Latest / Beyond the Sermon / Sarah Putiri: Conversation
Transcript
- 0:00This whatever day it is, what today we have a very special
- 0:05guest feels like a friend, a sister and a stranger all in
- 0:09one. But as I've mentioned on the
- 0:12podcast before, the song glorified by Sarah Putiri,
- 0:17somehow by God's grace, she was able to join us herself.
- 0:22And so we have Sarah joining us, and we want to hear a little bit
- 0:27about her testimony, her life, a little bit behind the music,
- 0:32and, yeah, just how God has worked in her life.
- 0:36And so, Sarah, welcome to the podcast.
- 0:38It's so good to. Be here.
- 0:39Yeah, let's start off and tell us where'd you grow up?
- 0:43How did you end up where you are now?
- 0:45It's a big question, but you can take it as small or as big as
- 0:48you'd like to. Yeah, feel free to interrupt as
- 0:50I go because it is a long beautiful.
- 0:52Story. I'm excited.
- 0:54Yeah, so I grew up in a Christian Church in South
- 0:58Jersey. My family loves the Lord.
- 1:01I grew up, you know, going to church, loving the Lord.
- 1:04I would say that my faith became real more out of high school.
- 1:08A couple years after high school, I went to a mission
- 1:11organization camp, a discipleship training school
- 1:14with Yowam, which I would say there like the Lord really
- 1:17rebuilt my faith because the school that I did only had a
- 1:22couple students in it. And at the time I was super
- 1:25involved in my church. I was writing music, I was
- 1:28leading youth group, I was leading worship like multiple
- 1:31times a week for different things.
- 1:33And then the Lord took me to this discipleship training
- 1:35school and he was like, OK, Sarah, like with everything else
- 1:38gone, like what's left with just me and you, you know, like
- 1:41what's left just with us? And I was like, Dang, I don't
- 1:46know what is you know. And so through that, I think the
- 1:50Lord addressed a lot of like things in my heart that I wasn't
- 1:53really addressing underlying things and did a lot of healing
- 1:57and kind of like rebuilt the power of the gospel in my life,
- 2:00you know? And I would say that's where I
- 2:02really fell in love with the Lord was in Why Wham.
- 2:05I went on to do a secondary school, which was a Bible
- 2:08school. We went through the Bible in
- 2:10three months. We read it audibly in small
- 2:14groups, which was a really cool format of reading the Bible.
- 2:16It was really fun, just like in community, you know, and that's
- 2:19where I was like, Oh, shoot, the Bible's awesome.
- 2:21And so, you know, this is actually cool, which I, you
- 2:24know, I grew up reading it, but it was like, Oh, this is so
- 2:26powerful. There's so much, you know, just
- 2:27grew the passion for it. When I came back from Yom is
- 2:32when I finished my album, I had already started a bunch of
- 2:36songs. I had a couple, you know, Bruin
- 2:38and I think the Lord brought a couple songs out of Yom as well.
- 2:42And I think that Yom kind of like helped seal and finish the
- 2:46story of the album that the Lord was writing.
- 2:48So. So for those that may not be
- 2:51familiar, what is? Why?
- 2:53Wham, what did? They do.
- 2:55OK, so why Wham stands for Youth with a Mission?
- 2:58It's a missions organization that's global and they're all
- 3:01about raising up young people to just know Jesus and then be
- 3:06empowered to share the gospel as well.
- 3:08And so they do. Their traditional format is like
- 3:113 months of basic who's Jesus like, who are you like, what is
- 3:16your purpose like? What is the gospel like?
- 3:19Let's let's address certain things that might be holding you
- 3:21back from walking in freedom, and then let's empower you to go
- 3:24and share that with the world, you know?
- 3:26And so I did that. It was like, I think it was six
- 3:28months total. OK.
- 3:29Yeah, yeah. I would say before Why I am, I
- 3:32had AI, had a couple songs and I had a community around me that
- 3:35was like I could tell the story of how I got into music and how
- 3:38I started recording. But I had a couple songs and
- 3:41then through Wyman I wrote a few and then when I came back is
- 3:44when I finished the album that I put out, and that was a couple
- 3:47years ago, 2023, which is kind of crazy.
- 3:50You, you alluded to like getting into music and so you were
- 3:54leading worship. How?
- 3:55How young were you when you first started helping out
- 3:57leading worship? 8th grade, I started leading in
- 4:01youth band at my church. Yeah, I started playing guitar
- 4:05the summer after 7th grade. Somewhere in 8th grade, I joined
- 4:08the the worship team for youth group.
- 4:11That was really fun. My church really helped disciple
- 4:14me in like just leading and helped me like just the
- 4:18experience of it being able to play with other musicians that
- 4:21also loved the Lord, you know, it really helped Cultivate,
- 4:25cultivate, cultivate not only my gift, but my heart, you know.
- 4:29So that was fun. At the time I didn't had no idea
- 4:32what I was doing. And then that grew into you
- 4:35leading in multiple worship things later on.
- 4:38And then how did that translate to like, recording your own
- 4:42music and writing your own music?
- 4:44I was really blessed because in high school, my choir director
- 4:49actually was a recording artist as well.
- 4:52He had worked on like his own music for years and he was
- 4:55really good at it. And so in our choir room, we
- 4:58actually had a soundproof studio with like all this recording
- 5:02equipment in it. And because he was so gifted in
- 5:04that, we actually had a class in high school called music
- 5:07composition where he taught us how to use recording softwares
- 5:10like Logic Pro and like how to use different things.
- 5:13And I was like, this is amazing. I remember taking it my
- 5:16sophomore year, like as soon as we were allowed to take
- 5:18electives and like fun classes, that was like the first on my
- 5:21list and I fell in love with it. And then throughout my high
- 5:24school experience, I, I just started learning more about how
- 5:27to do that. I started writing original
- 5:28music. I think I technically wrote
- 5:30songs when I was younger, but nothing that was like good.
- 5:33I wouldn't say my high school stuff was good.
- 5:35That's that's a stretch. But it was better.
- 5:37I started to learn and. Now we're going to play one of
- 5:39her original recordings. Definitely not.
- 5:43No, It's bad. That's only for a select few
- 5:46people that knew me at that time, but it was good.
- 5:50It was a good experience. And so I started writing and
- 5:53then after high school, I throughout high school, I saved
- 5:55up my money and I was like, OK, when I graduate, I want to get
- 5:58at least the essentials for in my own studio at home so I can
- 6:02continue doing this, which I did throughout those couple years.
- 6:05After high school, I met my friend Jesse Lenz, who at the
- 6:10time wasn't dating my best friend, but now they're married.
- 6:13One of my best friends, her name is Elena.
- 6:15And we were all just kind of in a friend group together.
- 6:18And one time I was at this college house, bunch of
- 6:23Christian girls were in this house.
- 6:25And it was actually during COVID and this storm came and, and we
- 6:29were like trapped in this house. And I was like, oh, no, I have
- 6:31to spend time with friends. You know, at the time we're so
- 6:33sick. You can't see anybody, you can't
- 6:35hang out. I was like, mom and dad, I can't
- 6:37come. Home with storming so.
- 6:38Bad. Oh no.
- 6:39But I'm like over here, desperate for community because
- 6:41you can't see anybody. And so I ended up playing my
- 6:45song The Fight, which is the first song on my album for them.
- 6:48They're like, this is so good, you need to record this.
- 6:52This is insane. And they actually surprised me
- 6:56the next day with Jesse. And he was set up a whole
- 7:02recording studio in the house. I came downstairs and he was
- 7:05like, we're we're recording your song.
- 7:07And I didn't even know Jesse like that at that time.
- 7:10But basically a couple of the friends like made a couple phone
- 7:13calls. They're like, you need to do
- 7:14this. Like he was in the community of
- 7:17in that time as well. And like, you need to record
- 7:19this girl song. It's so good.
- 7:20And that's kind of how it all got started.
- 7:22And I was like, you know, what are the odds of that even of
- 7:25that going down in that way? And then through that, we just
- 7:29started recording a little bit more.
- 7:31The next song we did was the last song on my album called
- 7:34ABBA, which is, which is a really special song to me.
- 7:38And it just kind of flowed and we're like, do you want to
- 7:41record an album? And I was like, yeah, I was
- 7:44saying absolutely. Recording an album was always on
- 7:47my heart. And it was like one of those
- 7:49things where the Lord. It was just one of those things
- 7:51where like that was something that I imagine would happen like
- 7:54way down the line in the future, me recording an album, like it
- 7:58was just this big dream on my heart.
- 8:00And I felt like the Lord kind of blessed me with that deep desire
- 8:03in my heart to be able to create and in such an excellent way in
- 8:07community and make music that I really loved.
- 8:09Like in the beginning of my quote UN quote music career, you
- 8:12know, like most people are like, Oh yeah, I'll put out a song and
- 8:15see how it does and maybe see wait for doors to open up.
- 8:18But for me, it was kind of just like, no, the Lord kept on
- 8:20opening, opening up doors as I went, as I walked in obedience,
- 8:24as I fell more in love with him, like things just kept opening
- 8:28up. And it was so special that I was
- 8:30able to like kind of start my music, at least that I'm
- 8:33releasing with this thing that I had really met the Lord in and
- 8:38was so proud of, you know, so that was special.
- 8:41That's kind of how it started. But just a community of
- 8:43believers who, you know, were passionate about making music
- 8:47and wanted community in COVID, you know?
- 8:51Yeah. And so that that first recording
- 8:52of The Fight, is that the same one that's on the album?
- 8:55Yeah, well, that's yeah, we I think we ended up redoing the
- 8:58guitar, but the same vocals like as it was that session that
- 9:02yeah. Because I didn't know if you
- 9:03just recorded the demo and then you're like, OK, let's touch
- 9:05this up. Yeah, before we release.
- 9:07Yeah. But to have the majority of it
- 9:09be from that original? Yeah, it's really cool.
- 9:11Yeah, yeah. I mean, we, we added things as
- 9:14we went. Most songs are multiple
- 9:16sessions. I mean, every song is multiple
- 9:18sessions. But yeah, we got we got the
- 9:20ideas out for sure. It was, it was cool.
- 9:23Like it was a learning experience.
- 9:25Like I didn't know what I was doing.
- 9:26I just knew that the Lord had given me a song and I was like,
- 9:29all right, let's see what happens, see how it comes
- 9:31together. I was really blessed by Jesse as
- 9:33well. He's such a good producer
- 9:34because I feel like he really honors what the Lord has given.
- 9:39Like you. He doesn't try and make it his
- 9:41own. He's like, OK, what is what is
- 9:43this song that God has given you?
- 9:44How can I come into agreement with that and like add to that
- 9:48rather than make it my own? Wow, that's cool.
- 9:51That's fun. OK so then so then you put out
- 9:54this album, it's 2023 and was there any goal or desire to like
- 10:00this is now my full time thing? I kind of was like, we'll see
- 10:04what happens, you know, and the Lord has continued to open up
- 10:08doors and like in different ways.
- 10:11I don't know if it was ever like I, I wouldn't be opposed to it
- 10:14becoming my full time thing, but it's kind of like we'll see what
- 10:18happens. I think that more importantly, I
- 10:21want to just be faithful and not compromise.
- 10:24Like I'm going to make a song because it's going to reach all
- 10:27these people. Like I want to make songs that I
- 10:30want to make the songs that like Jesus gives me.
- 10:32And I want to just keep it in this sweet thing that I have
- 10:35with him. And if it blesses people, it's
- 10:37going to bless people and, and the people that it's going to
- 10:39reach are going to be intended for it to reach.
- 10:41Like, I guess I'm a little hesitant to be like, OK, I'm
- 10:45going to do music because I want to get paid for it or I want to
- 10:49get music because I want it to be my full time job.
- 10:51Like if that's the motivation to me, it may compromise some of
- 10:56the purity and like the heart behind it, you know?
- 11:00And I think that's what has drawn me originally drawn to the
- 11:04album because I met your mom at a funeral of all places.
- 11:08And then she was just like, you need to listen to my daughter's
- 11:10album. She's awesome.
- 11:12Like I'm so glad, like the just the, the pure joy that she has
- 11:18in expressing what you've created made me like, OK, I'm
- 11:23downloading it today and I will listen to it when I can.
- 11:27And your, your intimate relationship with the Lord comes
- 11:32through in every song. And I think that's what made me
- 11:38so interested in talking to you. But also like continue to listen
- 11:41because and I would say like in in the least offensive way
- 11:46possible. And I will cut this out if you
- 11:48want me to that like it's not like I'm blown away musically by
- 11:54it, but if it was bad music, it would draw me away from the
- 11:58lyrics and the words and everything.
- 11:59And it's beautiful music it is. But like, that's not the, oh,
- 12:04because I think some Christian music you just like, oh, I
- 12:07really like this, this chord progression.
- 12:09I really like how this sounds. And I know it's about Jesus.
- 12:12And so like, it makes me feel better about listening to this
- 12:15like good music. But for me, like the core of the
- 12:18songs, like your singer-songwriter skills and
- 12:23your relationship with the Lord comes through with each one.
- 12:26And that to me is like so much more important and better and
- 12:34like, I don't know, I didn't want to say make it sound like
- 12:36it was bad music because it's not bad music, but like, it's
- 12:38the save me. I think I think what I'm hearing
- 12:47is so opposite to not what you're saying, Jeremy, but but
- 12:52such of how the world works and so much of even how the
- 12:56Christian world works. Too often when you get into some
- 12:59of those, those spaces where we then try to build a platform, we
- 13:05try to put ourselves out there, whether that's a
- 13:09singer-songwriter or a band or even, you know, a pastor who
- 13:14wants to be more famous than just, you know, their quote,
- 13:18little church. You know, they want to be a
- 13:20speaker, they want to be an author or whatever, and they
- 13:23start driving all these things. But what I'm hearing in your
- 13:26story is, is a desire really just to be used by God and to
- 13:32follow him through the doors that are opening.
- 13:35And recognizing that there have been certain times along the way
- 13:38where where God's called you to kind of pause or step back and
- 13:44allow him to do some things to build a character in you that
- 13:49can then support what he wants to do through you.
- 13:53And and that's a beautiful thing.
- 13:55Yeah, Yeah. It's like, is my identity in
- 13:59what I'm doing? And is my identity like, OK, if
- 14:03this song does well, then then I did a good job.
- 14:07Yeah. Or is it like, oh, I'm just
- 14:08being obedient and I'm loving the Lord, and I know that I'm
- 14:11loved by God and that he delights in my music.
- 14:14And because of that, he's going to bless it.
- 14:16And because of that is he's going to let it reach who it
- 14:18wants to reach. You know, I also see as see
- 14:21music as something I'm going to be doing my whole life.
- 14:23Like there is no rush for me to get a million views right off
- 14:27the bat. It's like, Nah, this is it's
- 14:29just it's a long term thing. Even in heaven, like we're going
- 14:32to be singing forever. I don't know.
- 14:33I see as big picture, you know? And my voice will be redeemed
- 14:37when we get. There it will.
- 14:41All things reconciled, but how have you?
- 14:46Because it's like 2023, we're in 2025 now.
- 14:50It's not your profession. And I think a lot of people
- 14:53like, oh, I make Christian music.
- 14:55They're like, oh, that means it must become your profession,
- 14:59like everything we've talked about.
- 15:01So how have you balanced like I know currently you're working
- 15:06you sit at a restaurant right in Atlantic City.
- 15:09How have you have you been doing that the past couple of years?
- 15:11So how have you balanced like what people consider like
- 15:14ordinary everyday job and yet having a gifting and being
- 15:18faithful to what God has called you outside of that job?
- 15:22Because a lot of people connect career with calling and you can
- 15:26be called to being a light and all of the things within the
- 15:31place that he's given you. But it feels like it has to be
- 15:33one or the other. Yeah.
- 15:35And so how have you balanced those things?
- 15:39I don't know if I'm. Asking a question.
- 15:41Yeah. I guess my first, the first
- 15:44person I think of is John Mark Pantana.
- 15:46Have you heard of him? He's a Christian
- 15:48singer-songwriter that I love. He loves the Lord.
- 15:50You could tell the heart is there.
- 15:52And I believe he was a Carpenter for like years and years and
- 15:57years in the beginning of his music career.
- 15:59Like I, I believe only recently is he full time music.
- 16:03And I see a lot of people doing that.
- 16:05You know, for me, I, when I was making my album, I was recording
- 16:10every Wednesday. That was my thing.
- 16:11Every, every I had Wednesdays off and so did my producer.
- 16:15And so we would just set apart that time.
- 16:17We would, we would make it happen.
- 16:19Now we record every on 3rd Wednesday, which I'm a little
- 16:21sad. I miss every Wednesday, but we
- 16:23still make it happen. He's married now, you know, so
- 16:25he has less time. It's fine.
- 16:29No, I'm just kidding. So, yeah, I think just being
- 16:31faithful, you know, it's like, yeah, life happens and, you
- 16:35know, I need to work, I need to provide for myself on, you know,
- 16:38there's other things happening. But, you know, just still
- 16:41writing and being faithful to record, even if I'm like, I
- 16:45don't know exactly when this is going to come out.
- 16:47It might take a little longer now.
- 16:48Just still doing it, you know. Yeah.
- 16:50Yeah. Well.
- 16:51That's really awesome. Have you ever felt like if
- 16:55you're meeting every Wednesday or now every Thursday, like you
- 16:58have to produce something or are there times that like 1 like
- 17:03sometimes it's practicing the craft and other times it's like
- 17:07God has provided this for me to share.
- 17:10I don't know if there's. Yeah, I guess there's moments
- 17:13where it's like, I wonder what I'm going to do next.
- 17:15But for the most part, since songs take so long to make, like
- 17:21I took three years on my album from start to finish and it was
- 17:24like 11 songs. So you're working on the same
- 17:27song for a long time. Sometimes you'll do like one
- 17:29song and you'll stop and you'll do another song and come back to
- 17:33it. So in the meantime, I'm, if I'm
- 17:34writing music, there's kind of always something to record.
- 17:38There's always something on the back burner that you're like,
- 17:40OK, when I've done this, I want to do this.
- 17:42For the most part, I would say there, it's never like, I wonder
- 17:45what I want to record. Yeah, because I write songs not
- 17:48every day, but like I'm pretty much always working on
- 17:51something. You should see my notes app or
- 17:53my voice memos. That's crazy.
- 17:54It was. I probably have like 1000 voice
- 17:56memos. We're going to play everyone.
- 18:00Yeah, I'll just be like driving in the car and I'll be like, oh,
- 18:04this is good when I record it and it'll be, it won't be good,
- 18:07but it'll be helpful for the future.
- 18:10That's awesome. Yeah.
- 18:11So in the in the process of it, you work 3 years for an album
- 18:16and then afterwards are there any songs that you're like, I
- 18:20wish I had a little bit more time to like add in an
- 18:23instrument, take something out, change a bridge?
- 18:26Or is it just like you're content with like after all that
- 18:29time of putting so much into it, I.
- 18:31Don't know. I mean, since I hadn't really
- 18:32put out much music, I think it was only one song before I put
- 18:36on my album. Yeah, Like nobody even knew
- 18:38about me, you know what I mean? So there was no like, oh, I have
- 18:41to keep putting out music. Oh, I have to feel this pressure
- 18:44of like time. I just worked on it.
- 18:48We just worked on it till we felt like it was ready, you
- 18:50know, and we had so much time, so.
- 18:53And what's it look like to reach that point where you feel like,
- 18:57OK, this really is done and ready to offer it to the world
- 19:03in whatever way that happens? Because like as a pastor, very
- 19:07different process, but also, you know, content and creating is a
- 19:12lot of of of what I do and I don't get a choice in when I
- 19:20release something to vote. Sunday comes every week.
- 19:23And or you fake being sick or listen.
- 19:27I called you one time in three years that you've worked here
- 19:31and said I'm too sick to preach. Me to do.
- 19:34One time. And you sent me a picture of you
- 19:37on a beach with a mojito. No, no, listen, I've never been
- 19:41that sick in my adult life before.
- 19:45I spent the whole week in bed. I've.
- 19:47Never. Fever.
- 19:48Sorry, that's terrible. Anyway, back to my point.
- 19:54Talk to us about like what that process looks like and then
- 19:57actually like getting to that point where you're like, OK,
- 20:00this is done and I'm ready to release it.
- 20:03And then like you don't really go back and change it once you
- 20:07put it out there, right? And that's something.
- 20:10Like every time I preach turn, I'm like, oh, I wish I'd done
- 20:12that differently. I wish I'd but it's done.
- 20:13It's out there. It's God's going to use it as it
- 20:15is, but. Yeah.
- 20:17There's that letting go, yeah. Of it, yeah.
- 20:20So when I first started my album, I didn't know what songs
- 20:23I was going to put on there. I hadn't even wrote a lot of the
- 20:25songs. We were just like, OK, we want
- 20:28to put out an album, let's record.
- 20:30And so we would meet, I would write and I'm like, oh, this is
- 20:32good, let's see what happens. Let's record it for fun.
- 20:34Oh, this is good. And it just kind of came
- 20:36together. And as it was coming together, I
- 20:38had more of an idea what what was happening, what the theme
- 20:42was going to be. A lot of singer songwriters, a
- 20:45lot of producers, they just have tons of songs and they'll pick
- 20:49and choose and they'll be like, OK, what do we want to do?
- 20:51A theme for the song? Do we want to go with songs that
- 20:54have the like a similar feel or, or whatever?
- 20:57Like what's going to be the most like, baby, what's going to be
- 20:59fun? What are people going to like?
- 21:00For me, like I said, I didn't know what I was doing.
- 21:03So we were just writing and then as it came together, we kind of
- 21:06saw. So I would say I didn't know
- 21:08what the finished product was until it was there.
- 21:12I can, I just pulled out my album so I can, I can kind of
- 21:15like breakdown what I feel like the finished product was the
- 21:18theme wise for you guys. But again, I I had no idea.
- 21:23So the Fight is the first song on my album that and then it
- 21:27ends with ABBA. So my my album kind of starts
- 21:31from this place. I would say the first 3 songs,
- 21:33the fight glorified and better than are kind of just this like
- 21:38their prayer songs. They're not necessarily worship
- 21:41songs. They're me kind of asking the
- 21:43Lord for help and and working through different things in my
- 21:46heart where I'm like, OK, Lord, I need you in this.
- 21:48Like I'm struggling in this like I want your way in my life.
- 21:52Then here I am and here you are is the title album of, of the
- 21:57title song of the album. It's not even a song really.
- 22:00It's a spoken word. And that song is really me
- 22:03praying and asking the Lord to meet me in in like an intimate
- 22:09place. And that kind of is the heart
- 22:13prayer of the entire album. And I, I would say that's kind
- 22:17of the shifting place of the album.
- 22:19From there it goes into step in, which is me asking the Lord come
- 22:23step into my life. Then it has father's response,
- 22:25which is just piano bomb and that's by my friend Brian Smith.
- 22:31He's amazing. Then it goes into more songs
- 22:34that are like free. So like, like I said in the
- 22:36beginning, it's more Lord, I'm, I'm struggling like help me.
- 22:40Then I asked him to come in. The father responds.
- 22:44And then the, the next after father's response, the next 5
- 22:48songs, they're more like, they come from a more, more of a
- 22:51place of like the freedom and the joy of knowing the Lord,
- 22:54like Breathless is from Song of Solomon.
- 22:56It's from the Lord's perspective of like you leave me breathless,
- 22:59like I love you close. The the tagline is I didn't know
- 23:03you could be this close. You know, I did.
- 23:05Wow, like it's you can kind of feel my eyes opening up like and
- 23:09being pointed more towards him rather than on myself and my
- 23:12struggles letting go self-explanatory.
- 23:15It's me letting go then never know is like when it says when I
- 23:20want more of you, you look in my eyes and you say it's never
- 23:23know. Like he's so joyful and ready to
- 23:25give me more of himself. And then ABBA is a song about
- 23:29like when we eventually meet the Lord one day.
- 23:32So I don't know, that was kind of all over the place.
- 23:35But I would say my album is this kind of journey that I walked
- 23:39through of just being really inwardly focused and trying to
- 23:43have it all together. And I don't know, like no figure
- 23:46out what I'm doing on my own and just struggling to do it on my
- 23:49own. And then me releasing this like
- 23:51independence and walking in more dependency on the Lord, having
- 23:55peace in that and really just receiving so much intimacy and
- 23:59love and freedom and joy from that process.
- 24:03And I would say like, as I went, I had to walk through that
- 24:06process to kind of know what it was going to be.
- 24:09And, and like, looking back on this album, it's kind of like my
- 24:12testimony, honestly, of me falling in love with the Lord
- 24:15and walking in freedom and, and learning like who Jesus is for
- 24:19myself, you know, not just what other people say.
- 24:22Once I saw these songs all together, I kind of had more of
- 24:26an idea of like, oh, that's what's happening, That's what
- 24:29the Lord's doing. Oh, it's just my story.
- 24:31It's simple. It doesn't have to be what other
- 24:33people are doing. It doesn't have to be this album
- 24:35that has a certain vibe or a certain feel or a certain
- 24:38message. Like, oh, it's my story.
- 24:39You know, the last song that I added was Here I am and Here You
- 24:43Are, which is the spoken word. That's the last thing that we
- 24:46added. And that kind of, for me,
- 24:49brought it all together because it's literally me speaking and
- 24:52asking the Lord. And like, it's this prayer that
- 24:55kind of shows the heart of it. It does, yeah.
- 24:59So like, it's interesting hearing you like, lay it out
- 25:02like that because listening through the album, you can hear
- 25:08those stages. And I think I really gravitate
- 25:10towards the first three, yeah, that you mentioned of like the
- 25:16struggle. But within your struggle songs,
- 25:21there's still this hope, there's still this trust that you're
- 25:26reminding yourself of. I can delete it out.
- 25:29You're fine. You can gulp all you want in
- 25:31front of that mic. And so that's like, I draw to
- 25:36those, I think more naturally because a lot of times I feel
- 25:40like in Christian music, it's usually staying in one place or
- 25:44the other. It's not you don't always get
- 25:47like a mixture of it. It's it's usually like this is
- 25:50really tough and I know to trust you, but like you lean very
- 25:53heavy into both halves of it within the same song, which I
- 25:57really love. But I would love to have you
- 26:00play glorified that they can hear it.
- 26:04And then also like link your album obviously in the notes and
- 26:07everything. But I don't want to just post
- 26:09the entire album on the end. So I'd love to ask you a couple
- 26:14questions actually based off of the spoken word and off of
- 26:18Glorified and My way. Yeah, go ahead.
- 26:20Do you have one that you'd prefer to start with?
- 26:23I'll say, we'll say glorified. Yeah, let's go on the order of
- 26:26the album. Yeah, but where?
- 26:28It says right now I'm walking blindly, but I'm not the one who
- 26:32has to see. I know that my guider loves me.
- 26:36He always leads me in safety. It seems like there was, like
- 26:41you said, like it's your testimony.
- 26:42Could you share with us a little bit of that season where you
- 26:46felt like you were walking blindly and how you in that
- 26:50time, even if it wasn't during the entire time, but like what
- 26:54led you to have that deeper trust and where God was leaving
- 26:58leading you? I feel like I have to share the
- 27:01story of the song first before I go into that question.
- 27:05It actually glorified is the whole, I won't tell you how to
- 27:09be glorified is actually someone else's prayer.
- 27:13My one of my mom's really good friends, her and her husband had
- 27:17a daughter who was battling cancer at the time.
- 27:20And we all got together one night over dinner and we were
- 27:25praying for her healing and stuff.
- 27:27And after everyone prayed the dad, he was like, the Lord knows
- 27:33my heart. He knows that I want my daughter
- 27:35to be healed, but at the end of the day, I'm not going to tell
- 27:37him how to be glorified through this situation.
- 27:39Like I know that he will be glorified, but I'm not going to
- 27:42like raise my fist and be like, you have to do this or else, you
- 27:45know, like I'm not going to tell him how to be glorified.
- 27:48And I like when I left there, I drove home and I was just
- 27:51crying. I was like, how could he say
- 27:53that over his daughter's life? That's insane.
- 27:57Like Lord, the, the amount of trust in God for him to, to say
- 28:01that is on another level. I was so impacted by that and I
- 28:06was like, Lord, I want to trust you like that.
- 28:08Like if I was in that situation, I don't think I would say that,
- 28:12you know, that's rough. And so through that, it just
- 28:17inspired me. I was like being able to see
- 28:19that heart posture was so profound to me because it showed
- 28:24me another level of like actually knowing God that much
- 28:27that you could trust him, like trusting in his his character
- 28:30enough that you could like trust your daughter's life, like trust
- 28:36the Lord with your daughter's life, you know, And so through
- 28:39that I was like, wow, I want, I want to be that way.
- 28:41I would say the rest of the song kind of was my experience about
- 28:46trusting the Lord, but he kind of gave me the words to be able
- 28:49to say that, you know, my situation was not nearly as
- 28:52serious. But coming out of high school, I
- 28:56just didn't know what I wanted to do with my life.
- 28:59You know, I felt this immense pressure of, OK, everybody else
- 29:02is going to college, like what am I doing?
- 29:05I, you know, I could see myself being effective in so many
- 29:07different ways on so many different career paths.
- 29:11And I didn't know. And I think that's something
- 29:13that I really, it held me back for quite a while because I was
- 29:18like, OK, I just don't know, like, Lord, what is my purpose,
- 29:21you know? I don't know where I'm going.
- 29:23I don't know what. I'm doing Yep, but I won't tell
- 29:25you how to be glorified. So I think it was just this song
- 29:28of, of submission to the Lord, like, OK, God, you know, going
- 29:32into YWAM doing, you know, putting out music, spending two
- 29:36years doing missions. It's not traditional.
- 29:39It's not what American culture will tell you to do.
- 29:42It's not the quote UN quote right path, but it's How I Met
- 29:45the Lord, you know, and it I wouldn't change it for the
- 29:48world. And so I would say that song was
- 29:50just me kind of struggling with that because even though I did,
- 29:54it doesn't mean it was easy. You know, I'm so happy that I
- 29:57did, like I said, but it was, it was a process of coming to terms
- 30:01with, OK, you know, I'm however old and I don't have a degree or
- 30:06I'm, you know, I don't have, like I'm doing missions and I'm
- 30:09raising support. You know, it's hard.
- 30:12But I knew that the Lord was glorified in it.
- 30:15And I knew without a shadow of a doubt that that was where I was
- 30:17supposed to be at that time. And because of that, the Lord
- 30:20was going to have his way with the rest of my life and
- 30:22especially in that current season, you know?
- 30:24Yeah. Man, so kind of leads into my my
- 30:27follow up question and like that chorus of the I don't have all
- 30:31the answers. That's why it's you I seek
- 30:33after. I won't tell you how to be
- 30:35glorified. That line.
- 30:36Like I think the first time I listened to this song, the album
- 30:40I think I stopped at glorified and re listened to it easily a
- 30:44couple dozen times over the course of a few days.
- 30:47That's so good. And it was just like that line
- 30:50that you stole. It's.
- 30:54Powerful really, really it was just like it hit my heart and in
- 30:58such a profound way of like just fully trusting that my
- 31:03faithfulness will have him be glorified and who am I?
- 31:08Who am I? I literally was just reflecting
- 31:10on like Job 38 of like God reminding Job just who God is
- 31:15and just like putting him in his place.
- 31:17But then like that God would even use us for his glory is
- 31:22humbling and powerful. And so I put how did you get
- 31:26here in your walk of faith to get to that point?
- 31:28So it seems like you were encouraged and inspired by this
- 31:32family friend as you saw them walk through that season.
- 31:36At what point did you feel like as you were seeking to know God
- 31:40that intimately or trust him? Was there ever a point either in
- 31:45your Why Wham season or another time where it kind of clicked
- 31:49and you're like, Oh, I feel this not just in my head, but in my
- 31:53heart that I can trust you to this level that I'm aspired to.
- 31:57Yeah, that's beautiful question. I love that.
- 32:01I would say coming out of high school in my multiple, you know,
- 32:06decisions with between Yom also just like going to counseling,
- 32:09different things, opening up, opening up my heart to like
- 32:12areas that hadn't been touched by the Lord yet, you know, and
- 32:16also just walking in obedience and with it between Yom and
- 32:19different things. Like each time I put myself
- 32:24outside of my comfort zone as an act of obedience, I learned to
- 32:28trust the Lord more because every single time he told me to
- 32:32do something that was hard, but I knew that needed to happen.
- 32:35Every time it was fruitful. And every time it brought me
- 32:38into a place of more freedom and intimacy with Jesus.
- 32:41And so I think just through the through that experience of
- 32:46obedience, the Lord taught me to trust him like, and each and
- 32:50every step it was, it was I trusted him more for the next
- 32:53step. It was like so hard in the
- 32:55beginning, you know, but every time I was like, OK, well, he
- 32:58was faithful last time. Oh, this is a little hard to
- 33:01learn. Are you sure you want?
- 33:02Me to do this. Oh, OK, well you were faithful
- 33:04last time, I'll do it again. And, and, and it just make it
- 33:07makes it easier and easier every time, you know, So I would say
- 33:10it was a, it was a process. It was, you know, just literally
- 33:14walking with the Lord, you know, but he taught me to trust him
- 33:18through his faithfulness. He's always faithful.
- 33:21He's super faithful. I'll never let you down.
- 33:25That's so good. I was going to quote way more of
- 33:27your song, but I think it's just better if you just like, play
- 33:30it. In the lowest valley, I will
- 33:35have peace. On the mountaintop, you're with
- 33:40me. I can't explain my joy's
- 33:43consistency. No.
- 33:49Oh. Right now I am walking blindly.
- 33:54But I am not. The one who has to see.
- 33:58I know that my guider loves me. He always leads me in safety.
- 34:06I don't know what I'm going, I don't know what I'm doing.
- 34:14But I won't tell you how to be glorified.
- 34:22I don't have all the answers. That's why it's you I seek
- 34:29after. I won't tell you how to be
- 34:34glorified. That we've just highlighted
- 34:42every line, that's not really helpful.
- 34:45The whole song's highlighted. Yeah, yeah.
- 34:47It's like, oh, yeah. And that one and that one and
- 34:49that one, oh, it repeats itself. I guess I don't have to
- 34:52highlight the last section. And then I'd love to jump to
- 34:56Eileen. I love better than and again,
- 34:58everyone should just go listen to the album all the way through
- 35:00and hear the journey that Sarah has already talked about.
- 35:04But that that spoken word that here I am and here you are.
- 35:09I'll just jump to the part where it says so.
- 35:13God, bring me back to that childlike moment by moment
- 35:16dependency. I want to live in the intimacy
- 35:19that you died to give me where it's OK to be weak because you
- 35:23are strong, which I will throw out there for listeners that
- 35:28know my children that Theo loves Jesus loves you or.
- 35:33Loves me but. I think Jesus loves you.
- 35:36And now he, like, sings along to it.
- 35:38And so we'll go through it. And his favorite part is the
- 35:40strong. He makes little muscles.
- 35:42And I was like, Jesus is strong. He's like, yeah, Jesus is
- 35:44strong. Like, that's right.
- 35:46But he's like, dad, dad, strong. I was like, but Dad, Dad,
- 35:49strength comes from Jesus. And so that's just been a
- 35:52beautiful thing recently. And so when I reflect on that,
- 35:56wanting to have that moment by moment dependency.
- 36:00And I know when people like hear a song or music clip and they
- 36:04connect it with a person as yourself, you're just like, oh,
- 36:07this is where their heart is 24/7.
- 36:11And this is like a clip. This is a moment.
- 36:14And so I'm wondering, since 2023, has there been a brief
- 36:19time or a season where you felt like you lacked that moment to
- 36:25moment dependency? And how did you get back into a
- 36:30place? Like, how did you, yeah, draw
- 36:33yourself closer and get back into that?
- 36:36And if you've had just a perfect walk this entire time, it's OK,
- 36:39you can just say that. We'll skip over.
- 36:40Yeah. Yeah.
- 36:42That's a good question. I mean, I definitely would not
- 36:45say I had a perfect moment, especially not moment by moment
- 36:49dependency. I think that's something that I
- 36:51always, to be honest, always have to remind myself of.
- 36:55I think that I'm just naturally prone to try and figure things
- 36:58out on my own. Like even honestly in this
- 37:01season, like trying to figure out what my next steps are.
- 37:05You know, it's like, OK, I don't have to put so much pressure on
- 37:10myself to know like, Oh yeah, God's my father, let me talk to
- 37:15him. You know what I mean?
- 37:17Yeah, it's, it's so simple, which is why just the concept of
- 37:21Jesus, you know, being with children and talking to children
- 37:23in the Bible. We see that all over the place.
- 37:25But anyway, point being, I love that our walk with God isn't
- 37:31complicated. Like he hasn't made it
- 37:33complicated, but he's made it profound and so.
- 37:36That's. Not easy, yeah.
- 37:38Simple. Yeah, simple.
- 37:39Not easy. Yeah.
- 37:41So I would say that's just an ongoing thing for me.
- 37:43It's not something like, Oh yeah, me and Jesus, perfect.
- 37:46We got it locked. You know, it's just kind of an
- 37:50ongoing reminder to myself. Like, yeah, I wasn't made to be
- 37:54independent. I was made to be a child that
- 37:56needs her dad, you know? Yeah, it reminds me of a book,
- 38:02Brainwashed, Overcoming the Mind of Adam and Getting the Mind of
- 38:07Christ. Something Like That by Manny
- 38:08Arango. And he shares this great story
- 38:11about how he had taken his dad's car out and got into an accident
- 38:20and then, like, struggled and panicked and tried to figure out
- 38:23how to get it fixed without his dad knowing that like there was
- 38:26ever an issue and was not successful.
- 38:29And his dad found out. And his dad was like, why didn't
- 38:34you come to the one person that could help you?
- 38:37And so like, to me, it's like reflecting on our heavenly
- 38:42Father. And it's like some of like, God,
- 38:43I can take care of this on my own.
- 38:45Like, let me, it's like, I want you to bring it to me.
- 38:47And I'm the only one that can really help in this situation.
- 38:50And so I, I saw that reflected a lot in that very vulnerable
- 38:55spoken word that, again, everyone's going to go and
- 38:59listen to on their own. Yeah, I appreciate that.
- 39:02And then I would love to jump to my way, which I think is
- 39:06technically your newest single. Yeah, that has come out.
- 39:09When did that come out? Is that this year?
- 39:13It was this year. It was this summer, spring,
- 39:15summer. Which it like has very.
- 39:16May 9th vibes. May 9th, good job.
- 39:20Of this year, yes, very summary vibes which I liked.
- 39:23Yeah, that's why I did that, yeah.
- 39:24It was it was really nice and it reminded me of By Your Side by
- 39:3010th Ave. N, which is like this dialogue
- 39:32from God about like God being by your side and to comfort you.
- 39:37But yours isn't just like God comforting.
- 39:42It's a reminding of like his will and his way is the best.
- 39:46So it's like the simultaneous of like he's there for you.
- 39:49His presence is with you. He loves you.
- 39:51All of these affirmations of how God views us.
- 39:55But then it's also like, my ways the best way.
- 39:59Yeah. And that, like, very needed
- 40:01reminder. And I think sometimes people
- 40:03just want comfort, God, and they don't want to change your life
- 40:06and walk with me. God.
- 40:08Yeah. And so I'm curious, what was the
- 40:11background inspiration for that track?
- 40:13And yeah, you know, since you did all that work for one album.
- 40:17What goes into like, oh, this one's good enough to just
- 40:21release on its own. And how did you?
- 40:24I don't know. I feel like for me as I read
- 40:27through the lyrics, I'm like, oh, this is pointing to this
- 40:30scripture and this is pointing to this picture.
- 40:32So I was curious if like that was intentional and you'd like a
- 40:36lineup of scriptures that you're like, this is where God
- 40:38reassures me of this and God reassures me of this.
- 40:41Or just like kind of from knowing scripture and reading it
- 40:44in 90 days and and walking with him, like you knew these truths
- 40:50embedded in you, even if you weren't like super intentional
- 40:53about the specific scriptures that they derive from.
- 40:56Yeah, so I actually wrote my way when I was in YWAM, which was
- 40:59during the same season that I was writing my album.
- 41:01At least I started it then. I think it was just the first
- 41:04verse in chorus. And then I didn't get back to it
- 41:07for a long time. But I made a friend.
- 41:10It was in Philly, so it's like I said, there's just a couple
- 41:13students there. And one of the leaders, her
- 41:16younger sister, like, lived on bass with everyone.
- 41:19And she really was interested in the guitar and songwriting
- 41:21stuff. And I was like, oh, it's easy.
- 41:23Like you just, you know, pick up a guitar and you think like, OK,
- 41:26what do I need to hear from the Lord?
- 41:28Let's think, let's write a love song.
- 41:29That was what I said, which I feel like it sounds like 1 to me
- 41:32at least. Yeah, I.
- 41:33Was like, all right, let's write a love song from the Lord.
- 41:35Like what do we need to hear from the Lord?
- 41:38You know, when I write a song, a lot of times, even with the
- 41:40prayers, it's like, OK, when I sing this again, is it going to
- 41:43edify me? Is it going to encourage me?
- 41:45Like what do I need to hear in the future?
- 41:47And so the verse is literally no matter what you think of
- 41:49yourself, I love you. Even if you heard something
- 41:52else, I want you. You don't have to strive or
- 41:54perform. That's a big one for me.
- 41:56I see you and I'm with you. You have all my attention, my
- 41:59love, and I'm here to stay. So it's just like a sweet, like
- 42:03it's something just like I needed to hear again and again
- 42:06from the Lord and I felt like she did too.
- 42:08So that's where it started. And then just the reminder to
- 42:11focused on on the Lord and the rest will fall into place and
- 42:15it's better his way. I think that's a theme
- 42:17throughout my album, like I said.
- 42:18And obviously like I if I wrote it at the same time, it's going
- 42:22to come from a similar place. I think that I didn't put it on
- 42:25the album because first of all, I hadn't finished the song at
- 42:28the time. But also I felt like we had
- 42:32enough songs in that kind of heart posture in the beginning
- 42:36of the album that it didn't. We didn't need to add another
- 42:38one, but I knew that we would really sit one day because it's
- 42:41such a fun song, you know? It is and it, like you said,
- 42:44it's a summer song. It just feels like a summer song
- 42:46and ended up having like Jamaican vibes at the end of the
- 42:49one which. I really like.
- 43:06No matter what you think of yourself, I love you.
- 43:13I love you even if you heard something else.
- 43:18I want you. I want you.
- 43:21You don't have to strive or perform.
- 43:26I see you and I'm with you. You have all my attention, my
- 43:32love. And I'm here to stay.
- 43:36So focus on me. The rest will fall in place.
- 43:44If you focus, you'll see. It's so much better.
- 43:49My way. Yeah.
- 43:53My way. My way.
- 43:54My way. My way.
- 43:56My way, it's better. My way.
- 44:02My way. My way, my way, my way.
- 44:10That's the first half. Cool.
- 44:14And I know I'm pretty sure like Breathless is your most popular
- 44:17song. I think that breathless is
- 44:20really special because again, it's from the Lord's perspective
- 44:24and it's just this love song of like, oh man, like we captivate
- 44:28the Lorde heart. And I think a lot of people it
- 44:32were more focused on, OK, what can I do for God?
- 44:34What can I do for God, you know, which is so important.
- 44:37But the Bible says like we love because he first loved us,
- 44:40right? So I think like having that
- 44:43revelation of his love is such an important starting point to
- 44:47be able to love him back and serve him, you know.
- 44:49So I think that they just encouraged people.
- 44:53And like I said, it's mostly Scripture, at least the heart of
- 44:56it. So the Scripture is powerful and
- 44:59never returns wood. So I don't know if you're
- 45:01familiar with, I'm a big Chan fan, Francis Chan.
- 45:04Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
- 45:05OK. Yeah, yeah.
- 45:07So you wrote the book Crazy Love, which is like, you know.
- 45:10Yeah, I've heard of it. Reminding us of of God's love
- 45:13for us and, and going deep into that.
- 45:15And then I saw an interview of him recently, which is like 15
- 45:18years past him writing that book.
- 45:20And one of the things he said he's struggled with and been
- 45:24most encouraged with in the past decade is learning how to sit
- 45:28and receive God's love and all that's poured out of that and in
- 45:33his walk. And to me, I was like the guy
- 45:36that wrote the book about God's love and like trying to hyper
- 45:39focus on that is the one struggling with.
- 45:42And like, because I think there's just like such a depth
- 45:44to it that it's hard to understand or believe that it
- 45:49could be really for us. Maybe it is for people in
- 45:51general, but not me because I know me.
- 45:54And there's even been I've heard like pastors talk about like,
- 45:57like we think talk about like a condemning God and a loving God.
- 46:02And if people were honest with themselves, they can understand
- 46:05a condemning God because they know that we all fall short.
- 46:08And like if there was any all knowing, all powerful being that
- 46:12we don't deserve to be involved with that.
- 46:15But it's harder to actually wrap around our our minds around a
- 46:18loving God after knowing ourselves as well as we.
- 46:21Right, right. And to to receive that love.
- 46:23And so I appreciate the the songs you've put out there as a
- 46:27reminder to yourself and to others of God's love for them.
- 46:32And I think it's something we've talked about with like preaching
- 46:35on the podcast where it's not the, I've perfected this thing,
- 46:38so I'm going to preach it to you so you can get on my level.
- 46:41Yeah, it's I also need to hear this and God spoken to my heart
- 46:45on this topic. Yeah.
- 46:48Preaching to myself. So then it's like, oh, I need to
- 46:50go back and listen to my own service sermon.
- 46:52Not because I like hearing my voice, but because the message
- 46:55yeah is also for me, even though I'm the one yeah trusted to
- 46:59share it. Literally.
- 47:00And I'm probably the one that listens to my music the most,
- 47:02you know? All those breathless listens
- 47:04with you. Really, and especially like in
- 47:07the recording process, like you listen to it so many times
- 47:11because you're making a new version every time you record.
- 47:13And then you have to think about like, OK, what do I like here?
- 47:15What do I want to add? And it's, it's really does get
- 47:18ingrained in your mind. And I'm like, OK, even in that,
- 47:21even if I'm the only one that's going to listen to like, what do
- 47:23I need to hear? I totally, I totally think that
- 47:25that that's such a valid place to write from or even preach
- 47:28from because it just makes it more powerful.
- 47:30It's like, OK, this is what the Lord is doing in my heart.
- 47:33And I feel like that adds another level now.
- 47:35Before we move on to upcoming music, is there any other
- 47:39stories behind maybe one of the other songs you'd like?
- 47:41To Yeah, I would say I have one more.
- 47:44Let me pull up the lyrics really quick.
- 47:47It's ABBA. The last one.
- 47:49The last one this, like I said, was the second song that I
- 47:53recorded. So just picture we're in the
- 47:55house, same house, college house, recording The Fight the
- 47:58same during COVID. It wasn't the same day, but it
- 48:01was the same like week or two, Yeah.
- 48:03You were stuck in the house for a week.
- 48:05No, that would have been. I wouldn't have minded honestly.
- 48:08I just wanted friends to be back with my friends.
- 48:11So we were recording the fight and we had a couple hours left
- 48:15after like maybe the second session or something.
- 48:18And we're like, do you have any other songs?
- 48:20Oh, wait, no, I'm sorry. Let me backtrack.
- 48:23OK. First session of the fight,
- 48:26afterwards I, I'm talking to Jesse and I'm like, man, I feel
- 48:30like I'm writing a lot of the same songs.
- 48:32Like what should I do? I feel like all my songs sound
- 48:35the same. And he was like, you should try
- 48:36a different guitar tuning. It's called open D.
- 48:38It's basically you strum the chord, you strum the strings and
- 48:42it's the chord of D It's really easy chord tuning to play in.
- 48:46I was like, OK, I'll try it. So I went home.
- 48:48I tuned my guitar and as soon as I start playing, this is the
- 48:52only time that this has ever happened to me.
- 48:53I literally felt like the Lord downloaded a song into my brain.
- 48:56I've heard other artists say like this happens.
- 49:00This is the only time in in to the extreme of this that I was
- 49:03like, God literally gave me a song.
- 49:05This is crazy. And so I pull out my journal or
- 49:09whatever and I'm writing and I like play a chord and I'm like,
- 49:12my pen can't keep up. It was crazy.
- 49:15It was crazy. And I'm writing and I'm
- 49:18basically, the song is like me dreaming about what that moment
- 49:21is going to be like when I finally encounter the Lord, you
- 49:24know, and I'm face to face. I mean, like in heaven I can.
- 49:27Imagine. Literally, I can only imagine
- 49:29vibes. That's that's literally what I
- 49:31say all the time. That's when you said that.
- 49:34And so I'm writing and I'm like, this is crazy.
- 49:37Like it's coming together so much.
- 49:39Yeah. So I don't know, I feel like
- 49:40that song has been always special to me because I felt
- 49:41like it's almost like a song that the Lord gave me as a gift,
- 49:45even though technically it's from my perspective.
- 49:48I felt like he helped me dream about what that moment was going
- 49:50to be like. You know what I mean?
- 49:52Yeah, there's just so many. There's a couple lyrics in there
- 49:55that even I was, I was writing them, I would go back and
- 49:58listen. I would be like, Oh my gosh,
- 49:59that's so good. You know what I mean?
- 50:01Like I would get the revelation or like it would impact me after
- 50:03I already wrote it. Like the line that says I'll see
- 50:07your hand over the highs and the lows.
- 50:09I'll finally know the weight of your grace.
- 50:11Like that's so good. Or even just the intimacy of it.
- 50:14Like as I'm in your arms, I'll be close to your heart.
- 50:18I'll feel it beat and rhythm with mine.
- 50:20That's different verses, so it doesn't rhyme with the last one.
- 50:23But. Or like, after years of yearning
- 50:25for closeness, I'll finally be satisfied.
- 50:27That's so good. Yeah.
- 50:29Like, aren't you so excited for that moment?
- 50:31And I even, I even love the the line.
- 50:33When I hear your voice, what will you say?
- 50:35Yeah. Will your words redefine me
- 50:37instantly? Yeah, they will.
- 50:39Like everything we've thought of ourselves and projected on
- 50:42ourselves. And then like to hear truth
- 50:44direct, like, yeah. And to be fully like, because
- 50:48you hear truth about ourselves like in Scripture and like the
- 50:51breathless, right? And then it's like, but does it
- 50:55sink to the core of our being the truth of it?
- 50:57But then to be in his presence and.
- 50:59Yeah. So yeah, I just had to share
- 51:02that. And it was cool because I was, I
- 51:04was still just starting out. I I play piano, but I'm not like
- 51:07amazing at piano. And I was like, I really picture
- 51:09piano for the song Jesse. That's not his main thing.
- 51:12And he was like, oh, let me send it to my friend and we'll see
- 51:14what he sends back. His friend sends back piano.
- 51:17This guy I've never met in my life to this day.
- 51:19And it's like exactly what I pictured on the song, like in
- 51:24like so beautiful, like literally word, word, quote UN
- 51:28quote, word for word. What I what I imagine note for
- 51:30note. And I'm like, God, what are you
- 51:31doing? Like I did.
- 51:33I wasn't even friends with Jesse.
- 51:35Now we're recording. We have two songs out.
- 51:37We're talking about an album. I have piano on this song that's
- 51:40like heavenly to me and exactly what I imagined in my mind.
- 51:44Like God, then that's kind of how it was with my album.
- 51:47Just like random doors opening these excellent musicians that I
- 51:50quote didn't know at the time, like and now I'm friends with to
- 51:53this day, but like insane, insane.
- 51:57So I just had to share about ABBA because that was a special
- 52:001 and it still is a special one to me because it's just like,
- 52:03what a dream. What what a hope that we have to
- 52:05look forward to, you know? And it always puts me in that
- 52:07place of like, wow, that's gonna be such a beautiful moment one
- 52:10day, you know? I'll say so.
- 52:12We have an album, we're gonna put in the show notes.
- 52:16Do you have any upcoming music? That'll.
- 52:18Be released. What was the last one?
- 52:21Yeah. Yeah, the next song that I'm
- 52:24releasing. I was actually recording and
- 52:26working on this last night and we set a date and we did that
- 52:30specifically for this podcast. So I could tell you guys.
- 52:32So you're the first to know, but maybe by the time this comes
- 52:35out, you want to know. But we're talking about
- 52:37September 26th. Monstera is what it's called.
- 52:41I don't know if I already said that Monstera, which is a
- 52:43different you're like, what does that even mean?
- 52:47Monstera plant is a house plant. It, it's a beautiful 1.
- 52:51He knows. He just did the the shape.
- 52:55OK, wait, you know what a monstera plant is?
- 52:59But then when I say Scott, you know everything.
- 53:01And then you're like, oh, I don't know everything.
- 53:04Nope, that's a fiddly fig he knows exactly.
- 53:09I don't know what that one is. I'm kidding.
- 53:11I'm kidding. It's a real fiddly fig.
- 53:13OK, so monster. Monster.
- 53:15Yeah, if. I had a cover.
- 53:17Oh. Yeah, I've seen that.
- 53:18Yeah, fingery things. Yeah.
- 53:20So that's my favorite house plant.
- 53:22And I finally, and when I was writing the song, I had finally
- 53:26got one for myself. I was so excited about it.
- 53:28I put it on my bookshelf. I was sitting on my bed.
- 53:31I was looking at it. I was like, man, this thing is
- 53:32beautiful. I love it.
- 53:34And I was just playing my guitar and I was like, what if I wrote
- 53:36a song about it? And you know, those songs, I was
- 53:40thinking this during the time, like they're just randomly
- 53:43really specific. It'll be like a girl with her
- 53:46hair blowing in the wind and her hands out the window in her
- 53:49convertible car. And like, those are the lyrics.
- 53:50I'd be like. She was in a car and her hand
- 53:52was in the window and she had blonde hair and.
- 53:56You know what I'm saying? It's really bad.
- 53:57Is this the first verse of Monster?
- 53:59The first song, Really. Yeah.
- 54:01But do you know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah.
- 54:03Yeah, so I was like kind of writing it as a little joke, but
- 54:07not a joke, like a challenge, I guess.
- 54:10And so I was like, all right, let me just do it for fun.
- 54:13And so I started writing. I was like.
- 54:15Look at the plant that's by my window.
- 54:17It's standing tall and unashamed.
- 54:20Look at the new life that is growing.
- 54:23Oh how I want to be the same. Like it was just kind of like a
- 54:26silly song prompt that I gave myself that I ended up turning
- 54:30into something so beautiful. And it as I was writing it, I
- 54:35pulled up Jeremiah 17, seven, which says, But blessed is the
- 54:41one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.
- 54:43They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its
- 54:46roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat
- 54:49comes. Its leaves are always green.
- 54:52It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear
- 54:56fruit. So yeah, just the idea of, like,
- 55:00looking at this plant, I'm sitting in my room and I'm like,
- 55:02man, that that thing is doing exactly what it was intended to
- 55:04do. Like, all of creation.
- 55:06Never doubts or thinks. It just grows, you know?
- 55:11I'm like, I wanted to be that simple for me, you know?
- 55:14And so that was kind of the inspiration of the song.
- 55:15And it turned into this kind of sweet, simple thing of just me
- 55:19looking at a monstera plan. But it's actually a deeper
- 55:22metaphor, you know, so I could play that for you guys.
- 55:26Yeah, yeah. No, I please go ahead, play
- 55:29that. Look at the plant that's by my
- 55:46window. It's standing tall and
- 55:51unashamed. Look at the new life that is
- 55:58growing. Oh how I want to be the same.
- 56:09It's like it knows that every morning the sun will come and
- 56:17give it life. It turns its face as it's
- 56:24awaiting. Oh how I want to look the same.
- 56:35In the same way that creation grows in the lion.
- 56:41I want to look right at the sun and every moment that He shines
- 56:50on my heart and life, I want to grow a little closer to him.
- 57:03Oh, to him. Look how the trees live through
- 57:15the winter. They never seem to fight the
- 57:22cold below the surface. They are drinking in the water
- 57:31and they're storing up their life.
- 57:40I can feel down in my soil, my heart open wide because it is
- 57:47waiting to be filled. So may my roots grow towards the
- 57:55well that will never run dry. I want to drink in deeper
- 58:01waters. I want to live right by the
- 58:08river. I want to grow a little closer
- 58:17to him, to him. Oh, I want to be.
- 58:33I want to be closer. Closer you what?
- 58:40I want Jesus. Thanks, this is sad for Jesus.
- 58:59So we got tears. This is a good.
- 59:01Sign Thanks. Do you want to brother on?
- 59:06Yeah, fantastic. You're the first to hear that
- 59:09live, actually. I'm sorry, that's not true.
- 59:11I've played at a talent show. Wow, one of the one of the
- 59:14first. I'm so sorry I lied.
- 59:19No, but yeah, fantastic, fantastic.
- 59:25Excited to see how God uses not just that song, but continues to
- 59:30use you and speak through you and the way He wants to bless
- 59:36people. He's given you a beautiful gift.
- 59:38Thank you SO. Much.
- 59:40So grateful that you're willing to take time to share that with
- 59:43us and hopefully through us with maybe some other people who
- 59:47haven't had a chance to get to know your music yet.
- 59:49Yeah, it's been a joy. This has been fun.
- 59:52Is it pirating if I cut that part and just download it on my
- 59:56phone? You.
- 59:57Don't want to wait till the 26th?
- 59:58Yeah, you do it. OK.
- 1:00:00Thank you. Honestly, I could send you what
- 1:00:02we have so far if you really want to.
- 1:00:04If you don't, if you promise it's not to send it to anyone.
- 1:00:07Broccoli. I'm just kidding.
- 1:00:08I it makes me want to grow plants but I know they'll all
- 1:00:11die. I for my first plant I was like
- 1:00:15let me try a bonsai tree. Those look so cool there.
- 1:00:19No one told me they're like the hardest to take care of.
- 1:00:21I watered it like once every three weeks and it died within
- 1:00:25two months. Well, so it's horrible.
- 1:00:27For me, it's so beautiful because it's how he shows
- 1:00:32himself in the simple everyday things of life.
- 1:00:35And I think people don't take the time to see him in the
- 1:00:39everyday. And so I think that song just
- 1:00:42accentuates that and the depths of what he can reveal to us in
- 1:00:47the simple little things if we just ponder on beauty and.
- 1:00:51Crease. And so all of creation reveals
- 1:00:54His glory. Right, Last night I was spinning
- 1:00:56on something and then the dog needed to go out and so I went
- 1:00:59and opened the back door and the hawk just flew right across like
- 1:01:03my whole field of vision. Just like between.
- 1:01:05Me and this oak tree back here and.
- 1:01:08It's like Hawks are like this thing.
- 1:01:11OK. Jesus, I get it.
- 1:01:12I get it. That's so cool.