Latest / The Wholehearted Enneagram Podcast / Heart of the Psalmist | a conversation with music artists Ben Pasley and Karla Adolphe

Transcript

Heart of the Psalmist | a conversation with music artists Ben Pasley and Karla Adolphe · The Wholehearted Enneagram Podcast

• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Hi friends, welcome to the Simply Wholehearted podcast, where our mission is to help you create more unplugged, purposeful, and intentional moments in all seasons of life.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Today I'm finally talking to the writers and creators of this music you've been listening to for the last several weeks.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Things is from their latest album, Down Here and Up Above.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: I first met Ben Pazley and his wife Robin in the late 90s when it was just the two of them traveling to college campuses, sharing their music and their message.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Then they eventually stepped into collaborative work with several other artists and renamed themselves as Inner the Worship Circle.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: And over the last 20 years or so, Ben has been involved with well over 15 albums and even a few books with his name on it.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Carla Adolf was a well-known folk artist in Canada, but her path eventually crossed to partner with Inner the Worship Circle and Sharon a Microphone and their mini albums.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll let you hear their stories for from themselves, but I think you'll find their words and their music thought-provoking.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, and after this conversation, I couldn't stop thinking about the glitter canon 9000.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now, not to be confused with the model 7000.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: I definitely think a t-shirt should be in the works.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: But you all, you all are famous.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: I've got famous friends.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: I got friends in high places.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm loving it.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: And both Ben and I laugh out loud.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_02: I wish somebody would tell my teenage sons that.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, teenage boys.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: No, can we just talk about that a moment?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: I I am my mind cannot wrap a mind around the fact that they are teenagers.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, this cannot be.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how has it been that much time since I've seen your I know.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_03: I know.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_03: Your family and my family, we met first in Ohio back in the, I guess, the late 90s.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_03: Your dad, the illustrious uh Stephen Higgins, was so kind and always smiling.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_03: He was a very nice fellow to meet.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_03: Chuck Reichmann, our mutual friend, uh, introduced us a long time ago.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_03: And that your family made it to Colorado, and my family made it to Colorado was just sort of a divine coincidence of sorts.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: It was.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: It was rather fun.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_03: And we got to continue to interact when my boys were little.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_03: Uh your family was providing almost like a some second family space for them.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: It was, it was really neat.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: I got to be in the ins and outs of weekly routine, taking the boys to pre-K or doing homeschool pre-K while you all were doing your thing.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: It was pretty funny.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_03: That is exactly right.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_03: We loved it.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_03: Every bit of it.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: I was that was a little bit of bummer of you know, having my own kids is that that season had to end.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: And you all were up in the middle of the year.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_03: So how many children do you have now?
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: Just three.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Just three kids.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Just three.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Just three.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: And then they're fifth grade, fourth grade, and first grade.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: If you don't know, what a beautiful age.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: It is beautiful.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: And you know what makes it especially beautiful this year?
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: I am not homeschooling.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: They are going to private school.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: Mommy got some time now.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: I do.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it's, I mean, like honestly, I wish it was like a completely free time, but it's time to think and time to create.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm loving that.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And they are thriving in the environment they're in.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's so it's just so good for them.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's exactly right for this year.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: So you know, that's always a good thing.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_03: Hey, congratulations.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: I remember that year after we had tried homeschooling for several years.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_03: When the boys were little and Robin and I were traveling more, it seemed like a great idea.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_03: But I I remember that season though, when it was that was over, and boy, when they hit the trail, put on their backpacks, and walked away from our home to go to public school here in Woodland Park, which is really great at that age.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_03: We felt really embarrassingly good.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it does feel really good.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, Robin put in her due time.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: She did it.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, she juggled the road and homeschooling and just you know, just life with two boys.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's a lot.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Carla, you have two.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: A boy and a girl.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I do.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: All right, tell us a little bit about them.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Sterling is four, and she's piss and vinegar.
• 4:58
  unknown: I love it.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: She's really she's sweet.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: She's great, but she's intense.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: And then my son Hudson is seven, and we homeschool.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: He's in grade three.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, how's that going for you?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he's awesome.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: He's just a lovely kid.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: So it's really fun spending this time with him.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know how long it'll last either, but it's really fun.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, enjoy it while it lasts for sure.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: You all live in Canada.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Am I correct in this?
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: So how long have you all been there and are you d from there?
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, I've no I know go way back with Ben, but Carla, you and I are new friends.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: So Yes, no, no, it's fine.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna shut down these things.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: They're dinging.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm very sorry if you heard that.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Nope, don't you?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_03: I put my phone in airplane mode to make sure that I was gonna take flight with Amy.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's yeah, no, it's just the dumb um, it's just the dumb computer.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, sorry.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yes, I live in uh south of Calgary, but I'm originally from Winnipeg in the middle of Canada.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, no, it's good.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: Everything's great.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: We I met Ben and Robin, oh gosh, over 12 years ago.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: And um I've been really close and great friends with them ever since I lived down the street from them for three years in Colorado, which was great.
• 6:14
  unknown: Oh yeah.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, we're yeah, and we're just in this new season of relaunching, and it's fantastic.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: That is awesome.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: So when you joined up with them in Colorado, but then also with music and all of that, what album were you guys working on then?
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh when I was living there.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: So we did, well, just after we recorded Shared Microphone Volume Three and The Fourth Circle, I moved.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I actually didn't record an album when I lived in Colorado.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was actually really hilarious.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: But um, yeah, so we just I moved there um after that for discipleship, like a couple years of just being close to Ben and Robin and learning from them.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so that's why we yeah, we had our our son there and then we moved back up here.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely worthwhile venture to do is to go live near the Paisley Pazleys and oh I yeah, absolutely.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_03: I'm glad I'm glad some people have that opinion.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_03: That's really nice.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Carla, I'm sure you learned a lot from your time, but I want to know a little bit more for you, your the history of worship and your walk and journey into that, because I mean you could own good um musical skills, but not necessarily use it for worship and why worship and kind of a little bit of insight for that of your choice and all that.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um I became interested in music mostly by accident.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I didn't grow up in the church or anything like that.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: So when I first started going to a youth group with my best friend who is still my best friend, uh she introduced me to my husband.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, there was a chance to be in a band, which was hilarious.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: I apparent people told me I could sing.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know I could sing, which is you know always funny.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I joined the band and I learned how to sing, and then I really wanted to write songs for people.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's just like some weird, innate desire that was put in me before I was born.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so I started writing songs for people, and that just eventually translated into my first solo project, which eventually translated into touring.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: And um yeah, so I would say my primary function and love is to create songs that are more storytelling about the human experience and then are welcoming to people and invite people into conversation about their hearts and their soul.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, worship for me is a bit of a secondary focus.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's not a secondary love by any means.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's just I have to remember that I was created to write songs for people that are kind of more casually around the table than at a worship service.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: But I do love leading worship and I do love the opportunities I've had with that.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: And um, it's really fun.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: I actually see more and more that people uh in services are welcoming storytelling as a part of their worship experience.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's me.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's sad that we separate out the music um that comes from a vein of like glorifying the Lord.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: That just because we maybe aren't singing it on a stage on a Sunday morning, it doesn't mean it's not worship, especially when it's inviting the person to glorify the creator or conversation with him.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, that's kind of a I think that's a the thing of the beauty of your music and the you know what you guys put out there.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, maybe it's not um on a Sunday morning, but it's throughout the week and it's you know evoking praise and conversation.
• 10:03
  unknown: True.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think about that, Ben?
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I think the psalmist is a seven-day-a-week songwriter.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, for sure.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_03: And and that I don't, and I don't want to say this and sound like I'm being very categorical, but a lot of popular Christian worship music is a one-day-a-week song experience.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_03: Not that you can't take the worship music and listen to it on your you know, earbuds all week long.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_03: What I'm saying is that the psalmist and the way that Carla and I write songs uh in sort of in partnership with the psalmist way is that on Monday when it's tough, on Tuesday when you're confused, on Wednesday when you're tired, on Thursday when you're angry, on Friday when you're super happy, on Saturday when you think about your kids, and then on Sunday when you just put your mind on the greatness of God, there's a psalm for every day.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_03: And I think being a worship leader is normally understood as a corporate experience where people help other people following Jesus envelop themselves in the adoration and the affection that they have toward God.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_03: Monday through Saturday, though, a lot of people don't know the don't know God, and so they don't know how to be affectionate towards somebody you don't know.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_03: And so that's our position as writers and worship leaders is to be an uh a six-day on-ramp so that people have plenty of time to get to know things about God so that when they're ready to worship, they know who they're addressing.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's a great way to frame it.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Well, tell we just kind of dove right into the Heart of the Psalmist, and I think you all um did stuff with Inner the Worship Circle.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: The last album you did about a year ago was an Inner the Worship Circle.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um tell us a little bit more about Heart of the Psalmists and all that you've been working on here lately, too, when you guys were together for a few weeks.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Carla, do that.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, geez.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: Even with so many miles between us, he gets to just pass the baton.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: I know he's good at that.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's good.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, so two years ago when Ben and I re-engaged into the worship circle, I mean I'm not sure if everyone knows, but that thing was dead in the ground for a long time.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so we needed to decide a bunch of stuff about how we wanted to re-invite people into the conversation.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: And because that's sort of a big problem, we we wanted to make an album that was really uh celebratory, really open, really loving, really exciting.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: And we did, and we I'm I love that album, and I think it's a really positive album.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there's a couple of songs on there that do sort of imply uh, I guess, a more personal journal kind of experience, a song like Tie Me Down, for example.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's saying something about where we're headed, and so we were kind of making that album as a bridge.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and so the next album is going to be headstrong into what we were just talking about, which is this daily journey with the Lord and responsive journey to your personal situation and your desired spiritual situation.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't know about you, but most of the time when I sit down to spend time with my heart, I feel a good amount of disappointment.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: So we want to open up songwriting to cover uh the breadth of a human experience, right from you know, ground level all the way up to what we call glitter canon 9,000.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_03: Glitter Canon 9,000.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's when you're at 32,000 feet above uh ground level, you're at glitter canon 9,000.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_03: This normally happens about three songs in on Sunday morning.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_03: Your hair, your hair is standing up.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: Which we love.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: We don't we don't hate it or anything like that.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: We just want you know, a full experience of life.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I I mean, and I'm gonna jump around here just to pipe in because it's conversation, but I'm really beginning to find that that's what adoration is.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: It is not um, it's I I used to think that it was only Thanksgiving and only praise, and maybe how you're defining worship, but it's not it's not waiting for the goosebumps and the the feelings, it's going to the word of God finding out who he says he is, even when you're when you're feeling especially disappointed or mad or angry or let down or brokenhearted, that you go to the word of God and say, Well, what do you have to say about that?
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: How can you meet me in this?
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: And going and finding just the you know, like you said, the words of really the Psalms, especially, because David is so transparent and honest and ups and downs.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we can find so much um hope there where it can turn our hearts, but we can also allow ourselves to just be with God instead of performing and feeling all those feelings that He can meet us even when we are heartsick and when we don't have the glitter canyon from 9,000 feet.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_03: That's a model number.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_03: The glitter canon 7,000 worked uh during the early 2000s and they simply upgraded it to get that spray over larger.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: I think we should I think we should sell a t-shirt bin that says glitter canon 9,000 on it.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I where did you come up with that?
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's just I don't even think that way.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_03: It's true.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_03: I don't I don't want to rub it in or anything.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_03: The the word that you said that stuck out to me was the word transparency.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_03: You know, uh there's a lot of things that people who start getting into being right do to immediately stop being transparent.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, that's for sure.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_03: A lot of people, and this is what people sort of start to learn about, has to do with the religious way of thinking.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_03: People say the words religious spirit.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_03: They're saying the religious way of thinking is to always think about what's right and wrong and always find out if you're on the right side of the thing.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_03: That's why Christians or Christian culture tends to be arguing about more things than anybody else in the world.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_03: It's because this uh this religious mindset gets in.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_03: Well, David didn't have a religious mindset, he had a transparent mindset that was sort of willing to know that most of the time he probably wasn't right about much.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_03: But he knew God was right about stuff, and so that's why when you see David's transparency, there's something warm about it.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_03: Like he was never belligerent, sarcastic, or disrespectful with God, but he was occasionally bipolar, confused, and angry.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and I think we can all identify with that.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_03: I know, and that's what we well, we want to invite people into that.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's where we want to invite people in.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_03: Look, you can be transparent with God.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_03: If you know who God is at all, you would think that belligerent sarcasm and and uh being disrespectful is probably not the right posture, but you can be transparent, which means most of the time you don't know what you're talking about.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_03: Most of the time the thing you think you're right about today, next year you're gonna change your mind about.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_03: And so there might be a better way to think about our journey with God than who's right and who's wrong.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_03: It might be more about uh who can enjoy his presence, who can hear, how do we hear his voice, what is he leading us into, how do we learn how to love others and love ourselves more?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, there's there's a lifetime of fantastic interaction with God that is not is not calculated with the words right and wrong as the primary uh measurement.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's good.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: Ben, I'm just sitting talking with you and hearing all these great deep thoughts.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: I will never forget my dear friend Ben Couch, who is in heaven.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: He met with you, I don't know, I mean this had to have been um 13 years ago probably anyway.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: He he he came back and was like, Yeah, I I met your friend Ben Basil and man, he's got some interesting thoughts.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I just remember kind of the like the look on his face of really processing that you got them to I don't know, challenge some of his thinking and his ways and and beliefs in such a positive way, and it's awesome.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: And he actually he went um he went to Nepal and and sadly um was killed on the mission field, but he was someone who, you know, um I think from that time too, he was always one who challenged beliefs a little bit, but really loved just how you invited um him in in a way that encouraged him that it was okay to, you know, I don't know, just the transparency and the vulnerability that I think is really beautiful for sure.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_03: Well obviously it was my privilege to be a small part of that great.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Carla, you mentioned um just leading up to Heart of the Psalmist, you guys have been looking for a bridge for something that was dead.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: Explain to me what you felt was dead or what was gone or what was something previous with enter the worship circle and chair and a microphone and some of the things that you guys have been involved in, you know, for years together.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I'll be clear: the passion and the operation of the gift to write music and to create music was not dead for Ben or I.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: We were still making and doing, um, but uh sometimes, as in life, you can get a little bit off track of sort of what your main invitation, your main sort of offering to the world is.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: And that happens through lots of circumstances, like kids, life, jobs, health, whatever, relationships.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so the thing I would tell people is not A, don't worry about getting off track.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's not a big deal.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: B, uh, if you get off track, you're most likely going to get reinvited into something that you love because the heart of God is good towards you.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: And it's good for you to be sort of in the pocket, so to speak, with what you love and what you're created to share.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um so Ben and I were still making music and still ministering, but we weren't doing that as Enter the Worship Circle for a long time because enter the worship circle always was sort of this nebulous, collaborative, seasonal thing.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um it was always Ben and Robin, but Ben and Robin would invite people into collaborating for projects according to whatever season they were in.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: So it was never like it was never like we were all just waiting around and just like, yeah, we were just like, when are we gonna do this album, Ben?
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like we're doing our things.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: But um it was uh invitation from a really great friend who sort of sat Ben Pasley down and said, Hey, what about enter the worship circle?
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, I'll let Ben speak to you know what his headspace was about that conversation, but he invited me uh and a few others, and and between him and I, it really seemed obvious that this was uh an invitation into something that needed both of our energy to um to bring life back into it.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: And it was great.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: Our my husband and Robin were so super supportive, and Robin's been a part of the journey.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: She's been helping us sort of behind the scenes and coming to the studio and coaching us on and just being a really amazing cheerleader.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, we miss her, but um, she is she's killing it in what she's doing as a designer.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: And um, my husband is just like the sweetest.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: And lets me go on trips and dream and try and be uh, you know, um a mom and a musician at the same time.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a sweet time, but uh maybe Ben, you want to speak to how you felt being um hauled off the dead bed deathbed as Les Lazarus would have been.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_03: I know.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_03: It might be overplayed the drama.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: Wait, wait, Ben, come on, Ben.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: We discovered on Zencaster that there's some amazing music.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: Ben, you should play the intense piano music right now.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_03: Oh no, I'm I can't do it because I'm not in charge.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_03: Oh I don't see it.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_03: There's the do you see that button up at the top that says dramatic piano?
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: I I you know what?
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think I accidentally deleted those things and I don't know how to come back.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_03: The next time we do this, I want to use dramatic piano at this point.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_04: Of course not.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_03: Because I'm an artist.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_03: I'm an artist, and everything is bigger and it feels bigger than it is.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_03: So my my journey, I see my journey when I retrospect uh in these blocks of time where where blocks of emphasis we're having, and that's one of the joys of getting a little older is you can carve up your life into big chunks.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_03: It's not just like the evolution of a few years.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um back in the 90s, uh, the 93 to 2001 season, my wife and I we met, we got married, and we unfolded together what for me was probably the simplest and most focused and lovely time uh that I've ever experienced.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_03: Not only was it newly married and we didn't have kids yet, so we were just running around like crazy children.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_03: We were having fun, but in that window of time, almost all the concerts we played, over 125 a year for six years, wow.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_03: We're almost all, I know, and that and that just sounds it either sounds fun or terrifying, depending on who you are.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um but all of these dramatic music for you.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: I like it.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_03: Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_03: Sorry, keep going.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_03: But during that season of time, all of our concerts had to do with just introducing Jesus.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_03: What who is he?
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_03: What does he look like?
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_03: What is he talking about?
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_03: And we were mostly on college campuses, and this is a wonderful window.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_03: At the end of that season, we made uh we made children.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_03: We we made the first Enter the Worship Circle album, and we made a move to Colorado.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_04: Big steps.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_03: All those Yeah, they were all three very large evolutions in our journey.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I made some decisions that took me away from the simplicity of sort of being a presenter, a writer, a musician, a prophet in that arena.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_03: And I moved toward some other things, all good, by the way.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but I there were two big blocks of time, which I won't even try to outline, but since 2001 to today, there were two large blocks in my journey.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_03: But neither of the blocks really were me functioning as a psalmist, as a reflective songwriter, as somebody who was on the stage leading uh in a in a musical expression.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_03: It had a lot to do with team building, it had a lot to do with coaching, it had to do with producing other artists, it had to do with teaching.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_03: I wrote a bunch of books.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I just did so many.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_03: I entrepreneured several businesses, I did business consulting.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I was just I've been everywhere in the world.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_03: And uh so during that time, Inner the Worship Circle as a as a brand or a musical experience simply softened over.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_03: We produced several more albums.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_03: I know well, a lot of people don't know.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_03: We produce nine Enter the Worship Circle albums from 1998 until about 2008.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_04: Wow, I didn't realize that.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_04: That's amazing.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I know most people don't.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_03: You gotta go to if you go to Spotify and search, you'll look through the catalog and go, holy cow, they did have a lot of albums out.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and they were all very good.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_03: We we had great artists on those albums, but by 2008, let's just say officially about that point, I I really kind of believed that season is over now.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_03: This was a very specific kind of conversation we were having, and my attention was being drawn elsewhere in my efforts.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_03: And that's why that thing went to sleep.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_03: It's not because anybody was hateful, nobody had a spat or an artist freak out.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, nobody, we didn't have a plane crash, you know, nothing weird.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: Thank goodness.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_03: It was just we just moved away.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_03: So in this period now, what Carlo was describing is about two years ago, I realized that a lot of my other pursuits, which had been diverse and interesting and all over the map, uh, well, in summary, were both not fulfilling for me anymore, and also uh transparency here, not really that productive.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_03: And I wish they were more productive, and I thought I was doing a good job on some things, and I really tried hard in a lot of things, but you know, I was just kind of flopping around.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_03: And I thought, this is weird.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_03: Now I thought I was gonna be doing some magical convergence business by now.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_03: I already read that book, and uh I was not so when I started reaching out to friends and family for prayer and and processing, I realized that wow, you know, the voice and the place that I enjoyed most in my journey and and where I left off was the really a simple place when I was writing songs, sharing my faith with people that didn't see Jesus clearly yet, and just opening up announcements of great things that God is doing.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_03: And I often did that with a guitar slung around my neck.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_03: And for me, it was like, oh my gosh, you gotta be kidding.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_03: I can do that again.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_04: That's awesome.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_03: I know! So when I reach out to Carla and some of my other friends, and we start processing what it would look like if we revived what has been sleeping into the worship circle as a way to make music and work together.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_03: Carla, let why don't we form a team?
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_03: And there were other people that were processing that with us, but it ended up Carla and I were the only two artists to make the cut.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_04: Gotcha.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_03: We made the cut.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_03: I'm glad she let me on the team, by the way.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: She's being very generous.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_03: Whatever.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_03: No, no, I'm I'm it's taken actually two years, not to bore you with too many details, but uh what I discovered was if you diversify your life like the Amazon River and go a thousand directions, you can't end all those things at one time gracefully.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_03: No, nope, and God gave me two years to uh tuck, to dam up, to redirect, to stop, to reorganize, to rethink, and even to try some new things.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_03: It was weird.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_03: But I've had two years of doing that, and now um I'm happy to announce that I am presently down to one thing.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, that is awesome.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: I think you're you're speaking to me, Ben.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_03: I'm speaking to myself right now.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_03: Like I am coaching myself like nuts right now.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_03: I love I love introducing the beautiful shape of Jesus to people who've not yet seen his silhouette.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_03: Much less his details.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_03: I'm just working on the silhouette.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, his shape is beautiful, and if I could write a song that introduces you to the shape of Christ, and you could see it for the first time and go, wow, that's really captivating.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_03: I have done my job, I go home and eat barbecue, I'm good.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: You have done.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: I just think that, like, even your process of all of that, I I can just think that, especially maybe it's um your age and you're not that old, but um uh even the just seasons of life that you've walked through where you kind of lay down some of the bigger things that you focus in on maybe even immediate needs of family financially, all of those little bits and pieces.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so there was there was a little bit there was obedience in that, but then even in the obedience of laying down what you really love to me, the seeing the Lord giving it back to you, maybe even in greater measure, is like the beauty of the economy of God.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I I I don't know, for for me anyway, there's been a lot of times where things that I've laid down, I thought, oh, this is this is to die, and I'm never gonna get to do it again, and that was what was passed in another season.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: But I feel like I'm becoming to the point where some of those things I'm seeing them come back again, especially in the last couple of years, like, oh, I thought that was just something I did in my early 20s, and now closer to 40, oh, maybe I'll get to do that again and put my hand to it in an even greater way because of all the years in between of what I've learned about the character of God and who I am in the Lord, and you know, even what it is that I really desire to do and build a kingdom.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, that's really beautiful.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_03: Carla has great thoughts on this stuff too.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_03: That it if if all of creation and time is a painting, it's all God's.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_03: And whatever he chooses to paint with us, it's all God's.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_03: And it's it's really delightful to slow down a little bit, take your hands off the wheel, quit trying to micro control every single thing, and just go, you know what, God is painting something beautiful.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_03: I'm a part of it.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_03: I'd like to settle down and be my part and take great joy in that.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_03: That takes a lot of courage, and frankly, most people have to get burned up, beat down, and thrown out before they realize that that's the better way to go.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_03: So, congratulations, Amy, you're a genius.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: I wish I could have like spelled that out for you ahead of time.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: We all have to go through it though, I'm afraid.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's just the way it is.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: Carla, how about for you?
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, because you know, it sounds like you guys even made a huge move to Colorado, and then obviously something shifted for you all.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: You moved back to Canada, and you know it's called a visa.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well that too.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: We weren't allowed to stay longer than we were staying.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, no, we we always knew that our trip down to live in the states would be short.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we lived there for three years.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it was great.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it would be so much easier if we could just live in the same town sometimes, Ben and I think.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, it's okay.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's a good challenge to have such distance between you, and it really is creating a totally different rhythm of co-working, but that's a whole different discussion.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um for me, uh like I said earlier on, music was a surprising talent.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't learn music as a child, which I wish I had now.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so I've always sort of stumbled accidentally into the things that uh have been put in me that are good, that work.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still in a season like that where I'm enjoying telling stories through under the worship circle and recognizing that storytelling is my main vocation.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: And um just it's when I say storytelling too, I don't mean like in the library.
• 33:16
  unknown: Yeah.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: I mean like all sorts of yeah, all sorts of telling of story.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but for my husband and I, we moved to a town where we knew nobody, and that was really exciting and really fun.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: And then nine months after that, our whole town flooded, and that was horrible.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_01: And so we were in survival mode when Ben called, and I was in a pretty, pretty low place just with my heart and my mind after you know enduring all that and having a baby in the middle of that chaos was really hard.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so I I feel like um I feel like end of the worship circle for me is this opportunity to lean back into something that already existed with a great friend, and I don't feel like I need to uh I need to work hard because there's things to overcome like distance, but I don't really feel like what I'm being asked to create is really outside of my wheelhouse, and that's a really lovely place to be because when you're homeschooling and you have kids and stuff, sometimes creativity is as simple as just noticing something different about your life or about your kids, or putting two spices together in a different way at dinner time, like it can be that minute, yeah.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but there are there are proclamations happening around us all the time.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like everything in the physical world is proclaiming the supernatural world.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so I love that that's yeah, and that's the mandate right now is is observational and storytelling and reflecting.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel very privileged to be invited into something that doesn't require uh interior hustle the way that just general market music was requiring of me.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's right.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_03: You didn't really mention that, Carla, but you know you spent multiple years, six, five, six, seven, eight years, functioning as a I would say, you know, a very well-received folk artist in the Canadian uh music scene, uh traveling out of High River.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_03: And that for you was what you had.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_03: I I don't mean to speak for you, but I just think this is an important part of your evolutionary journey.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_03: It was around 2015 when we started our process of um reconsidering and rethinking into the worship circle.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_03: You had you had kind of come to a place where that part of your career pursuit had gotten a little tired for tiring for you too.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_03: You had because you had done great things, but you'd also gotten really um worn out in it, I guess is the way I would reflect.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_03: And that so that's why your your pursuit wasn't just like a soft invitation for both of us, it was revolutionary to consider a new band and a new way of doing music.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_01: I would agree completely, but not at all outside of what I was passionate about, which is like the mysterious beauty of this whole thing, is that I was being invited into an upgrade uh both in personnel, in partnership, and in audience, and I think in uh juiciness, the meatiness of what enter the worship circle brings, I could not bring on my own uh at this at the same intensity, and I love that.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it it sounds like for you um just being able to enter into something that you weren't just driving having to describe in is I mean that's the the biggest gift, especially like you said, when you're wanting to be present with your kids.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you know, when we start describing with stuff, that's what pulls us away from the most important thing.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: Plus um I think it limits the creative process for sure.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, absolutely.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what are we going to be looking from you guys to see here?
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know, in the next year or so, because I know you all got together last month and did some collaborative work and I think recording.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well every time we're is that what happens, Ben?
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_01: Every time we're together, people are like, did they make something?
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_04: I know.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, it's it's it's really a great question because we just um we just we love taking this, we took like this five or six week break off because we've been working pretty hard for a year and a half to uh release the previous album and to properly sort of reorganize ourselves around this new teamwork and create all the look and feel.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_03: It's all fun, artsy fartsy stuff, right?
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_03: So we take a break and we come back and we go, okay, what do we want to do in the next season?
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_03: We were asking ourselves the same question you just asked us.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_03: And we've taken some time and I think we're sort of still evolving, but what I love about the next season is yes, there will definitely be new music.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_03: And yes, it is going to continue to evolve musically.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_03: And I think I could give a little bit of a of a fun, it's not a it's a little bit of a spoiler preview, that a lot of the things that you liked about uh Ben Pasley Unhinged and Carla Adolf Unchained, you're gonna get a little more of that in the coming musical season and let your mind wander and interpret what you think that's gonna mean.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_03: So that's one thing that I can say is definitely definitely coming.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_03: Not just a year from now, but much sooner than that, there'll be some new music coming into the market space that you'll be able to enjoy on things like your music players, whether Apple Music or Spotify, etc.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's good.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I've been noticing a steady stream of content that you all are putting out there.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_00: Not just music, but content.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_00: So share a little bit about that.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's so exciting.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_01: You're the second person this week.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it's content.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_00: I can tell.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_03: Someone noticed, Carla.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_00: People are noticing.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_00: People are just oh dear, that was the doorbell.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's okay.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_01: Go insert it, and we'll tell the people you're the delivery.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_00: They the door is actually open, and I know that.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_00: Well, this is my co-host and her three kids are home from school today, so they have to join us in the studio and hopefully be quiet eating lunch in the backyard.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I know they were just being a stinker and ringing the doorbell.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that's fine.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, why are you guys doing that?
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's fine.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's real.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, well, I want I'll talk to you about the blog.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_01: So here's the thing when you're trying to be creative every day or as much as you can in a responsive way, um, it's kind of like a diet.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't, if you don't tell somebody that you're trying to lose weight or you're trying to go to the gym, or you're trying to make an improvement in some way of your life, it's pretty easy to just sort of slide away from it.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so Ben and I, we we wanted to experiment with what it would be like to be seven-day responsive psalmists.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so the way that we could sort of put pressure, not that Ben needs any pressure because he's way more prolific than me, it's more for me, is to post something on the blog as often as we can, um, and to try and get up there.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_01: So there's some days where we put three things up there, and some days we don't put anything, but it generally evens out to about one a day.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_01: And we're sharing the we're sharing things on social media that sort of connect to themes that we just want to share.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so this week we're talking about creative paths and creativity.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_01: Next week will be something else.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_01: But in the midst of all that is a real commitment to each other to write songs.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so if you visit our blog, you will start hearing tidbits of songs.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Ben will be videoing them because he has a nicer camera than me.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_01: Mine will probably be just audio.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_01: But um, yeah, there'll be things on there that are gonna end up having a life in a more produced form.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_01: But this is the unproduced sort of daily journal, and we would love people to join us as we get started on there too.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_01: There there will be guest posting and there'll be more podcasts and all that stuff.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_01: So, yes, please head over to um entertheworship circle.com and you just press the big blue button that says blog.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think what's great is because you all are are more than just songwriters and you know, talented musicians.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_00: You and it's it goes back to the story thing, the storytelling is you're you're really teachers and you're taking people on a journey.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I think that's a key ingredient of why I personally love what you guys have, but why it's such a unique um voice out there and is so needed, for sure.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_03: That's lovely.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_03: I I agree with Carla that it well, if we teach, it's because we can just talk our way through our journeys being transparent.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_03: And people can join us and listen.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_03: You're gonna hear, you're gonna see at our blog partially written prose, half-cooked songs, ideas that we probably shouldn't have shared.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_03: Articles that are part of something better to come.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_03: And it's uh it's an unfolding.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_03: But remember, we're an international band.
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_03: Carla lives in another country, not just another state.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and this may seem weird, but in some ways, we're what we're doing is we're throwing stuff over the uh the border at each other.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_03: Legally, and uh and we're able to bounce off ideas.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_03: I'm able to hear something Carla wrote that morning.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_03: She's putting it on the blog, and I can go, oh, I've got an idea.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_03: I can I can respond back to that idea, and we can start to, we're literally building our creative process in a little more of a public way.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_03: Not everything that we do ends up on the blog, but a lot of these uh little bits and pieces that you're gonna hear roll out, you might hear a year from now on an album or three months from now in a produced single.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_03: And I just think that's really fun.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_03: And if your friends are if your friends are just starting their spiritual journey or they're just starting to get interested in in the things around Christianity, I think that this blog is a perfect spot to bring them to hook people up because they're gonna get sort of an unfiltered, ground-level, transparent talk through basic things about what it means to discover God.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_03: And they're not gonna get talked down to or are taught in some sort of really even in a traditional way.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_03: This is more like an experience that you can come have with us.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_03: And I think it's gonna be a wonderful on-ramp for people who are discovering Jesus for the first time but aren't quite ready to buy into the whole thing right away.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_03: This is this is the starting place for you to bring your friends and hook 'em up.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_00: And well, and you guys are just so cool, so who wouldn't want to, you know, follow along?
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_00: Learn from you.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm cool now, yes.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_00: You are so true.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, Ben, you've always been cool and I didn't I don't remember when I first met you guys.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's I think I was 16, it was in a high school gym.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_00: You and Robin were, you know, she was like on the djembay or something, you're playing the guitar, and I'm like, oh man, these people are talking about Jesus as our lover, and who are they?
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_00: And they've got radical thinking, and it forever marked me.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, definitely.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_00: And you were all way very cool back then, and you still actor.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_01: So much hair.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_01: So much hair.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_00: Not so much anymore.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, not from like, you know, it's just shorter, much shorter.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_00: Correct.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_00: Correct.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_02: It's still sticking on my head.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's just not down on my shoulders anymore.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: You're one of the lucky ones for sure.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_00: Oh guys, I so love this, and I'm I'm sad to end the conversation because um it's been a real treat for me to um get to hear your voice, and I am looking forward to just following along from afar and through all the social media um places, Instagram and your website, and we'll put all of that in the show notes because I really want people to sign in and we'll just keep pointing to you and all that you're doing.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's beautiful.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, thank you.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_01: You're lovely.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, thanks.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I look forward to meeting you hopefully sometime soon.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_00: Isn't it great to have those friends where you can just pick up where you left off?
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_00: I certainly enjoy the laughter and ease of connecting with Ben, Pasley, an old friend, and also getting to know Carla Adolf, who is just lovely as you all just got to hear.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm looking forward to seeing what incredible projects come and unfold from them and their work and their partnering with the Lord.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure and check out their website, enterTheWorship Circle.com.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_00: It is full of interactive content, a lot of great material to read, to listen to, and to even watch.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_00: I highly recommend signing up for their newsletter because it's just full of great information.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, most of us kind of forget to check out websites, even if it's one that we really like, unless we need the information.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_00: So the newsletter just pops in your your email box, and then you can check it at your leisure and you can just see what's there that week for you.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_00: And um also, I've mentioned it before, um, be sure and listen to their podcast, Heart of the Psalmist.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's a lot of fun, and if you enjoyed this conversation, I know you will enjoy the style of how they interact and the hilarity, the ease, and also the thought-provoking conversation.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_00: By the way, today, November 2nd, when this podcast released, it is marking just the beginning of two of my favorite things, the holiday season and also National Adoption Month.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_00: Adoption is something that's really close to my heart, and I believe it's something that's close to our Heavenly Father's heart.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_00: If you haven't already, listen to the conversation with Stephanie Dolin.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_00: She shares about life in the passenger seat and especially several of the miracle stories surrounding her three boys' adoption.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_00: And um, this month they're so excited to be adding a fourth boy to their family, and we'll be looking forward to seeing how that unfolds and just celebrating with them and supporting them in this new transition.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_00: We also have a podcast conversation with Kinsey Thurlow, and it was episode number 12 from our first season, What About the American Orphan?
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_00: We talk about lots of practical ways to support and advocate for those who often cannot speak for themselves.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_00: And a couple of well pre-holiday tips to be thinking about before the crazy begins.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_00: When you have a minute, instead of writing a wish list, why not consider writing a giving list?
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_00: Not exactly the gifts you buy or bought, but how you can give to people around you.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps it's giving to a local homeless shelter, serving food, maybe visiting a nursing home nearby, or maybe just making some cookies for a neighbor.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_00: There's lots of special ways to give anonymously or give proudly, sharing Christ's love.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_00: There's just a few things that you could put thought to to frame how you will spend this joyous season.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's really easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle and to forget those little things we actually had well-intentioned and thought of before all the crazy began.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so I really encourage you to just take a moment and write down that list and maybe look at your calendar and see when you can practically fit those in, not just for yourself, but something to do with your spouse and with your kids, to just continue to keep your heart centered on the real meaning of Christmas and Thanksgiving.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm really looking forward to bringing you a lot of holiday conversations that are coming up.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's just been such a thrill to do a podcast this year to get it started, to keep it going.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just amazed at what the Lord has done and how many wonderful people have come across my path through the years that I get to share their stories and then even new friends along the way and being able to advocate and support and encourage you all, my good friends, uh, to check out what else is going on out there and what wonderful words are being printed or stories that are being told and songs that are being sung.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_00: So until next week, I hope you find more ways to live simply wholehearted, umplugged, purposeful, and intentional.