Today’s guests show us the power of relying on God in our darkest moments and staying connected with Him so that He can see us through our struggles: Joel and Luke Smallbone of the band, for KING & COUNTRY, and gospel music legend Sandi Patty. Joel and Luke Smallbone are part of a musical heritage, but earning their path to success was certainly not easy. Today they talk to us about their new album, Burn the Ships, how they’ve created their own musical legacy, and why it’s so important for them to carve out moments to be still with God. Sandi Patty came to fame in the 1980s as she sang alongside Bill and Gloria Gaither and wowed crowds with her stunning rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” After four decades in the music industry, Sandi talks to us about how she fell in love with music at an early age, what it took for her to discover her voice, both personally and professionally, and why she believes showing up is the first step to having a deeper relationship with God.

God Can Redeem Your Struggles: Joel & Luke Smallbone and Sandi Patty – Jesus Calling Episode #115

Narrator: Welcome to the Jesus Calling Podcast. Today’s guests show us the power of relying on God in our darkest moments and staying connected with Him so that He can see us through our struggles: Joel and Luke Smallbone with the band, for KING & COUNTRY, and gospel music legend Sandi Patty.

First, we talk with Joel and Luke Smallbone, brothers and members of the Christian pop duo, for KING & COUNTRY. Joel and Luke are part of a musical legacy, but earning their path to success was certainly not easy. When they were growing up, Joel and Luke’s family of nine immigrated from Australia to the United States after their father got a job in America—and quickly lost it after they arrived. With no money and no friends, the Smallbones learned to rely on each other and trust that God would provide. Today they talk to us about their new album, Burn the Ships, how they’ve created their own musical legacy, and why it’s so important for them to carve out moments to be still with God.

Joel Smallbone: Well, I am Joel Smallbone.

Luke Smallbone: And I’m his brother Luke.

Joel: And we share the same last name.

Luke: Yeah, we do, which is good. We’ve got the same parents.

Joel: We share a band as well. We’re in a band called for KING & COUNTRY, and we formed about six years ago. Two of seven kids originally from Australia—not from Boston, from Britain. Australia.

We live in Nashville, and our eldest sister was a singer by the name of Rebecca St. James.

Learning to Rely on Each Other

Luke: So we, as Joel mentioned, were originally born in Australia. My dad was a concert promoter in Australia, so he would bring tours back there.

One particular tour brought back to Australia, the tour didn’t go very well. We lost everything. We lost the house, we lost the savings, lost the car. He was looking for a fresh start for the family and got a job offer in Nashville, Tennessee. He thought would be a good idea to move his six kids and his wife, who was six months pregnant. And that’s that’s what we did. We moved . . . how many suitcases?

Joel: 16 suitcases.

Luke: Came all the way over.

Joel: Sold everything else.

Luke: As soon as we got here, my dad lost that job. And so we were on the other side of the world, no friends no family. We were sleeping on beds made out of clothes, which I remember very well because I couldn’t make the bed very well because it was just clothes. And I had to get Mom to help me. We didn’t have a car. We didn’t have any way for my little sister to be born in a hospital.

“As soon as we got to America, my dad lost [his] job. And so we were on the other side of the world, no friends no family.” – Luke Smallbone

As a family, I think it was a defining moment for us. We would gather around in the living room and pray and ask God for these essential things in life. And we got to see God do amazing miracles. We had people who found out we didn’t have any furniture in our house, and they brought two brought box trucks full of furniture and furnished our whole home. We had people drop bags of groceries on our doorstep, not knowing how needed that really was at the time.

“We got to see God do amazing miracles. We had people who found out we didn’t have any furniture house, and they brought two brought box trucks full of furniture and furnished our whole home.” – Luke Smallbone

One of the funniest stories when we came to America: we came in the fall, so Thanksgiving was coming up. Americans make a big deal out of Thanksgiving, which is great. Love Thanksgiving, but we don’t have Thanksgiving in Australia.

When we came, a family said, “Hey, why don’t you come over for Thanksgiving? We can show you the ropes. It’s really good for you guys too, because there’s lots of food and you’ve got lots of kids.”

We went over and we just had this wonderful time with this family. And at the end of the night, the father of the household comes to us and he says, “Hey, I want you to have the keys to my brand-new car. I want you guys to have it.”

And so I also joke that we quickly fell in love with Thanksgiving after that, where there’re cars involved.

When we came to America, people loved on us, and loved our family, and took care of our family. We got to see God’s provision. One of the things that I’ve even said nowadays is, one of the things I think God is really good at, He’s good at providing. He promises that. And we got to see that evidence in our early childhood.

“When we came to America, people loved on us, and loved our family, and took care of our family. . . . [God is] good at providing. He promises that. And we got to see that evidenced in our early childhood. “ – Luke Smallbone

Joel: And it bonded us too because we had the family fund. So rather than everyone out earning their own money, we would, depending on the season, we raked leaves, we mowed lawns. And we were wee lads at that time. Mom and Rebecca would clean houses.

I say “we” would mow lawns. I would mow the lawn. Luke would like to talk to the owner the whole time to get out of work.

Luke: Well, I was very concerned to make sure we got repeat business. And if you had a 6-year-old come up and talking to you about the need to mow your lawn, I think you’d give them another shot. So our retention rate was pretty solid.

Joel: It was out that that our sister Rebecca, she’d sung a little bit in school and stuff in Australia. She was 16 and Dad managed her, and they kind of shopped around to different record labels.

Then we started traveling, and we all had different jobs. So we homeschooled. Luke was the spotlight operator. I was the stage manager and the background vocalist. And Luke did run lighting as well.

Luke: He tries to demean me like, yeah, a 16-year-old so proud of running a spotlight.

Joel: And but we all had our jobs. We were like the Australian version of the Von Trapp family because we were in a van together, traveled the country. And I think that’s where, for us, we saw the impact of music. We saw the impact of music merged with this hope of the gospel. And then we learned about what it meant to build relationships with people and put on a show and build the stage and get the job done. We learned all of that firsthand.

“We saw the impact of music. We saw the impact of music merged with this hope of the gospel.” – Joel Smallbone

And so you follow us to where we are now as a band, it’s kind of a direct—you can’t have one without the other, if it weren’t for that time. It’s probably easy to say you wouldn’t have for KING & COUNTRY today.

Creating a Musical Legacy

Joel: It is interesting when you grow up in that family dynamic. And they were very formidable years. It was really our teenage years that we were traveling and were all together, five boys and our sisters and our parents. There’s no choice—you have to make it work. You have to. You have to figure out your conflict resolution, how to get along with siblings when you’re at odds, how to get back there, how to get the job done still.

We’re about to go on holidays with the whole family. Six of the seven of us are married, and there’s eight nieces and nephews, and one on the away. So it sort of expanded, but we’re still doing work together. Our brother Josh is our general manager, our dad manages us, our brother Daniel does our lighting still. Rebecca’s traveled with us in the past. Ben does all our music videos like this. There’s a deep connectedness in the whole family. We still choose each other.

“There’s a deep connectedness in the whole family. We still choose each other. “ – Joel Smallbone

If there was another part of the pedigree of for KING & COUNTRY, it has been that we, we learned the art of as a family of doing life together, not just in the structure of you go to school, parents go to work. They come home. You have maybe a bit of time at the dinner table. But actually working and struggling, and all the money going back into the family fund.

I think one of the things that we were forced to stumble upon is the beauty and the trust that God designed for the family unit to have. I sometimes worry that we’ve lost a bit of today. It’s so much more about individualism and actually going against, “Oh, my parents did that. My dad was a farmer, I don’t want to [be a farmer].” And sometimes it’s a very reasonable and and honorable thing to kind of branch out.

“One of the things that we were forced to stumble upon is the beauty and the trust that God designed for the family unit to have.” – Joel Smallbone

But then there’s other occasions where it’s beautiful— the fact that Dad was involved in music and that elder sister was involved in music, and the fact that now we’re involved with music, there’s such a rich heritage and understanding. And we stand on the shoulders of giants because of all the years in the show, [the years] they put in before we were even on the scene, if you will. I think for us it’s a very rich thing now to be able to carry that kind of legacy on.

Striking Out on Their Own

Narrator: After spending time on the road as a musical family, Joel and Luke decided to strike out on their own.

Joel: We were in kind of an independent duo with a very creative name Joel & Luke before we were for KING & COUNTRY.

We actually had this meeting this management meeting years ago. And band names are hard to come up with, particularly this context where we can Google anything. And some band over in Greenland was [using the band name we wanted], and so you can’t, they have the rights to it. Whereas just 100 years ago, you wouldn’t have been any the wiser.

So we had this meeting. We sat down and said, “Hey, we’re not leaving this meeting until we come up with a band name.” And we walked out with Joel & Luke.

We fumbled around for about six years. We wrote a hundred twenty songs, most of which no one has ever heard because they’re not worth hearing. We signed a production deal with a producer, and we just split it. And it was a very. . . we went into the struggle again.

I think a lot of people had the kind idea of “Well, you have your dad and you have your sister.” But we wanted to really get in and work through it ourselves and create a path and find out who we were as a duo. Luke hadn’t written a song before we started writing together.

Luke was working at a call center. I was travelling on the road working for my brother and Josh. There were points where both of us were looking at each other going, “Who’s going to call it?” [Luke had] met his wife, and they were getting married. His father-in-law comes to him and says, “Are you really going to do this?”

I met my now-wife at his wedding, which was pretty serendipitous. But there was this joy, and I remember saying to someone, “Hey, I want to marry this girl. And I have no means to do it.” The first date I took her out, I bought her sweater because she’s from California and it was winter in Nashville. I bought a sweater, and I had three dollars left in my account after I bought it for her.

But then again the beauty of the struggle and the hardship that we so vehemently try to run away from as humanity, and rightfully so. But how formative. And I think we both look back at that time again and go, “Man, we sort of made all of the silly mistakes and really now appreciate what we have because we work for so hard in the beginning.”

Joel and Luke Burn the Ships

Joel: So our new album, Burn the Ships, there’s a lot of layers to that phrase even into the record. But one of the centerpieces, maybe the hallmarks of it, is a song called “God Only Knows.”

I became an American citizen last year, and Luke was very proud of me. I passed the test. It’s a hard test.

Luke: We were doubtful.

Joel: But I did it. I took it through very seriously. I probably know more about America than a lot of Americans do now. But I’m an American, so anyway, we digress.

So the last year, I became a citizen and it was right in the middle of writing the record. And so there’s there’s a few different sort of sentiments to the album. There’s a romance to it, there’s obviously a natural spiritual side to it, and there’s a kind of social side to it.

As you can imagine, we get a lot of letters mind-blowing letters or messages on Facebook that will share these heartbreaking, often very dramatic stories about how a song or some phrase or line has not only spurred them on, but saved them from self-harm or from taking their own life or from an awful relationship.

As we were looking to this record, I remembered I have a song list on my phone, and I was scrolling through. And this phrase “God only knows” is one of the phrases I just had in the list for a long time. And I said, “Look at this one. Maybe this is it. This is the moment.”

And we pulled that phrase out because it’s a very casual phrase at first glance. You know, “God only knows, man, why this kind of stuff happens.” But when you really dive into it, if this is all true, there’s a lot of things that God knows. And all we have, on the contrary, it’s just little pieces and snippets of each other’s lives. And yet we’re the ones that are so prone to judge, right? We’re the ones that you see, if you’re having a bad day and someone in a car makes some bad gesture, or you’re at a coffee shop and someone sort of is rude and you think, That person is an awful person. That’s it. You have just that snapshot. And yet even in our snapshots, we’re prone to judgment.

“All we have just little pieces and snippets of each other’s lives . . . yet even in our snapshots, we’re prone to judgment.” – Joel Smallbone

And on the contrary, Jesus who sees, God who sees the whole gamut still has this kind of superhero-type, otherworldly love for us—and not judgment, but actually forgiveness for us, by the grace of God.

And so this song became this real centerpiece of the record.

Luke: I got baptized when I was in Australia by my grandfather. He was a Methodist pastor, and it was this sweet moment for us, baptizing his grandsons in the ocean.

Joel: Three of us boys.

Luke: It’s a freezing cold.

Joel: It was awfully cold.

Luke: But then fast forward about a year ago, a year and a half ago. I was at church and the pastor, who is a friend of mine, was just talking about whatever. I think he said something about Baptism Sunday coming up, and then he moved on to his sermon. And the entire sermon, I was just fixated on baptism. I was like, I’ve been baptized before. Why can I not get my mind from this thought?

And so after the service, I went up to my pastor friend. I said, “Hey, man, I know you mentioned something about baptism. And I just cannot get my mind off of that act. I feel like I need to be baptized in this church and with my congregation here.”

So fast forward six weeks, three months or so, and it’s Baptism Sunday. I’m going back to get prepared with the 12-year-olds. I was like the oldest person there.

Joel: And the tallest.

Luke: And the tallest.

It was just this wonderful day. So I get into the baptismal, and my pastor friend says a few things and talks a little bit about our friendship that we have, and he baptizes me.

And as I come up out of the water, I just felt like something happened. It just felt like time stood still for just a moment, like God is like making a point so I could just remember this moment as an exclamation mark. I just felt like it was just a symbol of similar things have taken place in my past, being buried in the past and walking into this new future.



Two days later, I’m in the studio and we’re talking about song ideas. And I was like, “Guys, I’ve got to tell you the story of what just took place.” And so sure enough, we write this song about this baptism experience. And that’s the thought the story behind “Amen.”

Making Time for Moments in the Stillness

Narrator: As they are on the road inspiring others, Joel and Luke work hard to take time to seek God and keep a close relationship with Him. Joel reads a passage from Jesus Calling that talks about the joy we can get from spending time with God.

Joel: So the passage we’re going to read to you is from Jesus Calling, July 8th.

Luke: Which happens to be my wife’s birthday, which is very special. She loves Jesus Calling, which is amazing.

Joel: It was meant to be.

Luke: It was meant to be.

Joel: And it says this:

When you seek My Face, put aside thoughts of everything else. I am above all, as well as in all; your communion with Me transcends both time and circumstances. Be prepared to be blessed bountifully by My Presence, for I am a God of unlimited abundance. Open wide your heart and mind to receive more and more of Me. When your Joy in Me meets My Joy in you, there are fireworks of heavenly ecstasy. This is eternal life here and now: a tiny foretaste of what awaits you in the life to come. Now you see only a poor reflection as in a mirror, but then you will see face to Face.

And the passage from John 15:11: I have told you this, so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

And lastly 1 Corinthians 13:12—a great passage, by the way: Now we see a reflection in a mirror. Then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

It’s funny when you start merging the idea of God and spirituality, and then a relationship and whatever that looks like with work. I think you have to be really careful, because you can have that attitude of, “Oh, I’m doing it. Like, here I am! I’m living and breathing it all the time. I’m doing your work.”

It’s kind of like being in a marriage and just being like, “But I’m providing. I’m doing my job. You’ve got a nice house.” But there’s the love component, isn’t there? And maybe she is just sitting there going, “Hey, hang on.”

The whole idea of this [relationship] wasn’t practical. It wasn’t A + B = C. It was love. It was always built on that.

And so I think for us, we meet [God] in different ways. And we have two different answers, but we have put really strong boundary markers in place, whether it be having family around a lot, as far as staying grounded and staying centered.

Time feels like it’s moving faster. It feels like there’s less of it. And it feels like something, crazily enough with a lot of the intimacy that we have—or connectedness, I should say, we have through social media and through cellular devices and smartphones—the intimacy level also feels like it’s sort of dwindling or dropping.

The quietness, the stillness, the slowing is hard, to think of putting our phones away. Going on a walk, those things that just put your feet back on the earth and [help you] realize that you’re a living, breathing, physical [being]. We’ve all got a time frame on this earth.

I think you have to put an exclamation point on all of that. And just getting just good literature, God-scented literature like the Bible, things that can keep you on the straight and narrow. But community, doing it in a way which has forced community here, doing it in an environment where people around you, I think that’s that’s the key because no man or woman is an island, or should be one in the end.

Looking Back for Faith to Go Forward

Luke: I heard somebody say that the best thing that you can do as a parent is display the truth of Jesus in your life. And so if you can demonstrate miracles that have taken place in your own life and you could show that your kids, why would your kids ever choose not to follow Jesus?

“The best thing that you can do as a parent is display the truth of Jesus in your life.” – Luke Smallbone

I don’t think that was necessarily my parents’ plan in moving over here, but that’s what happened. And so it does shape you.

I remember having a conversation with my sister when I was probably 12. And I said, “Bec, how do you have faith in the midst of doubt?”

And she said, “Well, you always look back.”

And so for me, I can always look back and see just how tangible God has been for me, when I first came to America and then all throughout the marriage and some of the things I’ve walked through personally. I’ve just seen God take care of me. And so it doesn’t necessarily make it easy, but I don’t think that we’re we’re short of stories in seeing God’s faithfulness.

Narrator: To learn more about for KING & COUNTRY’s latest album, Burn the Ships, visit ForKingAndCountry.com.

Narrator: We’ll be right back after this brief message about a new book from Jesus Calling.

Narrator: Just in time for the gift-giving season, Jesus Always, Sarah Young’s newest 365-devotional that brings Jesus’ message of joy to you, is now available in an easy-to-carry, pocket-size edition with a striking leather-soft cover and beautiful interior design. This elegant gift edition makes it the perfect choice to give to someone special or a personal gift for yourself. Learn more at JesusCalling.com

Narrator: Our next guest is the multi-Dove and GRAMMY-award-winning Christian music legend Sandi Patty. Sandi came to fame in the 1980s as she sang alongside Bill and Gloria Gaither and wowed crowds with her stunning rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” After doing music for more than forty years, today Sandi talks to us about how she fell in love with music at an early age, what it took for her to discover her voice, both personally and professionally, and why she believes showing up is the first step to having a deeper relationship with God.

Sandi Patty: My name is Sandi Patty, and I am a follower of Jesus. I’m a wife. I’m a mom, I’m a grandma. And I love to sing about all of that.

Discovering Music Early in Life

My dad was a minister of music, so growing up for me was involved around two things: going to church and music. My mom was an amazing pianist, and so she would play the piano, and my dad would lead the singing in the choirs. And we just grew up with a whole lot of music in our house. And it still, to this day when we get together, it is so great to sing with my parents.

Growing up in church, we moved around a bit from Oklahoma to Arizona to California. I ended up in Indiana going to school, and that’s where I lived for a good part of my life. And now I’m back in Oklahoma City, where I was born. My husband and I are on staff at our church there. So we are pastoring together, which is just kind of a cool thing to be able to say.

I loved music as at an early age. My parents let me listen to these little 45 records in my room, and I’d get my hairbrush and pretend like it was a microphone. I always have loved music. I took piano lessons throughout elementary and junior high and high school.

I didn’t start studying voice seriously until I got to college, but I did a lot of singing when I was in college. I was at a small little college in Indiana called Anderson University. And some very famous alums, Bill and Gloria Gaither, live very close to there. Bill was on the board of directors at the time. And I did some event where he heard me sing, and not too long after that, he called and said, “So we’re looking for someone to come and sing backup on our next tour. Would you be interested?”

“Wow. Let me pray about it. Yes!”

So that was one of my first big steps into the Christian music world.

Bill and Gloria were so gracious to let me sing a solo here and there in their concerts. That began to open some doors for me to do some traveling by myself. I wanted to be a schoolteacher, but the last 35 years, I’ve been doing some singing and traveling.

Learning to Use Her Voice

I just had the opportunity to finish a book called The Voice, which is a funny title to me because I never felt like I had one.

The book sort of helps me unpack my finding my voice. And I think a lot of finding our own voice has to begin by hearing God’s voice in us. That’s really where it began for me.

“I think a lot of finding our own voice has to begin by hearing God’s voice in us. That’s really where it began for me.” – Sandi Patty

I’ve been very shy with words, so I never felt that I had a voice that I could speak up or speak out. I think that’s one reason I was drawn to music, because I would hear a song and I would think, That’s how I feel! So I thought if I could sing this song, I can become these words. So music really helped me speak my voice.

“Music really helped me speak my voice.” – Sandi Patty

But my inner voice always felt quiet, and I always second-guessed myself. And when you second-guess yourself, it’s really hard to speak up because you think, Oh, that might not be . . . Maybe that’s not kind, that’s not the right thing. or the timing is off, or whatever.

Probably in the late mid- to late-80s, I started going to Bible study fellowship, BSF. And it’s just an amazing place to begin to unpack the Word of God. As I began to understand who I was in God and how He saw me, that gave me more confidence to speak up and speak my own voice.

“As I began to understand who I was in God and how He saw me, that gave me more confidence to speak up and speak my own voice. “ – Sandi Patty

That was something that was hard for me to do. I don’t know why, but I think it is harder for women to speak up. And I think I grew up in a church denomination [where] you really didn’t have problems. You were either all in or all out. So it was hard to say, “Hey, I need help with this or with that.”

Consequently, you feel very isolated and very alone when other people begin to share their stories. You kind of go, Wait, I’m not alone in this? And that’s where the beauty of community comes in, is realizing where nothing is new under the sun, as Solomon says so wisely, that there’s somebody who’s either farther along on the path than you, somebody who’s right where you are, or somebody who’s getting ready to come on that path. But we don’t have to go by ourselves. And I think that alone probably gave me the courage to begin to speak up and say you know, “Hey, marriage is hard.” And for somebody go, “Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

“That’s where the beauty of community comes in, is realizing there nothing is new under the sun, as Solomon says so wisely, that there’s somebody who’s either farther along on the path than you, somebody who’s right where you are, or somebody who’s getting ready to come on that path. But we don’t have to go by ourselves.” – Sandi Patty

I didn’t know other people had hard times in marriage or with kids or . . . I thought everybody just kind of had it together until one brave person start saying, and the dominoes start falling. Community is where it’s at. Community with Christian brothers and sisters is the place to begin. So good.

And I know for me, I’ve been most encouraged when I’ve heard other people risk to share their story. That probably is the single most thing that has impacted me in being able to share my story.

It’s kind of like when you when you buy a new car that’s a color you’ve never had before. And then all of a sudden, you see that color everywhere. It’s kind of that same thing, which is the beauty of sharing our story. And the more I began to share my story, the more I began . . . I thought I was just being brave for myself for my own growth. But then I began to realize that encourages someone else to share their story, which is going to encourage then someone else to share theirs. And that to me is just one of the most amazing things.

We need to just get real. We’ve just got to get real in the body of Christ because we aren’t alone in this journey.

“We’ve just got to get real in the body of Christ because we aren’t alone in this journey.” – Sandi Patty

Just Show Up in His Presence

Narrator: In the 1990s, Sandi struggled through a public divorce. She talks about reeling from old wounds, and how God has helped her and her family get through this difficult time.

Sandi: You know, we talk a lot about forgiveness. We talk a lot about God making all things new. But I tell you that old shame is the one thing that I kind of feel creep on me from time to time. Shame is sort of like this wet shower curtain, and it’s really hard to pull that off. It just clings, and you can’t get rid of it.

“Shame is sort of like this wet shower curtain, and it’s really hard to pull that off. It just clings, and you can’t get rid of it.” – Sandi Patty

I know in my head I know God’s Word is true. I know He has forgiven me. But when I see my kids walk through a new season that brings up old wounds for them, it’s so easy for me to pick up that shame again. And I have to walk myself through once again: “Believe God’s Word. It is true. He has forgiven you.” There’s consequences. Consequences are not the same thing as unforgiveness. God has forgiven me. There will always be consequences.

“Consequences are not the same thing as unforgiveness. God has forgiven me. There will always be consequences.” – Sandi Patty

And I love the opportunity every day to open up my Jesus Calling, whether it’s a book beside my bed stand or it’s the app because I’m traveling. Sometimes I’ll go, “Sarah Young, how did you know? How did you get in my head and know that these are the words I needed today?” I just think God gave her just an amazing, amazing gift.

One of the things that Jesus Calling has reminded me more and more and more often is I don’t have to have all the answers. I [can] just show up in His presence. Just keep showing up in His presence. Just keep inviting God to where I am and just show up in His presence. That’s it. That’s my job.

“One of the things that Jesus Calling has reminded me more and more and more often is I don’t have to have all the answers. I [can] just show up in His presence.” – Sandi Patty

I just love that when I get at my wit’s end and like, “I don’t want to pick up a book. I don’t even know what place to start in God’s Word.” I go, “I’m going to my friend. I’m going Sarah because you know she and I are like this. We’ve never met, but I feel like I know her, and she knows me.

This has been one of the sweetest gifts of my life.

“Relax in My Peaceful Presence.”

So here’s Jesus Calling for July 10th:

Relax in my peaceful Presence. Do not bring performance pressures into our sacred space of communion. When you are with someone you trust completely, you feel free to be yourself. This is one of the joys of true friendship. Though I am Lord of Lords and king of kings, I also desire to be your intimate Friend. When you were tense or pretentious in our relationship, I feel hurt. I know the worst about you, but I also see the best in you. I long for you to trust Me enough to be fully yourself with Me. When you are real with Me, I am able to bring out the best in you, the very gifts I have planted in your soul. Relax and enjoy our friendship.

Relax in my peaceful presence. It’s that simple and that hard. I love that.

As a mom, I’ve raised eight kids, my husband and I’ve raised eight kids. And we have unique relationships with all of them. Some are open to a scripture, some are open to advice, some are just distant. And sometimes when I don’t know what to say to them, or I’ve heard them on the phone or they’ve texted me, I’ll just open up Jesus Calling—and I hope this is ok—but I’ll take a picture of that day and I’ll send it to my kids, or I’ll send it to a friend and just say, “You know what? I didn’t plan this, but this is just what today’s Word says. This is what Jesus is saying to you today.” It has been such a great tool to be able to use for others.

And then they’ll either respond, “That’s a great word. I needed that today.” Or most often, “Oh my goodness, where did this come from? I need this.”

And I’ll say, “Yeah, you do need this.”

Grateful to Serve for 35 Years

The last 24 months, I’ve been winding down the big touring season of my life. And I didn’t want to call it “farewell,” I didn’t want to call it “goodbye,” because that wasn’t the reason I was doing it. I wanted an opportunity to say to the people who had been just who’d come alongside me these last 35 years, I wanted an opportunity to say to them “thank you.”

First and foremost, I have been called by God. But I also know that I work for the people. We serve the people.

“I have been called by God. But I also know that I work for the people. We serve the people.” – Sandi Patty

And so I wanted to say to those people thank you, and reminisce with songs, with stories. And getting to have my kids be part of that, because they’d been on the road with me before, but now I was employing them. One was the road manager, one merchandise, several of them sang with me onstage as well as my husband. And it was really very, very special. It wasn’t so much to say goodbye. It was really to just tell the people how grateful I have been that I’ve gotten to do this all these years.

Narrator: For more information about Sandi’s new book The Voice: Listening for God’s Voice and Finding Your Own, visit sandipatty.com.

Narrator: Next time on the Jesus Calling Podcast, we speak with internationally known speaker and Love Does author Bob Goff and his daughter, Lindsay Viducich. Bob and Lindsay talk about what it was like growing up in the Goff family and Bob’s unconventional parenting style, and why it’s important to show kids how to live a life fully engaged with the world.

Bob Goff: That whole idea of being engaged, it isn’t something that happens when you fall in love and slip a ring on somebody’s finger. That’s not engaged. It’s what you do afterwards. It’s to say, “I’m going to live a life of engagement and wonder and whimsy.”

And everybody does it different, so riff on your version. However it is that God wired you, just be that, and then pull that out of your kids. Let them bring you along delightfully. If you let them off the chain, they’ll just take you on some great adventures.

Song Permission:

“God Only Knows”

© 2018 Curb | Word Entertainment. 25 Music Square West, Nashville, TN 37203

Used by Permission.

“Amen”

© 2018 Curb | Word Entertainment. 25 Music Square West, Nashville, TN 37203

Used by Permission.