No one should have to write a song like “I’ll Find You.”
Yet nearly two years after the plane crash that claimed the lives of her mother, stepfather, sister, and brother-in-law and several close friends and colleagues, Autumn Nelon has done exactly that. She may never have all the answers, but she has found something even stronger: hope.
Released through Gaither Music Group just days before the second anniversary of the tragedy, I’ll Find You is one of the most personal songs Autumn has ever recorded. Written alongside Joseph Habedank and Kenna Turner West less than a year after the loss of her family, the song gives voice to grief that refuses easy explanations while clinging tightly to the promises of Christ. Rather than asking listeners to ignore heartbreak, it walks directly through it, reminding anyone carrying loss that heaven is more than a distant idea… it is a coming reunion.
“What better day than to release it… because what better way to honor them than to release a song that basically explains how I feel?” she shared. The lyrics begin with questions every grieving heart understands.
“Didn’t even get to say goodbye… Tried my best to make it all make sense… But it don’t make sense.”
It’s a striking admission from someone whose faith has been visible her entire life. Rather than pretending tragedy somehow became understandable, Autumn allows herself to admit that some pain simply cannot be explained this side of eternity.
“Until I get to heaven, I’ll never understand why this happened,” she said. “But I do believe that God has chosen me for whatever reason. He’s entrusted me with a legacy to keep going. That’s what I’m doing, and that’s what I’m trying to do, and I hope I make them proud in the process.”
That balance of holding both grief and faith at the same time has become the defining characteristic of Autumn’s ministry. The song itself ultimately turns away from unanswered questions and toward the promise of heaven. One of its most moving moments comes near the end when the lyric changes from “I’ll find you” to “Maybe I won’t have to look… because you’ll find me.”
When asked about that line, Autumn smiled.
“I’m not going to have to look for my mom or my sister because they’re going to be standing there. And any loved ones that anybody has lost, I think they’re going to be there waiting.”
It transforms the entire perspective of the song. Heaven is a joyful homecoming where those who arrived first are already waiting. That picture has resonated far beyond Autumn’s own story.
“The amount of people since this single has released that have come to me and said, ‘This makes me think of my mom,’ or, ‘This makes me think of my dad,’” she shared. Then she recounted an encounter that perfectly captured what she had hoped the song would become.
“Just today, I had a gentleman come up to me and say, ‘My brother died a week ago, and we’re going to play this song at his funeral.’ It’s doing exactly what I wanted it to do… and that is to bring encouragement to people.”
Perhaps that’s what makes I’ll Find You feel so different. It isn’t merely a song about Autumn’s loss. It has become a song that countless others are already making part of their own stories.
While grief is woven throughout the conversation, it quickly becomes clear that loss is no longer the only chapter being written.
Life has continued moving forward.
Autumn has stepped into motherhood. Her son, Rhett, was born on December 1, 2024, her mother’s birthday.
“So that was really, really sweet,” she said, reflecting on the timing. Alongside becoming a mother, she’s also spent the last two years quietly building toward a new chapter creatively, recording music and preparing a new album expected next year.
Those milestones have arrived while she has simultaneously inherited something she never expected: carrying forward one of Gospel music’s most beloved family legacies.
Ironically, she laughs that she may have been the least likely person to step into that role.
“I always joke and say I’m the least likely one to have been doing all of this. If you knew me when I was with my family… I didn’t like to do interviews. Any time I could find my way out of doing stuff like that, I would.”
Now, the woman who once avoided microphones is speaking at conferences, leading interviews, and encouraging audiences across the country.
She credits only one thing.
“God has just given me such comfort and peace along this journey. I found out that I can do things that I didn’t think I was capable of doing.”
Her ministry today looks different than it once did. Certainly she’s still singing. That’s never changed. But increasingly, people are coming not only to hear her voice, but to hear her story.
As she prepares for her first women’s conference as a keynote speaker, Autumn believes she’s finally beginning to understand why.
“What I believe that God has called me to do is obviously singing, of course, but I think it is to tell my story. I think it is to tell these people that sometimes life is hard and sometimes things happen that you’ll never understand until you get to heaven one day. But the faithfulness of God and how good He is to you… He’s always good, even though what happened to you is bad.”
Growing up, she admitted, she often prayed that the Lord wouldn’t return until after she had experienced milestones like marriage and motherhood. Today, that prayer has changed.
“Now that I have loved ones there, I’m like, ‘Lord, You can come whenever You want to. Whenever You feel the time is right.’” It’s a perspective only grief can shape.
Not because grief diminishes life here, but because it makes eternity feel wonderfully real. That reality has also changed the way she listens to the music her family created together.
“When we recorded this last album… the thought of this being the last one never crossed my mind,” she reflected. “You always hear about things happening to other people, but you just never think they’re going to happen to you.”
Even now, hearing those recordings remains surreal. Around her home, she keeps reminders of her family close. Pictures line the walls. Rhett already knows the faces and names of the grandmother and aunt he’ll never fully know this side of heaven.
“We’ll go around,” she said, “‘Who’s that?’ and he’ll say, ‘Gigi.’ ‘Who’s that?’ ‘Amber.’ I do my best to keep them in his memory so that he’ll always know who they are.”
When asked how she continues moving forward, Autumn answered with refreshing honesty.
“It’s not really something that you ever just get over. I just have learned how to cope with it. I have a wonderful support team… a wonderful husband, family, friends… God has just been really good to me. Truly without Him and the people that He has placed in my life, that’s really the only way that I have been able to keep going.”
Those words may ultimately summarize both her life and her new music.
She isn’t claiming victory because the pain is gone. She’s testifying that God’s faithfulness has remained, even while the pain remains. Before the conversation ended, one final question lingered. If Kelly and Amber could hear I’ll Find You, what would they think?
Autumn laughed.
“I think they would be like, ‘Girl, you’re not going to have to find us. We’re waiting for you.’ But I hope they’re just proud of me… for doing things that I always said I wouldn’t do.”
That’s the heart of this story.
Not tragedy.
Not survival.
Hope.