Almost Home

"'Almost Home' came out of a conversation between MercyMe frontman Bart Millard and a pastor pal of his. Millard's friend has been in ministry for a long time; in fact, he was once the singer's youth pastor. The pastor admitted to Millard that ministry is hard and he was feeling burnt out, saying: "Man, I think I was ready for the short game when I was a youth pastor dealing with issues, but this long game is wearing me out. I never dreamed that I would outlive some of my dearest friends and mentors and do their funerals." The conversation resonated with Millard and provided inspiration for this song, which he penned with his bandmates and producer Ben Glover. "It was heartbreaking to hear and I realized one thing that we probably don't address much is as we get older, we just get tired and exhausted fighting the good fight," Millard said. "'Almost Home' is kind of a rallying cry to just remind us to keep running the race... to keep going. Heaven is just around the bend," he continued. "We're almost home and now is not the time to give up or tap out. Whether you're in ministry or not - parents, moms, dads, whatever - if you just feel like you don't know if you can go any further, hopefully this song will bring you comfort and help you realize that you're not alone and that the race is worth running."

Millard hired director Elliott Eicheldinger (David Leonard's "The Wait Is Over") to create a treatment for the video that would incorporate the idea of a spaceman. The clip features some of the band's friends' children. Matt Hammitt's son Bowen is the little astronaut and Tim Timmons' daughter Anna is the girl; both Hammitt and Timmons have toured with MercyMe. Milliard told Billboard the clip's concept is of a stranger passing through this world. "It's the idea of this guy, an astronaut just trying to live his life like a normal person, but not doing it super well with having to wear a space suit all the time and also he has these dreams of a significant other," he explained. "As life goes on, she passes away. He just feels incomplete, still running the race and just trying to finish. Along the way, he falls into these different people's lives briefly and tries to bring joy and happiness to them, but all the way still running the race and trying to make it home."