You guys moved from Oklahoma to Nashville to get your recording career started, and now that that’s taking a break right now, do you still plan to stay there?

Yes. We’re doing a lot of production work [in Nashville] and we found a church home here, and we just feel like we’ll stay – we really love it here.

Do you lead worship at your church?

We kind of rotate with 6 others to lead worship at the church. We lead at least once a month, if not twice, and probably as we phase out Watermark, we’ll grow into doing more [worship] leading in our church.

Transitioning from being a worship leader to a recording artist and now back again, how has that been for you?

I think, really, those two worlds have kind of simultaneously kept going, and I don’t think we’ve ever stopped leading worship along the way, being involved with many different worship events and Passion conferences over the 10 years that we’ve done Watermark. So for us, it definitely feels right to phase out the Watermark thing right now and just have [leading worship] as our focus musically right now, without the pressure of a label to kind of dictate what we’re doing, especially with children and everything. So it definitely feels right to us. And worship leading has always been, just, in my heart and [something] very natural to [Nathan and I], so it feels really good to still have a place to kind of abide musically.

Having been part of the worship movement in the 90’s and seeing what it’s grown into today, with people speaking about worship music as being a trend right now with artists that might not necessarily have an interest in worship music doing it maybe just to get a radio hit, what is your take on how the genre has developed?

Like any genre of music, I think [worship music] is popular right now, but I think that true worship has always been and always will be, and that’s my take on it. It’s just the true worshippers, you know? And God sees our hearts and only He can see that. Music can be trendy, definitely, but I think God sees who the true worshippers are and that has always been and always will be.

And so I feel like, if there is anything that we should be striving to do, it’s to be a true worshipper rather than like, “We need to get this worship hit to the top of the charts.” And I think for the people who are getting worship hits to the top of the charts – some of them may be true worshippers and some of them may not be, but I feel like that is definitely not our place to judge, to say, “You’re gifted to do that, you’re gifted to do something else,” or whatever.

Looking at your own personal worship and at your ministry, what are some of the things that God has taught you during your time in Watermark?

For me, in worship leading and in artistry, I think it’s so important that, if you have something to say, whatever you say, making sure that it is because you have humbled yourself before God and said, “Ok Lord, I don’t have anything to say, but it’s You and Your Word and Your name and fame that needs to fill this earth, and what I desire is for Your name and Your glory to be lifted high in this place.” And I think in worship leading it’s just so important not to have an agenda. I know that a lot of artists would completely disagree with that, but I feel that it’s been important for [Watermark] to just be vessels that God can use.

And it’s because you’re in a different place all the time, you know – you’re in different churches, you’re in front of colleges. Everyone is coming from a different walk of life, and each day is different. After September 11th, every tour was different just because people’s hearts were in a different space. And God uses everything – He orchestrates everything to get us all in a place of listening and hearing Him and seeing Him for who He is. And I think it’s so important to be appropriate in every situation. As you go into a church, just being sensitive to the Holy Spirit enough to say, “You know, we don’t need to say this tonight, we don’t need to do that song tonight, I feel like God is saying this,” and just being flexible and open and not having your own agenda.

For Nathan and I, we don’t really have anything to say other than, “Here’s our experiences, and here’s the faithfulness of God through our experiences,” and we can share that. But as far as having an agenda, just letting that be God’s agenda and learning to be flexible, because in every town, everyone’s got their own experiences and are coming from a different place whether you’re from the north or the south, east or west. It’s really interesting just to see how one night can be completely different than another, even when you’re on a tour and you’re doing pretty much the same thing every night. So just being sensitive to the Spirit of God and letting Him truly use you like a vessel - I think that’s probably been the most astounding thing that we’ve noticed through the years

There were the times that we got up there and did our own thing with our own agenda, and after walking off the stage we would go, “That was pretty much, like…not very fruitful at all.” (laughs) And you definitely have an empty feeling when you just try to make a point with your own music instead of letting God make a point.

You’ve led thousands into worship through music during your time in Watermark. What are your thoughts on worshipping God through music and worshipping God as a whole lifestyle?

Well, I feel like for me, and for [Nathan and I] it’s really one and the same. I feel like it’s just as much an expression of worship that I am choosing my children right now and recognizing in them that God has written something on their heart than me leading worship in front of a church. And with my children being a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old, I can speak into their lives, and take that time right now, and they can always look back, even as adults, and remember a time that their mom decided for a season that she was going to stay home more. And I feel like that is just as much worship as me standing before a congregation.

And, really, I feel that if I continue to stand before a congregation, and I ignore the fact that my children need me right now more than ever, then I’ll be like a clanging symbol, and I’m not going to be effective in the Kingdom of God as a worship leader. I believe the Bible is very clear about that, about people in leadership and how important it is, especially for the elders, to keep your family in order. And although Nathan is not an elder in the church -but he’s definitely in a position of leadership over me, and he is my headship- I feel like it’s just really important for us to stop and recognize that just for a while, until they are older, that we need to make [our children] our priority. And God is already showing me that He is really honored and blessed by that and it’s been a really beautiful thing.

But the times that I do get to stand before a congregation – I don’t ever see God saying, “You won’t sing anymore.” I definitely hear Him saying that there will be another season, and it will be a rich season, you know? But I think [my family] is just going to be in a different state of mind really and a different place in our hearts together as we recognize now that we need to live life a little bit closer. And even though [my children have] always traveled with us, and they’ve always been with us, just the schedule and signing another record deal – that was really the beginning point of us going, “Okay, I don’t know if we can do this right now. This does not feel right to sign over another 8 years of our life to a record company.” And it’s not fair to the record company either for me to say, “Yeah, I’ll sign on, but I’m not going to travel very much,” you know, because they need to sell records.

So I feel like for me this is my spiritual act of worship, offering my body as a living sacrifice. And right now what that looks like is me sacrificing things for my children and knowing that that will glorify God more so right now that me leading worship in front of a church.