Lauren Gaskill

It’s amazing how you can know someone for your entire life, and yet know so little about them.

Take for instance, your parents (GASP!). I’ll use my dad as an example.

Growing up, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t that interested in getting to know my parents as people. After all … they were my parents, and that was that. It was so easy to cast judgement on them without listening to what they had to say.

But things have changed. Especially now that I am writing a memoir, for the first time, I’m interested in their past: the trials they’ve faced; the heartaches they’ve suffered; the joys they’ve experienced.

And so, this weekend while I was home for Easter, I asked my dad to start from the beginning.

Usually I’m great at interrupting him when he speaks, but this time I just listened to what he had to say.

For about two hours I soaked in the stories of my dad’s past. I watched his face grow solemn as he talked about his mom’s death. I watched a smile creep across his face as he recounted memories of putting a tractor back together. I watched his eyes fill with tears as he spoke about some of the hardest moments of his life. And as I listened, I started to understand my dad more and more. Read More

If it were up to me
I’d have a house by the sea
Cloaked in sunshine and grace
It would be an always happy kind of place
But because this dream is not a reality
I will instead find somehow to agree
That beauty, joy and love can be found anywhere
If I truly take the time to care.

Last month, one of the worship pastors at my church introduced our band to a new song, “Sing My Love,” by Jesus Culture. Everyone in the band, including myself, fell in love with the song at rehearsal on Thursday night. But come Sunday morning, while singing back-up vocals on stage, I noticed several people in the sanctuary were not as enthused. Many arms were crossed and lips cemented shut. For whatever reason, they seemed unwilling to praise. 

Some of the common excuses I hear whenever these situations arise are: I don’t like to sing. Or, I don’t feel like singing. As if not liking or not being in the mood for something gives us a free pass not to participate. We are called to make a joyful noise to our God, but too often we remain silent.

But God deserves our utmost respect and praise, regardless of what’s going on in our heads, or our lives.

I remember in high school, when I was going through a rough time, I took my concerns to my youth pastor, Tommy. I wanted to trust God — to give Him all my praise — but at the time, it seemed there was nothing in my life that gave me a reason to. I didn’t feel like singing in church. I didn’t feel like praying at night. I was so frustrated and jaded by a hardened heart. I’ll never forget what my youth pastor said to me:

“Sure, there are times in our lives when we don’t want to praise, but believing in God is trusting and praising Him, even when things aren’t OK.”

Those words were burned into my brain that day, and my relationship with God was forever changed.

I write a lot about the love God has for us, but there is something I think is equally, if not more important: our response in expressing the love we have for Him.Read More