If you're into stories, I've got one for you.

Back in 2004, we were traveling the entire United States singing in venues that hosted five people and some that hosted five thousand people. We performed one song, or three hours of songs. (One place we sang forty-five minutes of every hour for three daytimes!)

That year we released our Christmas album, God Came. It seemed we were just beginning a life of lifting people's hearts through music.

But that all changed in early 2005. The previous year we had added our third child to our growing family, and through many signs and internal promptings, both Jen and I felt that it was time to step away from the rigors of touring and weekly (daily) performances and focus on raising our young family. Our oldest had just turned six, and we had another who was three, and the youngest would soon be one.

It felt strange, but perfectly right.

God added to our family three more healthy, amazing people. Our family grew from five to eight in just a few years. What a blessing! What an incredible responsibility!

With God's help and grace we have watched those people grow taller, bigger, and hopefully wiser. (That's not always the case, but they are still young.) :) And part of our lives has, of course, been musical. Each of the children have some affinity for music, or ability and interest in making, creating it.

In 2014, one thing led to another (more frequent chances to make music, including writing some more songs, singing more as a family, and an opportunity to help a friend by making music) and we decided it might be time to record another album of songs that we often perform, but have never recorded.

A nudge toward making music, an opportunity to fund a family we know and love by employing their studio to record our album, and a chance to share more songs with people who have loved our music, and many who are hearing it for the first time…

So began the project now titled, Even More.

The Album

One of my favorite parts of this album is the span of years represented by the songs we chose. One or two of these songs was written in 1995. Two decades of life has passed since then. So much life, so much different. But the message of the song still applies. Still encourages, uplifts. (And one of those is musically complex and fascinating, too! That one is called, Control.)

Some songs were written/finished in 2014, when we first started putting the whole collection together. And still, the theme is consistent. Hope. Definitely this album reminds its listener that we have hope.

A Brand New Smile echoes the line from a man talking with Jesus, "Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief". No Reason follows the theme of Ecclesiastes, "Everything is meaningless!", while This Journey reminds us to not miss the moments in life. Enjoy the treasures along the way! Beautifully Stained blends the good with the bad, seeing how stains can be seen as damaging, or drawing out beauty. "Life fully lived is beautifully stained."

So many more songs which we can not WAIT to share with you and the rest of whoever may come across this album!