SO true! This song hit home with me and still resonates.

What a beautiful and moving message to our loving Father. He hears you. You have blessed me as well. We keep you in our prayers on this next journey. There is nothing that separates us from His presence and all-encompassing Love.<3

So why did I upload a track lined with fuzz from an extremely overshot mic?

We've recorded this song lots of times, and could probably stand to record it several more. I have yet to figure out exactly how far away to place my mic in order to capture the detail of my "emotional" voice without blowing your ears off--which seems to always happen in at least one place despite my recording level changes. 

So, I'm putting this imperfect recording up for you to listen to not because of the quality, or because it showcases my abilities in a good light... I'm putting it up because this was a moment of worship. A victory in an artist's battle against worship-stealing self-evaluation. 

I moved to East Africa when I was 13. I haven't stayed in one country for an entire year since then. The life of a TCK is one of the most beautiful things I can think of. We get to step into the lives of an entirely new people group as learners, and come away with new wisdom and new eyes. But for this girl, departures often feel like deaths. Continuously leaving people and places I love all around the world lends itself to a dull ache that settles for a while, but is bound to take wing again. 

I wrote the first lines of "You Hold Me When I Go Places" right before leaving MN to return to East Africa for the last time. I finished it on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic. 

In thirteen days, I will board another plane, this time by myself, and say goodbye to the place that took an awkward 13-year-old in almost five years ago. 

My dad and I recorded this last week. We lugged my little stash of equipment into our little guest house just as the rain started coming down. We sat there for a while, hoping it would die down before an approaching meeting, but it only got stronger. It smelled like hope. It literally rains 5 days a year on average in our little city, and the dust needed something to cry on it. 

We decided to record anyway. We ran through it a few times, trying to wake up tired voices, and then hit the record button. Two rounds. And then the third time, the last time, 15 minutes before we had to get to the next meeting, my own lyrics sunk in. "You hold me when I go places. You hold me when I leave. You hold me when I miss faces, and You remind me that You see. You are faithful, always the same, whether I stand or sleep, your heart is unchanged. And you look on me with love." 

His faithfulness washed over me. For those 5 minutes, a huge smile was plastered all over my face. I sang from my heart, to my Jesus. 

That's why you have this recording, instead of a more expert one. 

May these words turn your eyes toward an eternal shore, sojourner. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He looks on you in love.

You Hold Me When I Go Places (feat. Ryan Thom)

Dark in the City

Explaining Jesus

Listen to the official audio for Ben Rector’s song “Sunday” featuring Snoop Dogg.

New album ‘The Joy Of Music’ is out now. Listen here: https://smarturl.it/TheJoyOfMusic

Catch Ben and Joy on tour this summer! See all dates at:  https://smarturl.it/TheJoyOfMusicLive 

Lyrics:

One, two
Yup
 
When it’s the end of the weekend
But not quite the end of the weekend
Check it out
It is what it is
You got me feelin’
 
You make me feel like I’m in all my best clothes
So good that I don’t care that Chick-Fil-A’s closed
Like a slow motion cruise on the backroads and byways
Windows down and avoidin’ the highways
 
Nothin’ else that I wanna do
But take all day and waste it with you
 
You got me feelin’ like it’s Sunday
You got me sayin’ hallelujah, singin’ praise
You got me feelin’ like the night is gone
And the sun is here to stay
 
Wo-ooh
 
You got me feelin’ like the weekend
You give me somethin’ to believe in
When I’m swimmin’ in the deep end
Sky is baby blue, and my blues are gone away
You got me feelin’ like it’s Sunday
 
And maybe we should make some breakfast
We got lots of time that seems like a good investment
It’s the end of the week and I make a mean quiche
Maybe all of our friends should come over to eat
 
Nothin’ else that I wanna do
But take all of my time and waste it with you
 
You got me feelin’ like it’s Sunday
You got me sayin’ hallelujah, singin’ praise
You got me feelin’ like the night is gone
And the sun is here to stay
 
Wo-ooh
 
You got me feelin’ like the weekend
You give me somethin’ to believe in
When I’m swimmin’ in the deep end
Sky is baby blue, and my blues are gone away
You got me feelin’ like it’s Sunday
 
La, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la
 
You got me feelin’ like it’s Sunday
 
La, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la
 
You got me feelin’ like Chick-Fil-A was open on a Sunday
(Snoop, I know, we tried, it was closed, wouldn’t that be great)
Check it out
This a hit
You can tell radio
All the DJs will play it
Cause we got that hustle, that flow
I’m feelin’ good
Feelin’ fresh
Feelin’ blessed
Little stressed
 
And when I’m with you I feel that joy inside my chest
 
What you feel
Just depends on what you see
But just don’t take it from me
I’m just the D O double G
 
You got me feelin’ like a Sunday (Ohh)
You got me sayin’ hallelujah, singin’ praise (singing praise)
You got me feelin’ like the night is gone
And the sun is here to stay
 
Wo-ooh
 
You got me feelin’ like the weekend (got me feelin’ like the weekend)
You give me somethin’ to believe in (give me somethin’ to believe in)
When I’m swimmin’ in the deep end
Skies are baby blue, and my blues are gone away
You got me feelin’ like it’s Sunday
 
Sunday
 
You got me feelin’ like it’s Sunday
 
Skies are blue and the clouds have gone away
 
You got me feelin’ like it’s Sunday

The Joy Of Music

Listen / Download

Sunday (feat. Snoop Dogg)

Listen to the official audio for Ben Rector’s song “Heroes.”

New album ‘The Joy Of Music’ is out now. Listen here: https://smarturl.it/TheJoyOfMusic

Catch Ben and Joy on tour this summer! See all dates at:  https://smarturl.it/TheJoyOfMusicLive 

Lyrics:

I miss when I had superpowers
My imagination was my friend and it ran wild and free
I could waste a couple hours
Without a worry in the world staring at stars out on my trampoline, yeah 
 
I miss when Andy McAuthur was the fastest kid there was and kid there was ever gonna be 
Ken Griffey Jr. was a giant before parents got divorced and I learned that there was gravity 
 
I miss my old heroes
I had to give them all away 
I miss my old heroes yeah yeah
God I wish they could’ve stayed
Cause it turns out that the hardest part of growing up's not getting old
It's learning how the real world goes
I miss my old
I miss my old 
 
I miss my Bible study leader
Had all the answers for living in the big bad world 
Don’t know if he still talks to Jesus 
But his wife's remarried now and I think he sells garage doors  
 
I miss when I thought chasing dreams was 
Holy magic behind curtains in a sacred place
Before it was managers and lawyers 
Who colored up and cashed them out 
For vacation homes in coastal states 
 
I miss my old heroes
I had to give them all away 
I miss my old heroes yeah yeah 
God I wish they could’ve stayed
Cause it turns out that the hardest part of growing up’s not getting old
It's learning how the real world goes
I miss my old
I miss my old 
I miss my old heroes
 
I miss my old heroes
 
I miss back when the world was small and we had all the answers
I miss how it was when we were young 
I miss back before I understood all the ways that life would break your heart 
Before I knew that's what they called growing up 
 
I miss my old heroes
I had to give them all away 
I miss my old heroes yeah yeah 
God I wish they could’ve stayed
Cause it turns out that the hardest part of growing up’s not just getting old
It's learning how the real world goes
I miss my old
I miss my old 
I miss my old heroes 
I miss my old heroes

Heroes

Cut Me Out Your Photos

Garden On The Kitchen Floor

Buried

When I Was Younger

Roll with the Punches

Someday Soon

Dear Happy

Kintsugi

Beautiful Anyway

Beautiful Anyway (Acoustic)

~singer/songwriter, poet, producer, selenophile~
with a heart that longs for 
the deepest, most real things
(and He is)
1/2 of @Excellencies

You Hold Me When I Go Places (feat. Ryan Thom)

Isabelle Thom

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