[WM] I know that my kids will inspire me to First Song”, kind of explored the idea that God dearly loved”. There is something to me about
write certain songs based on things they are sang the earth and created all of us to sing. the sunrise, this idea that God’s love keeps
into, or even struggle with. How have your “Don’t Forget to Remember” kind of takes coming, that light is stronger than darkness. I
children impacted these children’s book and a magnifying glass and it’s like, if creation need that reminder, and I love that God knew
music projects? is singing, what’s the chorus? What do the that we might need that reminder, that we
verses say? What are the lyrics, where is the might forget. So He just wrote it up in the sky
[Ellie Holcomb] The first book that I wrote bridge? So, my hope is that it will be sort of like day in and day out. Like Hosea 6:3 says, “As
was inspired by my daughter, Emmylou. I’ve a treasure map for families to kind of turn up surely as the sun rises He will appear.”
got three kids, a girl, and two boys, seven, four, the volume on the sound of creation singing, and seventeen months. When my seven-year- and that they could kind of follow the clues that I’ve got three young kids, and I’m slammed, I
old, Emmylou, was four, one day we were in the creation gives us to discover the treasure in the mean we’re so busy. Our third is our busiest,
kitchen, she walked past me and said, “Hey, wonder of God’s love for us. It’s the sweetest he loves toilets and choking hazards, so it is full
mom, who sang the first song?” And it was treasure that I’ve known. on with him, our other two kids are a little bit
one of those times as a parent where you’re more chill and he just never stops running and
like, that is a great question, and I don’t exactly laughing and getting himself into trouble, so we
know how to answer that so I need more time,
so I’m just going to turn the question back
around and say, “That’s a great question, what
do you think? Who do you think sang the first
song?” and she shrugged her little four-year-old
shoulders and was like, “Mmm, Dolly Parton?”
(laughs). So that question sent me on a treasure
hunt of stories.
One of my really good friends writes for
children, her name is Sally Lloyd-Jones, she
With kids, there
is no “Junior Holy
Spirit.” God lives
are just busy. A lot of times by the end of the
day I’m thinking, have I told my kids anything
that matters? I wonder if I have communicated
anything that I really actually want them to
know? Like that God made them and is with
in them and God them and that His mercy never stops? That
tells us to be like purpose, and all of these things that I really want
them too... always read, and we snuggle, and we sing, and
He made them very uniquely for a purpose on
them to know. But at the end of the day we
we pray. I just thought when I was writing the
has an incredible children’s Bible called “The
second book, if I could write a book and some
Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers [WM] I loved your lyric “Just like a map, I’ll songs that could be kind of like a campfire for
His Name”, When she talks about the creation always guide you.” What is your favorite lyric families to gather around at the end of the day
story she said that when God made the earth on the album? to warm our hearts and our minds, that are
He decided to sing it into being and He sent the
forgetful an weary and tired, and remind us of
whole universe dancing. I love that imagery, so I [Ellie] This is like picking kids. You know from the light and truth of God’s love for us, that is
called her and asked, was this just a metaphor, that same song “Always”, “Love is a game that what I want to be doing. I think at the end of the
or was this theologically grounded? She pointed we play and don’t keep score”. I wrote that day I want my kids to know that they are loved
me to a Tim Keller sermon on Genesis 1 where song with my brother and he actually wrote no matter what.
he looks not so much at how God made the that line, and I love it. I think that for so long world, but why God made the earth and all of I thought that loving God and following God [WM] How did you approach your songwriting
us. He talks about how Genesis 1 is in the form was all about me being good enough and for kids differently from your normal records?
of an archaic Hebrew poem, so there is literally loving God and loving other people enough, a rhythm and a cadence. “There was morning and it really is more this invitation into being [Ellie] My shows are very multi-generational.
and there was evening, and it was good.” It is completely known and completely loved. So I There are children, teenagers and college kids,
literally as if God sang the earth into existence, just loved the idea of it being a game, like we then there are moms and grandmothers, it’s
and why would He do that? It’s because He are made for this, I just love you and you get to kind of a crazy span of ages. I realized the
made the whole earth and every single one of love me back, and that’s what we were made music I was making was somehow connecting
us to sing the song of His love for us. for is to love each other and to love others. I with children in some way, so I thought, if it ain’t
really love that lyric. broke don’t fix it. But this is the really different
I was just floored by this idea that God made
part for me, I really wanted kids to be able to
all of us to sing, so I wanted to write a book I also love “As sure as the sun will keep rising lock into the melody and be able to sing these
about that, so the first book, “Who Sang the above, don’t forget to remember that you’re songs. Songs can get stuck in your head, so
April 2020
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