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