Please Read About My Friend Sarah!

I know I have talked about my friend Sarah many many times before on my blog. For those of you who do not "know" Sarah, let me fill you in just a bit on Sarah and how the two of us met.

Sarah and her husband Chad were running together in the 2007 Chicago Marathon. On mile five the two of them separated and told each other that they would meet up at the finish line at the end of the race. When Sarah made it to the finish line Chad was not there so she went back to the hotel. Shortly after Sarah received a phone call from a man asking if she was Mrs. Schieber. The man was calling to tell Sarah that Chad has passed away during the race. It was later determined that Chad died from a rare heart condition. In the blink of an eye Sarah's entire world changed and she was left a young widow with three small children.

When I moved back to Midland with my parents several people told me I needed to meet Sarah because she knew exactly what I was going through. I was very reluctant to meet her. I had my friends, I had my family and I didn't feel comfortable pouring my heart out to a person I didn't even know. However I believe God had a different plan. One day while blogging I somehow came a crossed Sarah's blog. I just so happened to find her blog on the one year anniversary of Chad's death. Her post was about her grief, what they had been through in the year and how her and the kids were marking the day. I sat reading her post with tears streaming down my face. As soon as I was done reading I sent Sarah an email. The next morning I received an email back from Sarah. Two nights later I met her at one of her CD signings. Even though I was hesitant to meet her I felt a connection to Sarah instantly. After that night we began to email each other back and forth about the grief that we were feeling. It was more of me asking and leaning on Sarah for support. That was in October, since then most of our emails have stopped as we have now developed a special friendship. I'm so grateful that for what ever reason I found Sarah's blog that October night. I can honestly say that I think I'm doing as well as I am because of Sarah. She gets it, she knows exactly how I'm feeling and when I leave her I do feel as though I'm going to make it and that I will be ok. Sarah leaves me feeling hopeful for my future in a time when hope and happiness at times can seem so distant.

Now for Sarah's big news....

Right before Chad died Sarah had just released her first solo Christian album called "Gratitude" It is a great CD with many wonderful songs. After Chad died and in the midst of the grief Sarah began writing in her journal and also began writing songs that expressed what she was feeling. Sarah used her faith and love of music to help cope wit the overwhelming grief of losing her beloved husband. Sarah also released a Christmas song this year called, "Christmas in Heaven" (if I remember correctly several of you ordered this single) Through Sarah's grief her new CD "The Long October Road" was born. Many of you have been asking me when and where you can get this CD. Well I'm happy to tell you that the CD is being released the Friday May 29th!!

Sarah is doing a FREE concert this Friday night at The Christian Celebration Center in Midland, Michigan at 7:00 pm. If any of you who read my blog live close to the Midland area I would highly recommend that you make the drive and attend the concert. You will get to meet Sarah, hear her story and hear her sing many of the songs off of the new CD, as well as a few of her older songs and be able to purchase the new CD. You will probably cry, but I guarantee by the end of the night you will leave with a big smile on your face and hope in your heart.

On tonight's local news Sarah was featured in a story about her singing and about the her story that she is now living. The clip can be found here http://www.connectmidmichigan.com/news/video.aspx?id=304249. For those of you who don't live close to Michigan go ahead and watch the clip, Sarah did a great job and you will get a little snip it of her story. Before the story plays there is a little commercial so just give it a few seconds.

For those of you who are interested in ordering a CD you can go to Sarah's website at http://www.sarahschieber.com/ A brand spanking new website will be launched this week where you can order the CD online. In the mean time if you would like to order the CD leave me your information in a comment with your email and I will contact you when the site is up and running.

I will also encourage all of you to go and visit Sarah's blog http://sarahschieber.blogspot.com This is another place where Sarah will share her story with you.

Thank you for taking the time to get to know my friend Sarah a bit more. If you have any questions about her music, or purchasing her CD please leave me a comment and I will get back to you.