WHOA That's Good Podcast - Behind the Scenes of Our LO Worship EP | Sadie Robertson Huff, Reeves Walker & Kaylea Coates
Episode Date: August 17, 2022The LO Worship EP, "Steady Light," is here! Sadie sits down with Kaylea Coates and Reeves Walker to go behind the scenes of their songwriting process and reveal the heart behind each song. Sadie talks... about her part in writing "Promise to the End" and "Jesus Over All" and confesses which lyrics she was initially unsure about that turned into some of her favorites. Kaylea also shares some incredible wisdom and encouragement for anyone not feeling like they have anything to offer the Lord. LO Worship's "Steady Light" is available now:Â https://lnk.to/LOWorship Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Keep it Oscar. What's up friends, welcome back to the woods.
Good podcast, happy Wednesday everyone.
I hope you're having a great week.
Y'all today is so exciting.
You have two guests and they are in the house on the couch and we are going to get so much
good advice and also just hear the heart behind the songs we just released.
If you haven't heard, we just released our first EP with Ella Worship.
These songs mean so much to us and I have the writers and the singers, all the things
behind the scenes right here where we get to talk about what these songs mean to us,
the words behind them, why we wrote them, and how we forgot moving on them and our hope
for them as you listen to it. So we're pumped without further ado. Welcome to the podcast Reeves and Kaylee
Kaylee your regular Reeves is your first time. Yeah, you know, it's crazy for all of you listening reads and I actually grew up together
Like diaper grew up together like all of our baby pictures you see us together
So it is wild that God has allowed us to step into doing this together.
You kind of blows my mind. Yeah. Like literally. I'm loving it every second of it. It's just crazy.
We always talk about this but nobody even knew Reeves could sing until when. When was that? I didn't
either. When was that that you sang at camp and everybody was like what summer of
2018 that's crazy because that was not long ago four years ago four years ago
And four years ago was when I started talking about wanting to do a worship and I heard you saying
I was like whoa and mom was like think about reading to the love worship thing
You're doing and then you started leading at Camp The Next Year
and you asked me about it.
And I was like, I'm thinking about it,
but at the time we had other people
who were gonna step in.
And it was just crazy.
It's even just in the prayer prayer
before we started this podcast that God knew all along.
Like what was gonna happen?
And established our steps in such a way that like,
even when we were a little like we
didn't know he was cultivating this relationship in us to do something like this
together so it's so cool. Well anyways I'll ask y'all the question I ask
everybody who hits the worst good podcast what is the best piece of advice that
you've ever been given? Kaleen Goefer's. The best piece of advice was given to me
in a really low season when I was at Bible college
and I was going through just home sickness,
I was living in Australia, like 17 hour time difference away
and I just couldn't see a way out
and a friend came up to me and she said,
Kaylee, what you're going through
isn't what you're going to
because like when you're in the thick of that situation you're like, this is all that will ever be in my life.
Is sadness and homesickness and anxiety and depression. But like just like
Joseph, when he was going through Potterford's house and he was going through
the prison, like he was going through it, but he wasn't going to it. He was going
to the palace. And I'm not trying to say I'm going to a palace, but I'm not staying in this season forever.
I'm going through it, not to it.
That's so good.
I love that.
That's so good.
We were actually talking about this yesterday,
this conversation, Bella and I were having about how,
whenever you're little, you can't control your emotions.
Like you have all these big emotions,
like sadness and you have grief in your blessings,
but you don't know how to handle them. So you get like extra dramatic with them, right? Like you have all these big emotions like sadness and you have grief me on other things but you don't know how to handle them so you get like
extra dramatic with them right? Totally. You just feel all the feels and like Bella
when she was having a rough day she ran away from home and set in our front yard
ran away from home and a lawn chair and thought she was just in full rebellion but
that like you don't know how to handle your emotions but when you get older you
have to learn how to handle your emotions you You have to learn how to speak to those.
And so that's such a good word for people who are in that sadness to not let those emotions
take over and be like, this is the end of me.
This is how it'll always be.
I am my anxiety.
I am my loneliness.
Like actually, no, this is not where I'm going to.
So that's great advice.
All right, Reeves, hit us with some advice.
I think the best advice that I've gotten is,
one time, right when I started leading worship,
one of my good friends came up to me,
and I was just telling him about some of the stuff
I was walking through, just like not feeling adequate
and not good enough to do,
because I started to understand like what it means
to lead other people into worship.
And understanding that the God that we worship is so much bigger
than anything that I can do to do the justice
of what's really happening there
and like bringing them into the presence of God.
And he told me he looked at me.
And he told me later that somebody had given him this advice
and a crucial moment that he needed it.
But he looked at me and he just said,
you're not as bad as you think you are,
but you're not as good as what other people say that you are.
Wow.
So like in your abilities,
and then what you're doing and what you're calling is,
like especially in that moment,
like that was exactly what I needed to hear
because I was in my head about like,
I'm not good enough to do this.
I'm not a good enough singer.
Like I was doubting all of the abilities, but God had given me those abilities. And whether or not I see it, I'm not, I can do this. I'm not a good enough singer like I was doubting every all of the abilities But gotta give me those abilities and whether or not I see it
I'm not I can't listen to those lies. I'm not as bad as I think that I am and
People are going to say what they're gonna say and yeah, they may hype you up to give you a bigger head than you need
You're not as good as you think you're not as good as they say you are
So it's just so good just keeping you humble, but also keeping you confident. Yeah, it's like you know
You need to be humble and not think of yourself as higher than you are
But you also need to be confident in what God's given you you know and that balance is kind of hard to find if you're not
rooted in
In crust, you know and I love like last night reaves an hour listen to the sermon
Listen friends and what did it say was like self-hate and
All of these different things like self-hate
What was it self-hate comparison? Yes?
Covening Covening he said is an accusation against God
Wow, and I was like well that's so good because sometimes you think of self-hate and all those things is like
You don't think of it as like an accusation against God
You're just thinking like well. I'm insecure and that only affects me.
Yeah.
Actually, you being insecure and you hating yourself
and you not using your gift affects everyone.
Yup.
Because if you didn't actually get over
not feeling good enough,
you would never be sitting here on this couch
after just dropping an EP that's gonna
literally help change people's lives
or leading worse about conference in two days
and being able to stand in that moment
and in realizing that this gift isn't really about me.
It's that God gave me this.
Yeah.
So I love that.
I was like shook by that last night.
And you can't take credit for your gifts.
Yeah.
Because you didn't give it to yourself.
Yeah.
You didn't choose the ability to sing or not.
It's God given.
Yeah.
So it literally should just glorify God.
It's good.
Because he gave it to you.
It's good.
Like, I didn't choose whether or not I could sing.
Yeah.
It's a God-given gift.
That's right, because we'd all choose it.
Yes!
We'll see that.
I'll take that.
Can I like have Barack here?
I just like, I'll take that.
Yeah.
You can choose gifts. I'll be easier.
Yeah.
We'll see.
So you say you didn't know that you could sing.
And actually, like, you hear that a lot.
People go on American Idol, they're like,
the American Idol, I was sitting there, like,
and you're like, how did you not know?
I feel like you would know.
But I also get that.
How did you come to the point of like,
okay, I actually am good, you know?
How did you get to that?
Not on my own, honestly. Like, what happened was at camp, I work at camp
Chioca with Sadie's brother John Luke and that summer we started, no, in 2018,
our time of worship was acapella and so we have a skit night every week and we
get to do a skit, you get to do a skit with your week and we get to do a skit,
you get to do a skit with your cabin
but you can go up there and you can just do a talent
and so me and Ali saying a version of Tennessee Whiskey
that was for camp and so we said Tennessee Pepsi
and we came down to New York and just made it fun
and it was really just light-hearted fun
like but someone came along and sat me down and told me,
like, hey, you need to do something with your voice.
And I was just like, what?
Who is Tennessee Pepsi with Open the Door?
No, but I actually remember seeing you.
It was just a joke, like it was just.
I can't, but like, people were like,
you see, reason, reason Ali do this song,
because it was so, y'all were so talented.
Like it was crazy.
And I think like so many people strive to like be seen,
you know, and they so strive for a platform.
But truly and honestly, if God has given you a gift
and a knowledge to do something,
you will, he will see it through.
You're so seen by him that he'll put you in the spaces
you need to do if you're being obedient to him
and elevate you to the point that he wants to be elevated.
So like Tennessee Pepsi at Camp Shioca leads
to this conversation of you having a voice
and then one thing leads to another
and then years later here we are.
And when you were singing at your youth group,
I mean at youth group night,
for a night you weren't even supposed to lead
and you're worshiping and that's how I saw the video
and one thing leads to another.
So truly friends, like if you're listening,
if you have a gift inside of you
and you're like, when I'm ever gonna be seeing
how you're striving to push it,
you're doing all these things,
I would just encourage you like,
just keep serving the Lord with the gift that you have.
And as you serve and if you have fun with it,
and you just, you just sing,
because that's what God gave you,
or you just write, because that's the lady you have,
he will get the word out,
if he wants to get the word out,
through you to the people he wants to get out to.
And if that's 20 people, amazing.
If it's 200, incredible, if it's 20,000, perfect.
You know, whatever God wants to do,
is what you should do.
And I just find it, you know, so many people are in that,
that striving game.
Did y'all ever feel like that?
Like, as you were, maybe it wasn't in singing,
but in a different part of your life,
or you were like, man, like, I so desire to do this
or be this and I'm not there yet.
And how do you kind of rest in that tension? I think in Bible college, since you're around people who are like all in five of your
Jesus, you can start comparing yourself to other people.
Like, oh, I'm not as gifted as this speaker.
I'm not as gifted as this singer.
I can't write like them.
And so like you feel this pressure to perform, you know, and like to be where someone else is.
Yeah, but I think like just leaning on the Lord that I said this in the last podcast like God's writing my story
Yeah, like I'm gonna work on having character
Yeah more than trying to be sane and like yeah because a lot of times we focus on the gifts of the spirit and not the fruit of the spirit
Yeah, and like the fruit of the spirit is the indicator that God's in your life.
And he's working in you and Adam would rather have the fruit of the spirit
than like all these gifts without it.
Yes.
That's so good.
I love that.
Yeah.
Okay.
Let's get to the story behind these songs.
So the story behind these songs, we got five songs here that mean a lot to both of you all
myself and hopefully people who are listening
Hope already listen to these songs
y'all obviously wrote most of these songs. I've not all of these songs you had a hand in it
So I want to go back to the writing process and tell the story behind it
And also for those listen like this is more than just like a here's to about the song like they're a message in these songs
There is a word in each
um one of these songs if not several different messages you can take and so I just encourage you like
tune your ears to hear what they're about to say because there's a lot of life um and a lot of
finding Jesus in the midst of the words in these songs that I think a lot of you guys are going to
relate to um so let's start with, he's not done.
He's not done as our fast song.
It's a fun song.
So y'all wrote it, right?
With Mark.
With Mark, which Mark's our producer and Mark's incredible.
So you might hear us talk about Mark.
Tell me about the writing process of that.
Well, honestly, we were in Nashville in January,
and I just remember we had written the day before,
and I was in the elevator as like the next day, and I was just I just remember we had written the day before and I was in the elevator
is like the next day and I was just like just thinking about like anticipation for what
God's gonna do and I just remember like we I don't even know if we were supposed to
write but I was like hey I just had this idea for this song and it's like really fast
and it's just like he's not done and just it just started there and we wrote it in like
an hour but it just like started with like just thinking about revival and just started there. It only rode it in like an hour, but it just started with like,
just thinking about revival and just like,
I think about all the God moments that I've had in my life.
And it's like, wow, this is so powerful.
I can't get better than this, but then God always exceeds
and he's always doing more.
Like just like brings hope for people.
Like, that's not done.
He's still saving, he's still healing.
And like, it just like builds faith.
Yes. For what God is going to do, like even when we go to conference in two days, we're
going to feel like we're on cloud nine, and like God has done so much, but when we leave,
he's still not done. Yeah. It's so good. I love it because it reminds me of like, he's still
the God of the Bible. Like, he's like, he's still, it's like so hard to say it and not sing it.
Like, he's still healing. He's still doing things. It's like, he's still, it's like so hard to say it, not saying it like, he's still healing,
he's still doing all these things.
It's like, who you're reading about,
is who's in your life right now.
And that's so encouraging,
because it's just this reminder of like,
oh my gosh, like the God of the Bible's alive.
So cool.
Yeah.
And I love the bridge too.
Yeah, Mark had that line that's just killer.
Oh, all of hell triples as we assemble like that.
I love that line.
Well, you've already been listening to it.
So, but that line, like Mark just like set it out of nowhere and we're just like, whoa,
like.
That was so good.
Whenever y'all wrote that line, I when I heard this line, I ran to dad and was like,
you're gonna love this line.
Because you got how dad is, like he's like, graze the Nagarans guy.
I was like, you're gonna love this line.
And even the Jesus is here, like Jesus is here right now.
We know that, but just to sing it and like remind yourself,
like, hey, we're not singing to like the ceiling.
Like Jesus is here right now.
So what's gonna happen?
Cause when Jesus walks in, yeah, things happen.
That's so good.
I remember going into a church service one time
and actually kind of poshing in my heart like that.
I remember being like praying over the worship
and praying over the speaker.
And then I was like, you know what God, like you're here.
Which means mountains can move.
Which means like people can be healed,
which means like lives can turn around.
And just like reminding yourself of that, like if God's in the room, anything can happen.
And sometimes you get so used to a church or you get so used to your routine of Sundays
or even just going to a conference or you get used to these things, but it's like, no,
you're stepping into a place that's saturated in prayer and the presence of God is alive.
Like, yeah.
Whoa.
I think it's really easy, like if we're not expecting God to move
and knowing and faith that he is doing something new,
just like the song talks about,
we can miss some of the things he's trying to do in our life.
So being expectant of that knowing,
like Jesus is here, I think that's what the heart of it is.
It's to have energy and to be coming into that space,
knowing that God is doing something here.
That's why we're worshiping Him.
And y'all are so pumped about having a fast song too.
Yeah.
You know, because it's so hard.
It's honestly hard to write a fast-paced worship song.
Yeah.
I think I find it really hard sometimes to just like, because a lot of times I feel like
at least from my perspective, when you sit down to write a song, my default is to just
go into more of a more somber,
worshipful attitude and being that kind of atmosphere
and mindset and say you gotta come out of your skin.
But for me personally, I think it might be my personality,
but I like writing fast songs.
Yeah, you're really good at it.
It's because I'm just like, I do feel like one of my
spiritual gifts is like faith and my personality is like
Seven on the innu-gram like fun, and I'm like let's just get excited about Jesus like I'm a youth pastor
So I think I'm like yeah, he's not done. Let's start jumping. Come on
Yeah, I love it and just say whoa
Like it's so exciting. It's like get up like on your feet and like you guys that guy is on the move
It's so good
You're I love it. Okay. Now we're talking about Jesus overall
Jesus overall is the song that we've had in the backpack for a long time. We wrote it in 2020
I was gonna ask you when was that fall 2020
I remember going into that writing and we were feeling our 2020 feels like truly
And just taking us back to that moment,
everyone who's listening, Yarmher,
it was like in 2020 when everything was shut down.
So many people sick, so many people died,
and it was like the news reports every day,
it was literally numbering.
The new case is a numbering death,
and it was just like hard.
It was really discouraging to see that every day,
and at the time I was
Pregnant and I would and I just got over Kobe and I was really struggling and I remember coming into that and
Brantley who was working with us at this time had written that that chorus was a little different at the time But the you're still holy you're so good and I was like man. This is like what I need
And at the time, I just remember
like needing worship so badly because I didn't have the words to say to God. And I didn't
have honestly even the energy like to pray the prayers that I normally would pray over
myself or sing the songs that I would normally sing over myself. So I just was like listening
to worship so much during that time. And when he's saying that was like, man, this is gonna be for
people. And so we really dove into kind of some of my personal struggle at the time to
write. I remember at least the first verse when we talked about like, I know you're faithful
but I can't see it now. Like, help me to doubt my doubts that I'm having because I don't
want to think like this, but I'm thinking like this.
Help me in my belief.
Yes, help me in my unbelief.
And those were like huge things that I had never experienced in my faith walk before.
I've always been, I think, a spiritual get the mind to is faith.
I've always had faith in God.
I've always trusted Him. I've always kind of seen the glass half full, optimism.
Hey, you know what, He down the cross, he rose three days later,
like always at the resurrection, you know,
hanging out there.
But in that time, I was like,
feeling really hopeless, like it was so crazy.
And I was just really feeling doubtful and afraid.
And yet, here I am pregnant, like in an exciting season,
but I don't know, just kind of stole my joy.
And so, so man that song
means so much to me but what I wrote this word down just because I love this line
and when it says in the silence and the way they are believing you're
resurrecting and how yes like it's awesome to talk about the resurrection that's
amazing but even in those couple of days where it was like Jesus was in the
tomb it's like it doesn't feel like anything's happening.
It didn't feel like anything was going to happen.
It probably felt super dark and even talked about in the bio.
There was like a darkness.
Like the temple was to where like all this stuff,
like it probably, you didn't know what was coming,
but he was still working and he was still doing something
even at that time.
And then resurrection came.
And it just helped remind me of like even in the
still moments and those quiet moments and those hard moments or dark moments there is something God
is doing behind the scenes and he's still holy and he's still good and he's still holding me
and so man that song that song preaches to me still. When I hear it, I'm like, dang, like this is exactly what my heart needs in all seasons
of life.
It's really cool.
The line that says, because what you're thinking is so much better than what I'm expecting
help me to understand, because sometimes you go through things that you wouldn't choose
for yourself.
Yeah.
But afterwards, you would never change it.
That's right.
Because it was so much better.
Like God was weaving things together
and like working things and teaching you things
that you wouldn't have otherwise.
Absolutely.
And so like God's ways are always higher than ours.
Absolutely.
And I think like yeah, if I wouldn't have gone
through that season of my life
that more trying to like, I wouldn't be as anchor
as I am now in my faith.
Because before that I was just kind of like,
oh yeah, he got it so good, I'm always good, you know?
But then I realized like, no, even when it's really bad, he's still good, you know?
And like, you hear that message, but to really grasp that message and get a revelation of that,
you're like, whoa, that's good.
Well, that's good.
Well, that's how you attended.
Yeah.
Um, okay, let's go to, let's go to steady light.
Stony light, Reeves, tell us about steady light.
Steady light was, we were recording all of this
that we had already written and we just had,
I think we like broke for lunch and the food was there,
but we got on the topic of steady light.
And we really, like, wrote it really fast.
Like it was just like so fast.
And I remember one part that I was working on,
while y'all were kind of building out what we had of the course,
I wrote the bridge, but it like, I can't even take credit.
Like it popped in my head so fast
Like your word is a lamp to my feet like that scripture like wow
I mean
I couldn't even tell you the last time before that that I had read or heard that like it wasn't recently like that wasn't on my mind
Yeah dropped like right right into my head in that moment and so then as soon as we were done with the chorus
I knew like I was like I know where we need to go
I know where we go and then we went and we wrote that whole song and then broke for lunch.
And then we didn't even talk about it until we were about to catch our flight to leave.
And we were like, I don't know, we have this one.
We were like, it's not that great, but we'll show y'all.
And then we started playing it and even before it was over, Nate was like, y'all better get to work.
He cracked the web, he said.
He's like, y'all better get this cut right now.
Like, that's actually my favorite one on the album, which is so crazy.
I'll run it so fast.
And it was really crazy because I believe that that was the whole spirit.
Because the day before we had been on our team retreat.
Yeah.
And we had this whole conversation about the steadiness of God and how the steady light of God,
even just with the sun and the moon being a steady process, 24-7, you have this light.
Like as soon as the sun goes down and the moon comes up, the light's still going to be there,
and then when the moon goes away, the sun comes up, the light's going to be there,
and it's a reminder of God's faithfulness. and then even in the Bible and I want to say
Matthew, it talks about loving your enemies. It says for God, let's the sun rise on those who
sin against him. So that's like he's intentionally doing that and giving you a light to remind you.
Yeah. Here's another chance. Hey, I still love you. Hey, I'm still for you. Like there's a
cell. So we talk about this. you go the next day with this information
Thinking okay, I'll try to write a song about city light and then y'all send me steady light and I'm like
What in the world?
No, this is my new favorite song Christian by the way listen to it every single day
Like from the moment that y'all did the first recording before it was like anything if it was just a demo
He listened to it every day.
Wow, just keys and vocals.
Yes, and like every time I called Kirshin after that for a period of time he was like,
I'm just listening to the study light and I was like, so.
So, but.
And that was a rough demo too.
Yeah, no, it was so, there was just something on it. I think it was the Holy Spirit just,
because it flowed like that and because it was a root in scripture and because to me
It leaves you an all-in-wonder. It's kind of like the so-well-eye song from Hillsong where you just listening
You're like that is the God of creation
Yeah, and I think it's that when you breathe life's creative and speak like it's just like God
You're so powerful and you're so steady
and you're steady for me in my life.
Like your word is limp to my feet and a light into my back.
Like all of it is just so good.
Even yesterday, Christian and I were talking about
all the songs and stuff and he said,
steady light has been so huge for me
in my own walk of faith and his personal test.
I was like, wow babe, like I didn't know it was hitting you like that.
Like he was like, this is all for me.
Because he was ministering to him.
Wow.
He's just powerful.
He's really powerful.
How did y'all come up with like the,
because to me like the melody is so different
in the other song.
Like it doesn't sound just like a worship song.
It's different.
How did y'all come up with that?
Well me and Mark were working on that chorus and Reeves
is over there on the piano, getting that bridge.
I don't know, we just kind of start singing when you speak.
Life's created.
When you breathe.
Mark came up with that.
We were, what is that line?
And then Mark came up with all the stars.
I love that.
I think one thing too is like,
Mark is so good at just like setting the tone
for like how to be in that mindset
and be in the presence of God
and really be led by God to find what we're looking for.
Yeah.
So like there's just something about like him
just on a keyboard.
Yeah.
It's just, we're able to follow God
with wherever we are.
Yeah, we were worshiping.
Yeah, we were worshiping in that room.
That's the most important part too.
That's so cool.
And I even, like, first two, you are seen in the shadows.
And the shadows are the proof that the light is there.
That's what that line means.
If you feel like you're in the dark,
if you're in the shadow, a shadow is only proof that there is light. Boom. That's so good. So it was like,
we were just like, it was all coming together. It was a team effort. That's so good. You know what,
when you said that about worshiping, I thought I about when we were writing Jesus overall. And it was
like every single time, because cast was over there on the piano, and every single time because Cas is over there on the piano and every single time we say,
you're still everybody's hands went up. It was like automatic. It was a worshiping.
It was not a help but worship. And I feel the same way with Sadie La. I mean, really
for this but with all of the songs, there's a moment in all of the songs that my heart,
whether I'm just listening to it because we're talking about when we're going to really
sound or realistic because we're talking about comments, There's a part in every song that makes my heart
just go, oh, I need to just worship right now, you know,
because all of these songs were truly a birthed out of a
place of worship and birthed out of a direct like scripture or
a moment that we've had with the Lord. And so for those
listening to these songs, as you have moments with these
songs, I do pray that it leads you to the same thing with an
encounter from the Lord or an encounter with the scripture that you've never even thought about before, you know,
but now all of a sudden this scripture is breathing life into your spirit.
Um, okay, let's go to open.
Whew, open, kingly, that is yours, but what's really cool is, um, again, the spirit moving
on all this.
So we had already, y'all know how to record it all the songs for this EP.
Y'all have record. He's not done. We had Jesus overall. We had St. Light. We had all recorded all the songs for this EP. We all have record.
He's not done.
We had Juicy for all.
We had say to light.
We had all this stuff.
And then a few, I guess a month went by.
I was getting ready on the morning to do my makeup.
And I started singing.
I leave my heart open.
And I was like, what is that song?
And I was like, and I was like, who sings that?
So literally start Googling the lyrics. song. And I was like, and I was like, where are I was like, who sings that? So I literally
start Googling the lyrics like, I'll leave my heart open. I'm like, I cannot find this
was it ill song, was it passion, like I remember. And then I was like, oh my gosh, Kaylee wrote
this song a long time ago because you would send me little songs and you know voice
mobs and some way to think of this. And I guess it just dropped in my spirit that way,
which really is so crazy when you think about it.
And I was like, hey, you remember that song open?
And you're like, yes.
And then you were marked on it.
And it has become one of everyone's favorites and just.
A true, I think what it is, is it's a prayer
that everybody needs to pray.
If not everyone, if you haven't prayed this prayer before, and you pray. You know, if not everyone,
if you haven't prayed this prayer before,
and you're listening from the fact that,
oh, I can relate because I prayed that prayer
and I know what that looks like in my life,
or I need to pray that prayer as a Christian
and lay my life down for the Lord.
So talk to me about the words of open.
So I wrote open the chorus in December 2019
in my bedroom at my parents' house,
when I wasn't getting something I wanted.
Well, when I had to surrender.
And like the lyric, you know,
I leave my heart open and sometimes we pray that,
like, Lord, I'm open, but not this one part.
That's why you need to second line.
I'm holding back nothing from it.
Because, you know, maybe we're like,
Lord, I want your will to be done,
not mine in my work life, but not in our relationships. But it's that like, Lord, I want your will to be done, not mine, in my work life. But not my relationships.
But it's that part of like, I'm open,
and there's nothing in my life that you can't touch or change or have.
Like, I'm holding nothing back, God.
And I trust that your ways are best.
Yeah, that's so good.
Well, that comes through from the minute you start to the minute,
even that song, and it truly is a surrendering song
to the Lord.
Okay, so when I first heard it,
when y'all revised it and rewrote it,
I remember here in the line,
this is the death of my ambitions
and being like, I don't have a like that.
And because in my mind, I'm like,
well, ambitions are a bad thing,
so why don't we need to die to our ambitions?
Because to me, I'm like, yeah, we should be ambitious.
And so for people who listen to it on, then here. This is the death of my ambitions
Why is that so important to you and talk about the mirroring effect in the second verse where that comes alive?
I think we all need to die to our
ambitions and we need to come to life to God's ambition for our life because there is selfish
ambition.
I remember Christine Cain preached that a passion one year about the difference between
godly ambition and selfish ambition.
Selfish ambition is about you being glorified.
Godly ambition is about advancing the kingdom and God being glorified.
And there's things that we want in our life that aren't
God's will for us. Like God, I need to die to the ambition that is all about me and my name
so that I can live for you and your name and your glory. And I just think about how they mirror
the first verse and the second verse. Like this is the death of my ambition and then the first line
of the verse two is this is the start of resurrection because everybody
wants resurrection but resurrection starts with a crucifixion.
Yeah.
And we all have to get on that cross every single day.
Yeah, that's so true.
And so if you don't die to yourself, you're never going to live for Christ.
That's right.
And so like I think about Abraham when he got that blessing, he got Isaac, guess what
God called him to do, go lay him down at the altar.
And only when Abraham laid down Isaac
and fully put him on the altar,
that's when the ram and the thicket came.
Wow.
And God provided.
But God's test us and he wants us to lay down our ambitions
and lay it down, have a death and burial.
And then God resurrects something
that we could have never done in our own strength but not until you lay down.
Come on.
That's so good.
I think a lot of you guys need a rewind about one minute and listen to that again because
so many of us need that in our life.
When I heard this song I really thought this is going to be huge for people in college.
Just because that's the time where you really are focused on your own ambition and your focus on what's my life gonna look like,
what am I gonna do, who am I gonna be? And if you can have an encounter with
Lord in that time of your life and not just an encounter of like, oh God loves
me, guys, he's me, but no, like I'm laying down my life for whatever God you have for
me. Gosh, it's just such a pivotal, pivotal moment.
And what was really cool was when we were recording open, remember, Layla was recording it. We were
all there in Layla who sings and open. Her friend was in the room. Her friend was just there
traveling with Layla. And she's like crying over there. She's like, oh my gosh, these words are
speaking to me. And she was about to go into college. And she was like, over there. She's like, oh my gosh, like these words are speaking to me and she was about to go into college
and she was like, I needed like every word. This is going to be my prayer going into college.
And I just remember thinking like, wow, if that's her, imagine how many.
It's going to be the same for them. So man, if you're in a season of your life,
or you've been holding on to so much of what you're gonna be and what you're gonna do and who you are
But yet you want to live a life for Christ and I encourage you go listen that song and just make it your prayer
Yeah, make it your anthem in this season
Gosh it's so good. Okay, lastly
We have promised to the end. Whoo, it's promise to them. Reims. That was you. That was your that was your
Baby if you will or you texted me like, hey, I want to write
the song.
So talk to me about that inspiration.
I mean, it was just, it was only credit to God because it was just what he was doing
through that sermon at Christchurch, like in my heart, like he was revealing these things
and how important the things that you were saying were. And I think a few days before I just felt compelled to work on a song about what you were talking about
in the sermon and all the words that God had given you,
Steph was like, I think we have one more.
I think she told me she was like calling you two and she just wanted to challenge us like we have one more.
Like I know that there's one more.
And so she actually said just dig into maybe some
of the old sermons, like let's just find maybe
where God's trying to lead us if there is one more.
And so that was where I started because that server
was just on my mind.
And so like I just had a list of all the promises of God
and every single time that God promises something
and just went with it.
It was so good.
I mean, you were a huge part of that too.
Yes.
It was really cool to cloud on that together because Reeves took the inspiration from a sermon
I had preached and it was about, it does God keep his promises, right?
And he sends me this idea for a song.
I was like, this is really cool.
Like we could really go somewhere with this and it was all these promises.
And then you came up
every one day you Christian and I and honey so we had a little distraction but it was a good distraction
and stuff just kind of started flowing a little bit better. You were playing the piano, we kind of had
a better direction of where we were wanting to go and it was the same thing for me as it was for you
when I was sitting there. It was like, stuff was just dropping in my
spirit. The whole year of the line and the land, the redeemer and a friend. That was just
like, poof. It was like, stuff was coming into our hearts out of nowhere, which was the
Holy Spirit working. And we'd be like, okay, this is good. This is good. And then we sat
down with Kaylee and Mark and we just made it even better. So that was truly like a team
collaborative song and
I remember fighting through some of those words which was really cool like whenever which Kaley's laughing But I love it because it because we really did try for every single word on every single song to matter and
There's a part at the beginning of the song where we say you're the rod in my hand
Which could be confusing if you're just singing you're the rod in my hand. What does that mean?
But what it means, and there's other parts of the song where it's like, you're the voice
and then when you're the rod in my hand, you're the light and the dark.
And basically, it's really going through the Bible and realizing that in each of these
stories, like with Moses, when he had a rod, like a staff in his hand, and he put that
rod down in the sea split, that was the power of God in his hand. It wasn't about
a rod. It was about the power of God. So whenever Elijah was sitting on the mountain and
there's earthquakes and there's just and there's a voice in the way that voice was the
power of God. That was God. Whenever you hear those about you're the light and the darkly
and the midst of that light is the power of God and just recognizing that in each of these stories, even with we could have gone to
David with the when he's getting the slingshot he's getting the sir like he
had the power of God within it wasn't about that it was about who God was
and I remember you pushing on that and saying like do you think people are
going to get it but what happened when you push on that was it made us feel so secure.
And remember, you came out with that word,
where we were like, you know what,
we all have a runner hand.
We all have something that God has given us
that we have to realize it's God within us.
That gives us the power behind it.
And it reminds me of you at the beginning of this podcast
talking about you didn't know you could sing.
And that was the power of God within you.
And recognizing it's like, it's actually not just a rod.
It's not just the power of God doing.
And so, Kaylee, if you wanna end this,
I'm just an encouraging word to that,
to that specific thing in people's life,
whether whatever it is that God is within them
and his promises are like yes Moses had a
staff you know and David had a slingshot everybody in the Bible had something
that God used and like you might be looking in your life and you're like I
just have this staff it doesn't mean much but with God he can use it like you
might just have a youth ministry you might just have a Bible study of five
girls at your high school. You might just have a guitar, what could God do through it. And I said
this last time, but like God will use what's in your hand to fulfill what's he put in your heart.
And so be faithful. I mean, David could have been like, this link shot is not going to do anything
against God. But he knew that God was with him,
and God used that, and so don't underestimate the rod.
Like God will do with it.
It's good.
Be faithful with it.
Bring it with you everywhere you go.
It's so good, I love it.
And lastly, Reeves, so this whole idea,
you're the lion and the lamb,
Redeemer and a friend.
It's taking this idea of God that you see us so big
and making him so personal
because that's what he did when he sent Jesus.
He's like, yes, I am the creator of all things,
but I also am gonna send my son
to recline the table with sinners,
like what a friend that you are.
And just seeing God as like giving him the reverence
that he deserves, but also being in a relationship
like he's willing to be in with you.
So for you and your own life, you want to speak to people who are kind of finding the
relationship with God and finding their footing.
How did you and your own life go from knowing God as God to knowing God as a personal friend?
If you can speak to some encouragement.
I think that like, I wanted to say this earlier too like some of the whenever we're talking about this song specifically
I'll use the writing process as an example like we're talking about the promises of God and really like the all the good things about God
It can be so overwhelming and it's so the magnitude of it is like we can't grasp it. We can't contain it all, to understand it all is just beyond us.
And so like, even in that song and writing it,
it's kind of similar to like our understanding of God.
Like there's so many things about it
and it's all a lot at once.
But like you were talking about this the other day too,
like when you have a child and your love for that child,
is just so fierce and if
anything is coming after that child there's nothing that you're that's gonna
stop you from going after and protecting that child and loving that child
with everything in you and so like that's crucial to your understanding of God
and like even the other day when we're talking about it I need you to be
reminded of that like God loves you so fiercely. And he's
in his son to die on the cross for you because he like he knit you in your mother's womb.
He knew everything about you before he would ever come to pass. And so like his love for
you, we can't grasp it. But he sent his own son just to bridge that gap where sin separated us.
So good.
And so he just wants to be in relationship with you.
And so that's the key to having a relationship with him
is knowing he wants that and he extended that first.
Yeah, that's so good.
Gosh, what a great reminder for literally everybody
including us and what Reeves is saying
and what we want you to experience is what we've
all personally experienced that changed our life.
Like, we all were once lost and now we're found.
We've all been dead and now we're alive.
And for you listening, if you feel unlovable and you feel, you know, just bogged down by
the depression and the anxieties of the world and you feel lost and you feel afraid of all
these things. Like, this is the God who has a response to those feelings.
This is the God who is going to love you with love.
That is so loud and reckless.
You've never even experienced anything like this is the God who is going to give you peace.
That's your passage.
I understand it's going to give you joy.
Whenever it really makes no sense to have joy, enjoy that's a strength.
And that's who God is in your life.
That's what Jesus came on the cross to do to make the dead and the things that are done
you come alive.
And that, all of that is proven true by the words that he's given us.
And so what we're singing over you is the words of the scripture.
What we're singing over you is the words that we cling to as hope in our life.
And so if you're trying to find that, how do I find God?
How do I go straight to God?
Well first you just call out to God because God's there to listen and respond.
But secondly, how do you find God?
You learn these scriptures.
And I love how it reads is saying and saying, this is crucial to understanding how you understand
that it's crucial to know the word.
Because when you read the word and you
Understand the word and you realize that word is for you that's whenever it's active in life and changes everything in your life
So before you even get to all that if you haven't read and if you haven't studied and maybe you're listening to these songs today
I just pray that you feel his spirit tangibly that you you just, you feel maybe you're crying.
You don't know why I'm crying.
You know, maybe you have chill bumps, you know,
why have chill bumps, you know.
You might feel a stirring towards God.
And you're like, why do I feel this stirring?
Just lean into those things today, friends.
This could be a huge moment in your life.
And I'm excited.
I love that these songs that are just worship songs
that we wrote have sparked this great of a conversation
And I think there's something to that and something to be said about that. So friends. Thanks for being on the podcast two days to conference
Yeah, we'll be leading these songs. Okay, pulse check. Are you all nervous? Are you excited? Where we at?
Yeah, some nervous
Of course, hey
Someone asked me today. are you nervous or excited?
I said both.
I was like, is anything you're super excited about, you're going to be really nervous for
it.
And that's an okay thing.
And if you're not nervous, sometimes it means that you don't really care about it or
you think that you got it.
So sometimes being nervous is like, I know I need you God.
That's true.
It's such an honor.
I mean, you're bringing the Word of God to an arena of people. Like, there's some weight there. We're leading people into the presence you God. Nice. It's such an honor. I mean, you're bringing the word of God to an arena of people like there's some weight there
We're leading people into the presence of God. There's some weight there
But of course we're excited about it and I'm excited to worship with the songs
They're like see how the people respond. That's so good. Look if I wasn't nervous
I would be nervous about while I'm not nervous
That's the truth
Yeah
Well, if you haven't gotten your ticket, you still can.
You can go to LSSERCOMFORTS.com and you can join us at conference.
For all of you local people, just come on over, come be a part of conference, you can
get your ticket online and get there.
You can make a drive.
It probably isn't too far if you're living.
And let's see, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, you're pretty close.
You should drive.
Fly it to my RDB all booked up,
get in the car, come join us,
it's gonna be an incredible weekend.
And if any of this is stirring something in your heart,
you really don't wanna miss it live,
you really don't wanna miss what God's gonna do in person.
So get there, August 19th, which is two days from now,
and 20th, it's gonna be incredible,
and we will see you guys there. you