April 23, 2024 • 38 mins
Ready for a powerful conversation? Come aboard! 9-time GRAMMY® nominee and 5-time GMA Dove Award winner, Natalie Grant, an icon in Christian & Gospel music is with us today!
Her single, "You Will Be Found”, has crossed over from Christian to Mainstream AC's Top 20 and her collab with Dolly Parton covering Whitney Houston's "Step By Step" is also receiving lots of buzz! Natalie is also a respected author and philanthropist. She's the co-founder of Hope for Justice, a non-profit organization in the fight against human trafficking. We're gonna get into all of it on this episode! ~ Delilah
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Spring is buzzing right along, and I can't think of
a year when I've enjoyed it more. We've had several
warm days, warmer than our last several springs, which means
I've been outside a lot. That always makes my heart
very happy. When all my senses are attuned to the sights,
(00:26):
the smells, the sounds, the songs of nature, I can
much more easily shrug off the troubles of the day
when I go outside, when I go for a walk,
when I sit on a park bench, when I take
my son down to the little beach near our house
(00:46):
and let him feed the pigeons, all that stress kind
of melts away. And if you pay attention to the
tiny beetle who is on an impossible mission, or notice
the little wrin. I have a little wren that's building
a nest somewhere, And every day she comes to my
(01:08):
back door, my back porch and gathers pieces of hair
from my dog. And she comes and she grabs it
and flies away. I know she's putting it in her nest.
Maybe you see the busy squirrels dashing about, You feel
more refreshed. You can go back to your task, and
(01:29):
your heart is at peace. If you don't have a
patch of grass or a bit of shade to escape to, well,
there's always music. Put your earbuds in let music carry
you away. My guest today is happy to help, providing
uplifting songs that will brighten your mood. And she cares
(01:50):
about the world deeply. Nine time Grammy nominee, five time
GMA Dove Award winning Female Vocalist of the Natalie Grant,
She is an icon in Christian and gospel music. Natalie,
who many of you know from her numerous hits on
Christian radio, has toured with such greats as Bob Norman,
(02:13):
Jeremy Camp who is adorable, as well as multi platinum
selling Mercy Me. Last year she released an album, Seasons,
and the single you Will Be Found from the Broadway
play Dear Evan Hansen has crossed over from Christian music
to mainstream music, where it landed on the Top twenty chart.
(02:35):
And now get this, she has a collaboration with Dolly
Pardon covering Whitney Houston's Step by Step. It is receiving
lots of buzz and it is beautiful. In addition to
garnering more than five hundred million streams, and multiple number
one albums and singles on Billboard charts. She's also a
(02:58):
respected author and a philanthropist. She's the co founder of
Hope for Justice, a nonprofit organization in the fight against
human trafficking. Hope for Justice has thirty two offices across
nine countries and five continents and has helped over one
(03:19):
hundred thousand children in the past year. Before we chat
with the talented and the beautiful Natalie Grant, let me
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(05:10):
twenty four for ten percent off your order that Sherry's
Hazel Cream and Love twenty four. Hi Natalie, Hi, thank
you for having me here. We throw out all the rules,
We don't follow scripts, but I just want to catch up.
I just want to hear what you've been doing. And
(05:33):
you know, the world wants to know what have you
been doing the last couple of years.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
We all survived, thank God, right, so we're here still
and we're making music. And you know, honestly, twenty twenty
seems like it so hard for me to believe that.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Was for you three years ago.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
What I can't really wrap my head around that because
I feel like there's maybe just a stretch of time
that just evaporated into the whatever. But it's hard to
believe it's been four years. But you know, sometimes it's
hard to talk about how that that period of time
was a gift because it was. It was hell for
(06:14):
so many people, so many people who lost people they loved,
or lost their job, or lost their houses or you know,
so it's hard for a lot of people. But for us,
it was a bit of a gift because it forced
us to slow down. It forced us to look my
husband and I look at each other's eyes and just
(06:36):
talk and be with one another and our children. And honestly,
it was a gift to have that time together. But
my twin daughters are seventeen years old. They're juniors in
high school, in that grade of trying to figure out
what comes next. And you hear from the time if
you're a young parent listening, you hear from everybody. Don't
(06:59):
blame it goes so fast, don't blink and when you're
in the thick of it, you're like, oh, that sounds
so sweet whatever, but you can't actually digest that. It's
not a cliche. Cliches become cliches because they're true. It
goes so fast. I cannot believe that we are looking
at colleges and talking about futures and it just seems impossible.
(07:23):
My youngest daughter is thirteen, so I've got three teenage daughters,
and I always say, yes, it's our favorite stage of life,
even though it's very emotional and somebody is crying at
some point every day, and it's usually my husband.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
At one point, I had five girls that were between
like eighteen and eight, and while you know, I was
dealing with the all, you know, five girls going through
their emotions, I was going through menopause. Oh yeah, yeah,
(08:00):
you know.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
It's so funny if people don't like, not enough people
talk about menopause, and I'm just right there. I'm fifty
two and I welcome to the Night Sweat right. I've
never really heard people talk about it, and I just
listened to this podcast that literally changed my life. I
was like, I need to share this with every woman
(08:23):
I know, even women who aren't close to menopause, so
that they hear this conversation about what is normal, about
what to expect, about what is okay.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
And nobody talks about it.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Oh and yet then you feel like you're losing your mind,
Like is this how I'm feeling is a real feeling,
even if the way I'm feeling about it is not
necessarily real, But my feelings are real. And you know,
the weight gain and all of the things that nobody
wants to talk about it. Just I feel like, as women,
(08:58):
we have done each other a day service. It's true
not talk enough about it.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
We don't talk about it, we don't explain it. We
leave women guessing.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
For me, I just kind of made a decision just
this year of like actually from about fifty and a
half fifty i turned fifty. I was like, it's going
to be amazing, real, live my best life. And then
menopause hit and I was like, I'm living the worst
days of my life. This is actually the worst stage
of my life. And then I just kind of went,
I'm not going to suffer for the rest of my life.
(09:30):
I'm going to figure out things and ways to to
get through this, to not ruin every relationship I have
and live my best life to the best of my ability,
you know. So I'm still figuring that out, but loving
the conversation.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
My bestie and I used to laugh and she would say, actually,
I think this is the first time we've been in
our right mind in a long time. And I'm like,
what do you mean by that? And she said, because
you know, you put up, especially Delilah, with a whole
lot of crap, and now you're just like saying no.
I said, now I'm not saying no, I'm taking dynamite
(10:12):
and blowing everything up.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Oh, ed it up and saying this is what I
should have said years years ago. I was scared. Why
was I so timid? And now it's like, actually, I
tell them all the time. I think fifties are amazing
because you actually begin to tell the truth and you
care less. It's not that you don't care, but you
care less about what people think about you, and you
(10:37):
care more about saying it's so much more important to
actually say how I feel and to speak it out
and to tell the truth.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Yeah woo. So you raise girls.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
They are so different. But that teenage thing that we're
in at the moment, and the dynamic because obviously I
have twin daughters and then a younger daughter, and so
there's always this dynamic make of a third wheel and
a third I think that exists in any odd number
of kid families, but especially in a family of three kids.
(11:09):
Like I mean, I was the youngest of five, so
I didn't feel that as much, but it's definitely this,
and it's sometimes two against one because the twins have
this like bond and our youngest daughters like here I am,
and who do I have?
Speaker 1 (11:23):
And so you're the youngest of five? Yes, And how
many great grands do your folks have?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
They have nine great grands and my kids are the
youngest grandkids. And then it's kind of funny because my
kids are closer in age to the great grandkids than
they are to their cousins. Their cousins are more like
aunt and uncles to them.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Yeah, so you're the five that preceded you. You were
the baby baby.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
So my baby baby Natalie is eight and I just
took five of my granddaughters on a little work trip.
I had to work, and the oldest one is about
to turn seventeen, So trying to explain to people know
he's he's her uncle. That's like your kids. Your kids
(12:19):
are our aunts and uncles to the great grand babies
that they're closer.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Yeah, but they're closer in age to them. So it's
so it's so confusing, but wonderful. I wouldn't change a
second of it. I love big families, love when we're
all together. So it's kind of nice because when we
come out to the Northwest, we just get to see
them all in one foul swoop and it's awesome.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Well, and if you're here during the summer only, you're
probably going to be working a lot this summer. I
would guess you're going to be on stage a lot
the next couple of months.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
I started taking my summer off when my kids entered
middle school, and too much to the chagrin of managers
and agents and everybody else, because summer is such a
heavy work time.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
You know, Yeah, that's a Christmas especially in the Christian
community of music industry. You got two months in December
and then you got the summer conceptary.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
But I just said, I for me, I'm so grateful
that I've gotten to do music. I'm grateful that what
would be a hobby I get to call my job,
but my calling, my first ministry is my family. And
so I wanted to spend those days that they weren't
in school. I wanted to be with them. So I
(13:43):
said no to working. I don't work in the summer.
I spend it with my kids.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
And will that be the case this summer? Are you
sticking to your guns even though you're you and Dolly Pardoner?
I tearing things up?
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Sticking to my guns. We're going to Europe as a family.
It's always been the kid's dream to go to Paris,
and we were going to wait and give it as
a graduation present. And then, you know, one of the
things I think COVID also did was just live life
while you can. You can do what you can, you know,
don't put it off. And so we said, no, we're
(14:19):
not going to put it off. We're going to go
to Paris and Italy and we're gonna eat our way
through Europe.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
That sounds delightful. That sounds delightful for our best lives.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
We're very excited.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Well, you're doing Peris and eating the bogettes. My husband
and I my husband who's seventy, we are taking our
two youngest and maybe a couple of my grandkids. Their
mom hasn't decided yet across country in a thirty year
old motor home.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Okay, so that could make me tear up. So one
of the reasons that I do like i'm a touring
artist because when I was a kid and summers would hit,
my dad was a traveling salesman and we had an
old motor home and every summer, the day after we
got out of school, all five of us kids and
(15:14):
my mom and dad would get in the motorhome. So
before I started touring for a living, I had seen
every state in America except for the exception. I'd never
been to Alaska, and I hadn't been to one other
that was far far far east, and I can't remember
now because I've been to them all. But that was
such a gift as a family to do that to
(15:35):
I love a road trip like I love a road trip.
So I hope your daughter lets your cred kids go
because that is the stuff life is made of. It's
the good stuff. It's the good stuff.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
I stink in love a road trip. You got to
have the road trip snacks and the games. You know,
you figure out how many license playeds you can spot
from all the different states and we write them down,
and it's so much fun, so much fun.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Discover that I even was so musical. Was like my siblings.
We would all sing together in the car and my
parents would sing, and it's just those are some of
my fondest memories of my life. Are those trips.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
We do that too, Only here's the difference. I can't sing,
but you're.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Making a joyful noise.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
I'm so glad God said make a joyful noise. Are
you going to be doing stuff with Dolly Pardon now
that you've got this song with her?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
I don't know. Even the way that that happened was
just such an incredible I don't know if anybody's ever
shared with this knew the story about how we even
ended up recording together, But.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
All right, tell me how step by step came up.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
So first, it was last March, or it might have
been the March before month. Times the older you get
time runs together, right. I was asked to come and
do the season opener for Dollywood, which is in East
Tennessee here, and so I was so excited to do
the opening concert. I was like, the kids are going
to come. We love Dollywood it's an incredible amusement park.
(17:26):
And it was a couple of days before the show
and my manager called and said, hey, I just heard
from Dolly's manager and she's going to be at Dollywood.
And she was wondering if only Dolly would say, if
it wouldn't trouble you too greatly, could she come and
join you on a song? And I was like, she
can trouble anybody. It's named after her.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
It's Dollywood. I'm going to open Dolly.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
We can do whatever you'd like, Dolly. So she came
in and sang with me, and it was such a
magical moment for me, in a moment I'll never forget.
She's so good. And there was so many takeaways for me,
like for when she came to rehearse, and she came
in and she knew everybody's name that worked at Dollywood.
She knew the guy that was driving the golf cart.
She knew the guy I mean she There were so
(18:13):
many life lessons to me just about how she interacted.
She knew their families, she knew what was happening with
their families. She was asking about this person's child, and
I just went, Dolly, you are this is why you're Dolly.
And then so that was kind of it. I thought,
I had my Dolly moment. I'm going to tell my
grandkids about it. It's going to be wonderful. I knew
(18:36):
that I wanted to. I was doing a remake record
of all these songs that I've loved throughout the years,
and I knew that I was going to do stuff
by step because I've always loved Preacher's Wife and blah
blah blah. So I was thinking, like, who do I
want to do the song with me? Well, I didn't
know that. My manager ended up asking Dolly. I had
(19:02):
no clue. I'd never even said Dolly. And he said, hey, Dolly,
would you ever be interested in, you know, doing this song?
And so she listened to it and she said, oh,
I love it so much, but I'm so sorry. My
schedule isn't going to allow for it, and you know,
blah blah blah. So he came and said, hey, I
want to let you know Dolly passed. And I said,
I don't even know what you're talking about. I didn't
know Dolly was I didn't even know Dolly was an option,
(19:24):
so I didn't know to be disappointed and it was
about three weeks later and I got a letter on
Dolly letterhead hot Pink Dolly as you would imagine it.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
To be, and it's probably framed. You framed it, Doniel.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Oh, oh, of course, And it just said, Natalie, I
have keep listening to that song step by step. I
keep listening to your version. It just keeps ringing and
calling me back. I can't get it out of my head.
And I just think it's such a good song for
you and such a good song for the world right now.
If it's not too late for me, would it actually
(20:00):
be possible for me to sing that song with you?
And I was like, what earth am I living on? Like?
Dolly Parton wrote me a letter first of all, and
then she asked if it was too late, if she
could be on the song, and I'm like, Dolly, of
course you can.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Again, You're yeah, you're Dolly.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
The answer is always yes if it's Dolly. And so
she we didn't get to record together because I was
on tour and she was actually in a studio in
East Tennessee. But one of the things too for me
that was, you know, you've been in this business for
so long, and you've heard so many collaborations, and you know,
the people are usually never in the same room, and
(20:41):
sometimes the person will just kind of send over what
they send over, right, you know, they're like, this is
the parts I'm singing, and they just especially if you're
Dolly and you're you know whatever I'm going.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
To hear, Dolly.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Yeah, I'm seeing it through a few times. I'm gonna
give you what I give you, and this is what
you get that was not Dolly. Dolly shed so much
about how she did it, and she arranged the vocals
at the end, and she she gave her one hundred
and ten percent to it, and I just thought, again,
(21:12):
a woman that's been doing this for so long could
have phoned that in all she wanted. But she really is.
There's just nobody like Dolly Harton. She's one in a gazillion.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
One in a gazillion. I've had the joy of interviewing
her a couple of times, and she is so kind
and it feels like you're talking to an old friend. Yes,
like she.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Makes everybody feel like they're her best friend.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
It's a gift, Yeah, it's it truly is a gift. Now,
and I also want to talk about Broadway's Dear Evan
Hansen and how a Christian song ended up in a
Broadway smash hit.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Well, what's really funny is it started in the Broadway
smash hit and it was always in Dear Evan Hanson,
and that's really how the song became well known. Everybody
knew it from the Dear even Evan Hanson musical and
uh then Sam Smith, I think, did a cover of it,
(22:21):
and it's funny. I'd never you know, I love Broadway,
but I'm not like people. Some people are like musical junkies,
you know what I mean. They like live for for Okay, yeah,
they let they live for it.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Do you see my hand going up?
Speaker 2 (22:33):
You're like, that's that one? You the guys that wrote
the music for Dear Evan Hansen, And of course right
now his name is slipping my mind and he's our friend,
and it's one of the reasons I knew the song
and it's uh.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Oh, it's okay, it'll come to you and you're gonna
And they.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Also wrote all the music for the Greatest Showman and
so many great Broadway musicals and movies. This song. I
always loved the song, so it wasn't like I thought
about recording it because I was like, I can't explain
how it for me, what I would listen to it.
(23:14):
I know it wasn't written as a Christian song, but
I just felt faith when I listened to it. Every
time I heard that, you know, just lift your head
and look around, and you will be found if you
feel the dark come crashing through when you need a friend.
There's just so much about the lyric that I'm like,
there's a hope in this lyric's a there's something that
(23:34):
comes through this lyric that's more than just a song.
And it was during twenty twenty A very dear friend's
son was going through addiction and they didn't know where
he was. And I remember when he called us and said,
my son was literally just found in the middle of
the street. He was passed out from drugs. So his
(23:57):
son was literally the lyric says, and if you're broken
on the ground, you will be found, and that's where
his son was found, on the literal ground. And there
was just something about it that struck me so deeply
of who's been asking him the hard questions, who's been
walking with him, who's been you know, And I think
that watching somebody in my own family, my nephew go
(24:21):
through deep addiction for years, and what that did to
my sister and my family and other friends that have
gone through mental health crisis, myself going through postpartum depression
and then it turned into a real long battle of
depression and anxiety. We don't as a person of faith,
we don't have those conversations enough because we think of
(24:43):
them as not worldly conversations, but we try to fix
everything with like this little faith bow that we put
on it. That that's not the Bible I read. Actually,
the Bible talked so much about hardship, about questions, about
difficult read through the Psalms. The writers of the Psalms.
One day they're saying God is great, and the next
(25:04):
day they're saying that God abandoned them. I understand the
writers of the Psalms because they're on an emotional roller
coaster all that. I'm like, I so get you where
one day you feel strong in your faith and the
next day you feel like God has completely forgotten you.
And I think that recording this song, part of my
intention was to help open up that conversation in the
(25:25):
faith world where it's actually okay to talk about you
can be a Christian and be depressed. You can. God
doesn't want you to stay there, and there are so
many ways that we can get out of that depression.
But it real life, and in this broken life, I
think when we try to make Christianity this nice, neat
little package with a bow on it that isn't actually
(25:47):
serving the children of God will. I think honest conversations
about real life and real pain and real hope would
serve people so much better. And it's one of the
reasons I ended up recording this. And I feel it
in America maybe more than other places even is just
this real religious spirit, you know, this idea of religion
(26:12):
that has these rules, And I'm like, where did we
miss who Jesus is? And I feel like so much
when you look around the world at the moment, especially
in the church world. It's so funny because I was
just having this conversation earlier this morning with somebody where
the church gets so riled up about certain things that
(26:34):
are the world, and You're like, the world is the world,
Like why are you why are you getting so riled up?
That's not this person that subscribes to your faith, So
why are.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
You why are you expecting them to live by your
rules with you can't ever live by your rules exactly.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
And so I feel like when you look at just
go back to looking at Jesus. You go Wait, when
he he was on the cross, in his most vulnerable moment,
we see that humanity right before he gave up his spirit.
We see him say why why did you forsake me?
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Why did you turn your back on me?
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Why why did you? And it's that moment where I'm like, okay,
but even Jesus had those feelings. And yet we're trying
to tell everybody to shut up about them, to stifle them,
to pray their way out of it. When you're like,
but even Jesus had a moment, and he's Jesus, It's
okay to have your feelings. It's okay. He doesn't want
(27:36):
you to stay there, but it's okay to acknowledge that
it is. It's a real feeling. Acknowledge them, don't stuff them,
because when people do that, that never ends.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
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like Natalie Grant you. Your entire persona, your entire life
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(30:17):
the truth.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
You know, It's interesting because I've been in this this
fight for so long. I first learned about it in
two thousand and four. I'd never heard the term before, strangely, funny,
whatever you want to call it. I was watching Law
and Order Special Victims Unit, and they did an episode
on human trafficking, and I had literally never heard the term,
(30:39):
and I was actually angry because I knew the Law
and Order, which is one of my still one of
my favorite shows, and I was like, they're always ripped
from the headlines. These episodes are based on a real case,
but I'm like, they were showing kids being sold at
the back of a van in New York City, and
I remember being like irritated, going this, if this was real,
if this was a we would all know about it.
There's no way children. So I ended up googling what
(31:03):
is human trafficking? And that Google search led me on
a journey that took my husband and I to India.
We saw trafficking firsthand. We toured braveels, my husband went
undercover as a posing as a potential customer. I mean,
we learned the reality of what it is. And that
(31:23):
was even back in four. Started an organization in five,
didn't even know what I was doing, but just knew
I had to do something. We ended up merging with
an organization in twenty and twelve called Hope for Justice,
and this last year they rescued over one hundred and
fifty thousand kids and are all over the globe. And
I'm not the hero. I'm a mouthpiece. I talk about it,
(31:46):
but there are heroes that have given their life to
this fight, that are on the front lines of this fight,
that every day one of our staff is having to
move because somebody's found out where they live, and I mean,
these people go into hiding. It incredible what they've given
their lives to do. But what's also incredible is that
this is the fastest growing criminal activity in the world.
(32:08):
I mean, this is not something that's getting smaller. This
is something that these evil will always find a way
right to evil people will do evil things. And what
they've discovered is, wait, drugs, we can sell drugs, but
that's just a one time use. But a human being
(32:28):
you can use over and over and over again. And
so these people have figured out, like, wait a second,
I can make all of this money off of one
life that keeps being used, and the drug I have
to keep replenishing my supply. And so you've seen drugs
and arms kind of go down a little bit, but
the sale of human beings have gone up. And it's
(32:50):
amazing to me how people are finally talking about this.
Finally you feel like this topic, this issue, this subject,
it's like it's like it's having a moment right now
where God has said enough this is going to be
brought into the light. What's been in the deer just
hearing it, and I do feel like we're coming into
a season where God is accelerating those things that are
(33:15):
in the dark being brought into the light.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
And there's there is so much in the dark. Children,
Vanish and Indigenous women right the number is astounding, and.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
You go, where did they go? They're being trafficked.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
They're being trafficked.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
And I do see that tide changing a little bit
where and we're having programs that really do help to
go in and train law enforcement because when we first
started talking about trafficking, they viewed the victim like a prostitute.
So a victim would be arrested. When you're like, that's
(33:57):
a that's a fifteen year old that you're putting it
in June for prostitution. She she this is not the
life she chose for herself. And even if you're saying, well,
she did kind of, no, don't if my child has
to get a permission slip to have their ears pierced,
how is it that a fifteen year old can be
held responsible for knowing what it is that they want
(34:21):
to do with or without their No, we're failing kids
in that way. But so many of these of these
these law enforcement agencies don't understand oh wait, but that
they're beginning to These are not prostitutes.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
This is not prostitution, This is human trafficking.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
These are victims.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Well, Natalie Grant, thank you for spending all this time with.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
Me, for having me.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Yes, yes, yes, creation you are an inspiration. So if
somebody wants to come and see you, not the summer,
because you're going to be tracked with your children and
your husband. But where can they find you or where
can they simple.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
Natalie Grant dot com. That's the same. My socials are
under my name Natalie Grant, and my website Natalie Grant
dot com has all my tour days.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
All right, so we can find you on tour. We
can go listen to your song with Dolly step by step.
We can go listen to the soundtrack of Dear Evannsen,
which is a great soundtrack. Great soundtrack. And if anybody
wants to get involved with your not the nonprofit just Hope.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
For Justice Hope for Justice dot org.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Perfect, perfect, and hopefully people will step up to the
plate and say, you know what I want to make
a difference. I want to save a child. I want
to I want to be a part of something bigger
than me and greater than me that matters.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Yes, thank you, Thank you for letting me share about that.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Thank you, God bless you. I hope to talk to
you soon.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
I hope to talk to you again too. Take care.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Thank you for coming aboard and sharing from the heart today, Natalie.
When you're done listening to this episode, there's a couple
of things I want you to do. I want you
to find step by Step featuring Dolly Pardon from her
latest album, Seasons. I want you to check out all
of her music. I want you to go to Natalie
(36:28):
Grant nata l i e. Natalie Grant dot com for
the latest information music, videos, concerts, and appearances, and just
how to keep in touch. But most importantly, because I
know this is what's most important to her heart, I
want you to learn more about hope for justice and
how you can get involved and save lives. I'm so
(36:51):
thrilled to have had the opportunity to chat with Natalie
today and for all of you to hear about her music,
but especially about the good work trying to do. Whose
life have you touched or inspired today Today, in this
season of spring, the season of new beginnings, have you
gifted anyone with a smile, a kind word, an important hug.
(37:17):
Isn't it surprising that when we do the greatest gift
doesn't seem to be in the giving, but in what
we receive in our spirits. Be more giving of ourselves
and you will find out it fills your own cup.
I hope your cup runneth over like the babbling brook
outside my window that calls bathing birds, darting dragonflies, and
(37:41):
sheep to come to its banks to drink deeply of
the fresh water. Thank you for spending time with Natalie
and me today. Join me next time on Love Someone,
and check out my daily podcast. Hey it's Delilah. And
of course tune into my radio your program nightly so
we can help keep each other company.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
M
Spring is buzzing right along, and I can't think of
a year when I've enjoyed it more. We've had several
warm days, warmer than our last several springs, which means
I've been outside a lot. That always makes my heart
very happy. When all my senses are attuned to the sights,
(00:26):
the smells, the sounds, the songs of nature, I can
much more easily shrug off the troubles of the day
when I go outside, when I go for a walk,
when I sit on a park bench, when I take
my son down to the little beach near our house
(00:46):
and let him feed the pigeons, all that stress kind
of melts away. And if you pay attention to the
tiny beetle who is on an impossible mission, or notice
the little wrin. I have a little wren that's building
a nest somewhere, And every day she comes to my
(01:08):
back door, my back porch and gathers pieces of hair
from my dog. And she comes and she grabs it
and flies away. I know she's putting it in her nest.
Maybe you see the busy squirrels dashing about, You feel
more refreshed. You can go back to your task, and
(01:29):
your heart is at peace. If you don't have a
patch of grass or a bit of shade to escape to, well,
there's always music. Put your earbuds in let music carry
you away. My guest today is happy to help, providing
uplifting songs that will brighten your mood. And she cares
(01:50):
about the world deeply. Nine time Grammy nominee, five time
GMA Dove Award winning Female Vocalist of the Natalie Grant,
She is an icon in Christian and gospel music. Natalie,
who many of you know from her numerous hits on
Christian radio, has toured with such greats as Bob Norman,
(02:13):
Jeremy Camp who is adorable, as well as multi platinum
selling Mercy Me. Last year she released an album, Seasons,
and the single you Will Be Found from the Broadway
play Dear Evan Hansen has crossed over from Christian music
to mainstream music, where it landed on the Top twenty chart.
(02:35):
And now get this, she has a collaboration with Dolly
Pardon covering Whitney Houston's Step by Step. It is receiving
lots of buzz and it is beautiful. In addition to
garnering more than five hundred million streams, and multiple number
one albums and singles on Billboard charts. She's also a
(02:58):
respected author and a philanthropist. She's the co founder of
Hope for Justice, a nonprofit organization in the fight against
human trafficking. Hope for Justice has thirty two offices across
nine countries and five continents and has helped over one
(03:19):
hundred thousand children in the past year. Before we chat
with the talented and the beautiful Natalie Grant, let me
tell you about one of my podcast sponsors that really
makes my heart sing. Have you been looking for a
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(03:42):
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(04:06):
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(05:10):
twenty four for ten percent off your order that Sherry's
Hazel Cream and Love twenty four. Hi Natalie, Hi, thank
you for having me here. We throw out all the rules,
We don't follow scripts, but I just want to catch up.
I just want to hear what you've been doing. And
(05:33):
you know, the world wants to know what have you
been doing the last couple of years.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
We all survived, thank God, right, so we're here still
and we're making music. And you know, honestly, twenty twenty
seems like it so hard for me to believe that.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Was for you three years ago.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
What I can't really wrap my head around that because
I feel like there's maybe just a stretch of time
that just evaporated into the whatever. But it's hard to
believe it's been four years. But you know, sometimes it's
hard to talk about how that that period of time
was a gift because it was. It was hell for
(06:14):
so many people, so many people who lost people they loved,
or lost their job, or lost their houses or you know,
so it's hard for a lot of people. But for us,
it was a bit of a gift because it forced
us to slow down. It forced us to look my
husband and I look at each other's eyes and just
(06:36):
talk and be with one another and our children. And honestly,
it was a gift to have that time together. But
my twin daughters are seventeen years old. They're juniors in
high school, in that grade of trying to figure out
what comes next. And you hear from the time if
you're a young parent listening, you hear from everybody. Don't
(06:59):
blame it goes so fast, don't blink and when you're
in the thick of it, you're like, oh, that sounds
so sweet whatever, but you can't actually digest that. It's
not a cliche. Cliches become cliches because they're true. It
goes so fast. I cannot believe that we are looking
at colleges and talking about futures and it just seems impossible.
(07:23):
My youngest daughter is thirteen, so I've got three teenage daughters,
and I always say, yes, it's our favorite stage of life,
even though it's very emotional and somebody is crying at
some point every day, and it's usually my husband.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
At one point, I had five girls that were between
like eighteen and eight, and while you know, I was
dealing with the all, you know, five girls going through
their emotions, I was going through menopause. Oh yeah, yeah,
(08:00):
you know.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
It's so funny if people don't like, not enough people
talk about menopause, and I'm just right there. I'm fifty
two and I welcome to the Night Sweat right. I've
never really heard people talk about it, and I just
listened to this podcast that literally changed my life. I
was like, I need to share this with every woman
(08:23):
I know, even women who aren't close to menopause, so
that they hear this conversation about what is normal, about
what to expect, about what is okay.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
And nobody talks about it.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Oh and yet then you feel like you're losing your mind,
Like is this how I'm feeling is a real feeling,
even if the way I'm feeling about it is not
necessarily real, But my feelings are real. And you know,
the weight gain and all of the things that nobody
wants to talk about it. Just I feel like, as women,
(08:58):
we have done each other a day service. It's true
not talk enough about it.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
We don't talk about it, we don't explain it. We
leave women guessing.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
For me, I just kind of made a decision just
this year of like actually from about fifty and a
half fifty i turned fifty. I was like, it's going
to be amazing, real, live my best life. And then
menopause hit and I was like, I'm living the worst
days of my life. This is actually the worst stage
of my life. And then I just kind of went,
I'm not going to suffer for the rest of my life.
(09:30):
I'm going to figure out things and ways to to
get through this, to not ruin every relationship I have
and live my best life to the best of my ability,
you know. So I'm still figuring that out, but loving
the conversation.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
My bestie and I used to laugh and she would say, actually,
I think this is the first time we've been in
our right mind in a long time. And I'm like,
what do you mean by that? And she said, because
you know, you put up, especially Delilah, with a whole
lot of crap, and now you're just like saying no.
I said, now I'm not saying no, I'm taking dynamite
(10:12):
and blowing everything up.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Oh, ed it up and saying this is what I
should have said years years ago. I was scared. Why
was I so timid? And now it's like, actually, I
tell them all the time. I think fifties are amazing
because you actually begin to tell the truth and you
care less. It's not that you don't care, but you
care less about what people think about you, and you
(10:37):
care more about saying it's so much more important to
actually say how I feel and to speak it out
and to tell the truth.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Yeah woo. So you raise girls.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
They are so different. But that teenage thing that we're
in at the moment, and the dynamic because obviously I
have twin daughters and then a younger daughter, and so
there's always this dynamic make of a third wheel and
a third I think that exists in any odd number
of kid families, but especially in a family of three kids.
(11:09):
Like I mean, I was the youngest of five, so
I didn't feel that as much, but it's definitely this,
and it's sometimes two against one because the twins have
this like bond and our youngest daughters like here I am,
and who do I have?
Speaker 1 (11:23):
And so you're the youngest of five? Yes, And how
many great grands do your folks have?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
They have nine great grands and my kids are the
youngest grandkids. And then it's kind of funny because my
kids are closer in age to the great grandkids than
they are to their cousins. Their cousins are more like
aunt and uncles to them.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Yeah, so you're the five that preceded you. You were
the baby baby.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
So my baby baby Natalie is eight and I just
took five of my granddaughters on a little work trip.
I had to work, and the oldest one is about
to turn seventeen, So trying to explain to people know
he's he's her uncle. That's like your kids. Your kids
(12:19):
are our aunts and uncles to the great grand babies
that they're closer.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Yeah, but they're closer in age to them. So it's
so it's so confusing, but wonderful. I wouldn't change a
second of it. I love big families, love when we're
all together. So it's kind of nice because when we
come out to the Northwest, we just get to see
them all in one foul swoop and it's awesome.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Well, and if you're here during the summer only, you're
probably going to be working a lot this summer. I
would guess you're going to be on stage a lot
the next couple of months.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
I started taking my summer off when my kids entered
middle school, and too much to the chagrin of managers
and agents and everybody else, because summer is such a
heavy work time.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
You know, Yeah, that's a Christmas especially in the Christian
community of music industry. You got two months in December
and then you got the summer conceptary.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
But I just said, I for me, I'm so grateful
that I've gotten to do music. I'm grateful that what
would be a hobby I get to call my job,
but my calling, my first ministry is my family. And
so I wanted to spend those days that they weren't
in school. I wanted to be with them. So I
(13:43):
said no to working. I don't work in the summer.
I spend it with my kids.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
And will that be the case this summer? Are you
sticking to your guns even though you're you and Dolly Pardoner?
I tearing things up?
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Sticking to my guns. We're going to Europe as a family.
It's always been the kid's dream to go to Paris,
and we were going to wait and give it as
a graduation present. And then, you know, one of the
things I think COVID also did was just live life
while you can. You can do what you can, you know,
don't put it off. And so we said, no, we're
(14:19):
not going to put it off. We're going to go
to Paris and Italy and we're gonna eat our way
through Europe.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
That sounds delightful. That sounds delightful for our best lives.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
We're very excited.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Well, you're doing Peris and eating the bogettes. My husband
and I my husband who's seventy, we are taking our
two youngest and maybe a couple of my grandkids. Their
mom hasn't decided yet across country in a thirty year
old motor home.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Okay, so that could make me tear up. So one
of the reasons that I do like i'm a touring
artist because when I was a kid and summers would hit,
my dad was a traveling salesman and we had an
old motor home and every summer, the day after we
got out of school, all five of us kids and
(15:14):
my mom and dad would get in the motorhome. So
before I started touring for a living, I had seen
every state in America except for the exception. I'd never
been to Alaska, and I hadn't been to one other
that was far far far east, and I can't remember
now because I've been to them all. But that was
such a gift as a family to do that to
(15:35):
I love a road trip like I love a road trip.
So I hope your daughter lets your cred kids go
because that is the stuff life is made of. It's
the good stuff. It's the good stuff.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
I stink in love a road trip. You got to
have the road trip snacks and the games. You know,
you figure out how many license playeds you can spot
from all the different states and we write them down,
and it's so much fun, so much fun.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Discover that I even was so musical. Was like my siblings.
We would all sing together in the car and my
parents would sing, and it's just those are some of
my fondest memories of my life. Are those trips.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
We do that too, Only here's the difference. I can't sing,
but you're.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Making a joyful noise.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
I'm so glad God said make a joyful noise. Are
you going to be doing stuff with Dolly Pardon now
that you've got this song with her?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
I don't know. Even the way that that happened was
just such an incredible I don't know if anybody's ever
shared with this knew the story about how we even
ended up recording together, But.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
All right, tell me how step by step came up.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
So first, it was last March, or it might have
been the March before month. Times the older you get
time runs together, right. I was asked to come and
do the season opener for Dollywood, which is in East
Tennessee here, and so I was so excited to do
the opening concert. I was like, the kids are going
to come. We love Dollywood it's an incredible amusement park.
(17:26):
And it was a couple of days before the show
and my manager called and said, hey, I just heard
from Dolly's manager and she's going to be at Dollywood.
And she was wondering if only Dolly would say, if
it wouldn't trouble you too greatly, could she come and
join you on a song? And I was like, she
can trouble anybody. It's named after her.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
It's Dollywood. I'm going to open Dolly.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
We can do whatever you'd like, Dolly. So she came
in and sang with me, and it was such a
magical moment for me, in a moment I'll never forget.
She's so good. And there was so many takeaways for me,
like for when she came to rehearse, and she came
in and she knew everybody's name that worked at Dollywood.
She knew the guy that was driving the golf cart.
She knew the guy I mean she There were so
(18:13):
many life lessons to me just about how she interacted.
She knew their families, she knew what was happening with
their families. She was asking about this person's child, and
I just went, Dolly, you are this is why you're Dolly.
And then so that was kind of it. I thought,
I had my Dolly moment. I'm going to tell my
grandkids about it. It's going to be wonderful. I knew
(18:36):
that I wanted to. I was doing a remake record
of all these songs that I've loved throughout the years,
and I knew that I was going to do stuff
by step because I've always loved Preacher's Wife and blah
blah blah. So I was thinking, like, who do I
want to do the song with me? Well, I didn't
know that. My manager ended up asking Dolly. I had
(19:02):
no clue. I'd never even said Dolly. And he said, hey, Dolly,
would you ever be interested in, you know, doing this song?
And so she listened to it and she said, oh,
I love it so much, but I'm so sorry. My
schedule isn't going to allow for it, and you know,
blah blah blah. So he came and said, hey, I
want to let you know Dolly passed. And I said,
I don't even know what you're talking about. I didn't
know Dolly was I didn't even know Dolly was an option,
(19:24):
so I didn't know to be disappointed and it was
about three weeks later and I got a letter on
Dolly letterhead hot Pink Dolly as you would imagine it.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
To be, and it's probably framed. You framed it, Doniel.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Oh, oh, of course, And it just said, Natalie, I
have keep listening to that song step by step. I
keep listening to your version. It just keeps ringing and
calling me back. I can't get it out of my head.
And I just think it's such a good song for
you and such a good song for the world right now.
If it's not too late for me, would it actually
(20:00):
be possible for me to sing that song with you?
And I was like, what earth am I living on? Like?
Dolly Parton wrote me a letter first of all, and
then she asked if it was too late, if she
could be on the song, and I'm like, Dolly, of
course you can.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Again, You're yeah, you're Dolly.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
The answer is always yes if it's Dolly. And so
she we didn't get to record together because I was
on tour and she was actually in a studio in
East Tennessee. But one of the things too for me
that was, you know, you've been in this business for
so long, and you've heard so many collaborations, and you know,
the people are usually never in the same room, and
(20:41):
sometimes the person will just kind of send over what
they send over, right, you know, they're like, this is
the parts I'm singing, and they just especially if you're
Dolly and you're you know whatever I'm going.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
To hear, Dolly.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Yeah, I'm seeing it through a few times. I'm gonna
give you what I give you, and this is what
you get that was not Dolly. Dolly shed so much
about how she did it, and she arranged the vocals
at the end, and she she gave her one hundred
and ten percent to it, and I just thought, again,
(21:12):
a woman that's been doing this for so long could
have phoned that in all she wanted. But she really is.
There's just nobody like Dolly Harton. She's one in a gazillion.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
One in a gazillion. I've had the joy of interviewing
her a couple of times, and she is so kind
and it feels like you're talking to an old friend. Yes,
like she.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Makes everybody feel like they're her best friend.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
It's a gift, Yeah, it's it truly is a gift. Now,
and I also want to talk about Broadway's Dear Evan
Hansen and how a Christian song ended up in a
Broadway smash hit.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Well, what's really funny is it started in the Broadway
smash hit and it was always in Dear Evan Hanson,
and that's really how the song became well known. Everybody
knew it from the Dear even Evan Hanson musical and
uh then Sam Smith, I think, did a cover of it,
(22:21):
and it's funny. I'd never you know, I love Broadway,
but I'm not like people. Some people are like musical junkies,
you know what I mean. They like live for for Okay, yeah,
they let they live for it.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Do you see my hand going up?
Speaker 2 (22:33):
You're like, that's that one? You the guys that wrote
the music for Dear Evan Hansen, And of course right
now his name is slipping my mind and he's our friend,
and it's one of the reasons I knew the song
and it's uh.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Oh, it's okay, it'll come to you and you're gonna
And they.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Also wrote all the music for the Greatest Showman and
so many great Broadway musicals and movies. This song. I
always loved the song, so it wasn't like I thought
about recording it because I was like, I can't explain
how it for me, what I would listen to it.
(23:14):
I know it wasn't written as a Christian song, but
I just felt faith when I listened to it. Every
time I heard that, you know, just lift your head
and look around, and you will be found if you
feel the dark come crashing through when you need a friend.
There's just so much about the lyric that I'm like,
there's a hope in this lyric's a there's something that
(23:34):
comes through this lyric that's more than just a song.
And it was during twenty twenty A very dear friend's
son was going through addiction and they didn't know where
he was. And I remember when he called us and said,
my son was literally just found in the middle of
the street. He was passed out from drugs. So his
(23:57):
son was literally the lyric says, and if you're broken
on the ground, you will be found, and that's where
his son was found, on the literal ground. And there
was just something about it that struck me so deeply
of who's been asking him the hard questions, who's been
walking with him, who's been you know, And I think
that watching somebody in my own family, my nephew go
(24:21):
through deep addiction for years, and what that did to
my sister and my family and other friends that have
gone through mental health crisis, myself going through postpartum depression
and then it turned into a real long battle of
depression and anxiety. We don't as a person of faith,
we don't have those conversations enough because we think of
(24:43):
them as not worldly conversations, but we try to fix
everything with like this little faith bow that we put
on it. That that's not the Bible I read. Actually,
the Bible talked so much about hardship, about questions, about
difficult read through the Psalms. The writers of the Psalms.
One day they're saying God is great, and the next
(25:04):
day they're saying that God abandoned them. I understand the
writers of the Psalms because they're on an emotional roller
coaster all that. I'm like, I so get you where
one day you feel strong in your faith and the
next day you feel like God has completely forgotten you.
And I think that recording this song, part of my
intention was to help open up that conversation in the
(25:25):
faith world where it's actually okay to talk about you
can be a Christian and be depressed. You can. God
doesn't want you to stay there, and there are so
many ways that we can get out of that depression.
But it real life, and in this broken life, I
think when we try to make Christianity this nice, neat
little package with a bow on it that isn't actually
(25:47):
serving the children of God will. I think honest conversations
about real life and real pain and real hope would
serve people so much better. And it's one of the
reasons I ended up recording this. And I feel it
in America maybe more than other places even is just
this real religious spirit, you know, this idea of religion
(26:12):
that has these rules, And I'm like, where did we
miss who Jesus is? And I feel like so much
when you look around the world at the moment, especially
in the church world. It's so funny because I was
just having this conversation earlier this morning with somebody where
the church gets so riled up about certain things that
(26:34):
are the world, and You're like, the world is the world,
Like why are you why are you getting so riled up?
That's not this person that subscribes to your faith, So
why are.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
You why are you expecting them to live by your
rules with you can't ever live by your rules exactly.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
And so I feel like when you look at just
go back to looking at Jesus. You go Wait, when
he he was on the cross, in his most vulnerable moment,
we see that humanity right before he gave up his spirit.
We see him say why why did you forsake me?
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Why did you turn your back on me?
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Why why did you? And it's that moment where I'm like, okay,
but even Jesus had those feelings. And yet we're trying
to tell everybody to shut up about them, to stifle them,
to pray their way out of it. When you're like,
but even Jesus had a moment, and he's Jesus, It's
okay to have your feelings. It's okay. He doesn't want
(27:36):
you to stay there, but it's okay to acknowledge that
it is. It's a real feeling. Acknowledge them, don't stuff them,
because when people do that, that never ends.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
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(29:33):
like Natalie Grant you. Your entire persona, your entire life
is kind of centered around having the hard conversations and
exposing the hard truths. And I applaud you, I salute you.
I thank God that you are bold and brave. Hope
(29:55):
for Justice as a nonprofit organization that fight again something
that is so heinous and so deplorable that you must
sometimes feel like you've got a big red X on
your back or a bullseye because the people that are
involved with human trafficking don't want right people to know
(30:17):
the truth.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
You know, It's interesting because I've been in this this
fight for so long. I first learned about it in
two thousand and four. I'd never heard the term before, strangely, funny,
whatever you want to call it. I was watching Law
and Order Special Victims Unit, and they did an episode
on human trafficking, and I had literally never heard the term,
(30:39):
and I was actually angry because I knew the Law
and Order, which is one of my still one of
my favorite shows, and I was like, they're always ripped
from the headlines. These episodes are based on a real case,
but I'm like, they were showing kids being sold at
the back of a van in New York City, and
I remember being like irritated, going this, if this was real,
if this was a we would all know about it.
There's no way children. So I ended up googling what
(31:03):
is human trafficking? And that Google search led me on
a journey that took my husband and I to India.
We saw trafficking firsthand. We toured braveels, my husband went
undercover as a posing as a potential customer. I mean,
we learned the reality of what it is. And that
(31:23):
was even back in four. Started an organization in five,
didn't even know what I was doing, but just knew
I had to do something. We ended up merging with
an organization in twenty and twelve called Hope for Justice,
and this last year they rescued over one hundred and
fifty thousand kids and are all over the globe. And
I'm not the hero. I'm a mouthpiece. I talk about it,
(31:46):
but there are heroes that have given their life to
this fight, that are on the front lines of this fight,
that every day one of our staff is having to
move because somebody's found out where they live, and I mean,
these people go into hiding. It incredible what they've given
their lives to do. But what's also incredible is that
this is the fastest growing criminal activity in the world.
(32:08):
I mean, this is not something that's getting smaller. This
is something that these evil will always find a way
right to evil people will do evil things. And what
they've discovered is, wait, drugs, we can sell drugs, but
that's just a one time use. But a human being
(32:28):
you can use over and over and over again. And
so these people have figured out, like, wait a second,
I can make all of this money off of one
life that keeps being used, and the drug I have
to keep replenishing my supply. And so you've seen drugs
and arms kind of go down a little bit, but
the sale of human beings have gone up. And it's
(32:50):
amazing to me how people are finally talking about this.
Finally you feel like this topic, this issue, this subject,
it's like it's like it's having a moment right now
where God has said enough this is going to be
brought into the light. What's been in the deer just
hearing it, and I do feel like we're coming into
a season where God is accelerating those things that are
(33:15):
in the dark being brought into the light.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
And there's there is so much in the dark. Children,
Vanish and Indigenous women right the number is astounding, and.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
You go, where did they go? They're being trafficked.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
They're being trafficked.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
And I do see that tide changing a little bit
where and we're having programs that really do help to
go in and train law enforcement because when we first
started talking about trafficking, they viewed the victim like a prostitute.
So a victim would be arrested. When you're like, that's
(33:57):
a that's a fifteen year old that you're putting it
in June for prostitution. She she this is not the
life she chose for herself. And even if you're saying, well,
she did kind of, no, don't if my child has
to get a permission slip to have their ears pierced,
how is it that a fifteen year old can be
held responsible for knowing what it is that they want
(34:21):
to do with or without their No, we're failing kids
in that way. But so many of these of these
these law enforcement agencies don't understand oh wait, but that
they're beginning to These are not prostitutes.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
This is not prostitution, This is human trafficking.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
These are victims.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Well, Natalie Grant, thank you for spending all this time with.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
Me, for having me.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Yes, yes, yes, creation you are an inspiration. So if
somebody wants to come and see you, not the summer,
because you're going to be tracked with your children and
your husband. But where can they find you or where
can they simple.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
Natalie Grant dot com. That's the same. My socials are
under my name Natalie Grant, and my website Natalie Grant
dot com has all my tour days.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
All right, so we can find you on tour. We
can go listen to your song with Dolly step by step.
We can go listen to the soundtrack of Dear Evannsen,
which is a great soundtrack. Great soundtrack. And if anybody
wants to get involved with your not the nonprofit just Hope.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
For Justice Hope for Justice dot org.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Perfect, perfect, and hopefully people will step up to the
plate and say, you know what I want to make
a difference. I want to save a child. I want
to I want to be a part of something bigger
than me and greater than me that matters.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Yes, thank you, Thank you for letting me share about that.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Thank you, God bless you. I hope to talk to
you soon.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
I hope to talk to you again too. Take care.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Thank you for coming aboard and sharing from the heart today, Natalie.
When you're done listening to this episode, there's a couple
of things I want you to do. I want you
to find step by Step featuring Dolly Pardon from her
latest album, Seasons. I want you to check out all
of her music. I want you to go to Natalie
(36:28):
Grant nata l i e. Natalie Grant dot com for
the latest information music, videos, concerts, and appearances, and just
how to keep in touch. But most importantly, because I
know this is what's most important to her heart, I
want you to learn more about hope for justice and
how you can get involved and save lives. I'm so
(36:51):
thrilled to have had the opportunity to chat with Natalie
today and for all of you to hear about her music,
but especially about the good work trying to do. Whose
life have you touched or inspired today Today, in this
season of spring, the season of new beginnings, have you
gifted anyone with a smile, a kind word, an important hug.
(37:17):
Isn't it surprising that when we do the greatest gift
doesn't seem to be in the giving, but in what
we receive in our spirits. Be more giving of ourselves
and you will find out it fills your own cup.
I hope your cup runneth over like the babbling brook
outside my window that calls bathing birds, darting dragonflies, and
(37:41):
sheep to come to its banks to drink deeply of
the fresh water. Thank you for spending time with Natalie
and me today. Join me next time on Love Someone,
and check out my daily podcast. Hey it's Delilah. And
of course tune into my radio your program nightly so
we can help keep each other company.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
M
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