Songfacts®:

• This was was chosen out of 20 songs by online voters in the American Idol Songwriter's Competition. The winning songwriter, Regie Hamm, is an aspiring singer who entered the contest at his wife's suggestion - she's a big American Idol fan. The Nashville singer/songwriter has previously had songs recorded by a number of artists including Maxi Priest, Kenny Loggins and Bob Carlisle. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Jk - Elmwood Park, IL
• Hamm wrote this the week before the contest deadline. He said in USA Today: "I tried to keep the show in mind, but it's autobiographical. It has to do with living in the now and letting the good times carry you through the bad times."
• This was the coronation song and the first single release for 2008 American Idol winner David Cook after winning the American Idol competition. The week after Cook won, this shifted 236,000 downloads to reach the #3 spot on the Hot 100 and top the digital chart.
• In total 11 different titles by Cook debuted on the Hot 100 the week after his winning American Idol. This broke the list's previous record for debuts set by Miley Cyrus (as Hannah Montana) in the Nov. 11, 2006, chart, when she placed six new titles. His haul of 11 different songs also was the most placements on the list since the Beatles charted with 14 different songs on the Hot 100 in the week of April 11, 1964.
• When this reached #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart in September 2008, this song became the first chart-topper on that listing by a male artist since Josh Groban's "I'll Be Home for Christmas" in January 2008. The 36 week gap between the two chart-topping men were filled by three recordings by solo females, Colbie Caillat's "Bubbly" (19 weeks), Sara Bareilles' "Love Song" (15 weeks) and Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" (two weeks).
• The song stayed at the #1 spot on Billboard's AC chart for a record 15 weeks, making it the longest running #1 Pop song ever written by a Nashville based songwriter - edging out Whitney Houston's Dolly Parton penned hit "I Will Always Love You" by one week.
• NBC-TV used the song as a recurring musical theme during the 2008 summer Olympics from Beijing.
• The back story to the song harks back to 2003 when Regie Hamm and his wife Yolanda flew to China in 2003 to adopt a much anticipated orphaned baby girl. Once back in the US, the Hamms discovered their baby, Isabella, had a severe, mysterious disability, which then took five years for medical specialists to diagnose as the very rare neuro-genetic disorder, Angelman Syndrome. Unable to get insurance for their baby, the Hamms experienced years of confusion, round-the-clock care giving, crushing medical bills, and financial ruin. Regie Hamm noted: "We were on the edge of utter disaster when a song showed up at just the right time, but it was more than a song, it was coming to terms with the journey and a realization of all the beauty I had in my life. It was the realization that Bella was a blessing, not a problem."
• This was the last song to win the American Idol Songwriter's Competition, as it was discontinued the following year. The contest began the previous year, when "This is My Now" was the winner, becoming the first single for Jordin Sparks.