Eventually, fresh vision came and I entered a new phase of the calling on my life. As I would sing it, I began to experience God's comfort, encouragement and hope. During this time of sadness and uncertainty, the Holy Spirit gave me a song which I entitled 'The Anchor Holds'. I also began to play the piano again for hours at a time, alone with God. During that time, my wife and I grieved and prayed. I was given a sabbatical from pastoring for six months. It seemed as if the best years were over. It truly felt as if our visions and dreams had 'slipped right through like they were only grains of sand'. We wept as we held the tiny 14-week fetus of our son in our hands. Then, in the summer of '92, my wife experienced her third miscarriage. I was also re-evaluating the focus of my calling. My father died that year, we were facing health problems, I had come to a point of burnout from being in pastoral ministry for 19 years, and the church that I had helped plant was entering the first phases of what became a devastating split. The story behind the writing of this song begins in 1992 when my wife and I experienced what we now call our year of sorrows. 'The Anchor Holds' - The Story Behind the Song.
