't stay. And my speech
broke the same day as my heart. But I think

(35:58):
I couldn't get the question out. Was not worth staying for.
Was an hour staying for more than 45 years later,
I still see him at the door. Was worth staying for.

(36:30):
Felt like spring and I love seemed as endless as
that sky. So how could we know the cold that
other winters would bring? Could die. But I guess that
I'm still haunted by the question. Now that there are

(36:54):
no more papers left to sign with an eye Was
an hour worth staying for. Time could have made us
feel like we weren't strangers anymore. For. I know pain

(37:29):
will be transmitted if it doesn't get transformed, though it's
not what I intended. I did other people harm. And

(37:49):
each time I tried to love, I returned to the
scene of the crime. I did my own share of leaving,
leaving a trail of wreckage behind. I hated myself, I

(38:17):
hated myself for it. A week ago, I couldn't sleep.
I was drowning in my shame. If I could have
ended it, I would. But in the middle of that darkness,

(38:45):
somehow I knew God came and stayed with me until
I understood. Worth staying for. Was an hour stay, for
I carry it in my body. I get shrapnel from

(39:08):
a war. And the only way to heal that kind
of wound is to trust the love I'm hearing. In
the kind voice of the Lord saying I'm worth staying for.
Worth staying for. Worth staying for.

S1 (39:38):
You've been listening to the Deepest Cut part of the
Rabbit Room podcast network audio production and theme music by
Isaac Vining. Logo and identity work by Meg Cook. The
Deepest Cut was created and hosted by me, Matt Conner.
Thank you so much for listening.