Speaker 1: Hello, my friend, Welcome back to love someone with Delilah.
Speaker 1: Have you ever heard the term the dog days of summer?
Speaker 1: I always thought it referred to the lazy late summer
Speaker 1: months when things have become so hot, so sticky, so dry,
Speaker 1: that all the pups in the world were united in
Speaker 1: their mission to just lay down, to take it easy,
Speaker 1: and to pant their way, if you will, through the heat,
Speaker 1: along with their human companions like me. Well guess what
Speaker 1: that has nothing to do with this saying the Dog
Speaker 1: days of summer. The Google Dictionary tells me. It's actually
Speaker 1: a very specific period of time when the sun occupies
Speaker 1: the same region of the sky as Serious, the brightest
Speaker 1: star of visible from any part of Earth, and part
Speaker 1: of the constellation Canus major, the great Dog. Ancient astronomers
Speaker 1: referred to this time as dias canacularies or dog days.
Speaker 1: This year twenty twenty one, the Dog Days of Summer
Speaker 1: started Saturday, July third and run through Wednesday, August eleventh.
Speaker 1: In other words, read about now, what a perfect time
Speaker 1: to be talking about And two one of the brightest stars,
Speaker 1: one of the brightest lights that light up the sky
Speaker 1: and light up the radio. One just happened to have
Speaker 1: descended from the heavens for a quick chat with us today.
Speaker 1: Her star began to rise in twenty fifteen with her
Speaker 1: debut album How Can It Be. It reached number one
Speaker 1: on Billboard's Top Christian Albums chart. Her third studio album,
Speaker 1: look Up Child Ugh, Such a Great Song, Such a
Speaker 1: Great Album, was released three years later and contained the
Speaker 1: huge pop crossover hit you Say That became the highest
Speaker 1: charting Christian album by a woman since Amy Grant's success
Speaker 1: twenty years earlier. The album and the single earned her
Speaker 1: two Grammy Awards and millions of adoring fans all over
Speaker 1: the world, including me and my daughter Briar. My daughter Briar,
Speaker 1: who is the latest member to join our family. We
Speaker 1: adopted Brier more than two years ago. She has been
Speaker 1: a fan of this lady since the day I met her.
Speaker 1: When I met her and she realized that I had
Speaker 1: this little radio show, all she wanted to know was
Speaker 1: did I know today's artist? She said, Mom, do you
Speaker 1: know Lauren Dagel? Well, today you get to know Lauren Daegel,
Speaker 1: and so does Brier. By the way, Lauren Diagil is
Speaker 1: here and love someone to shine a little light into
Speaker 1: our world. I'm thrilled to be able to chat with
Speaker 1: her to find out what she's been up to. Right
Speaker 1: after I share a word about one of my fabulous
Speaker 1: podcast sponsors. This podcast is sponsored by better Help, a
Speaker 1: company set up to help people. It's not a crisis
Speaker 1: line or self help groups, but a group of professionals
Speaker 1: who provide counseling that's done securely online. They make it
Speaker 1: possible for you to talk with them from the comfort
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Speaker 1: affordable than traditional counseling. With financial aid available. Better help
Speaker 1: matches you with licensed professionals that specialize in everything from
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Speaker 1: make appointments via video or phone. They can help you
Speaker 1: start living a happier life today. Received ten percent off
Speaker 1: your first month by visiting betterhelp dot com. Slash love
Speaker 1: Someone that's b E T T E r h E
Speaker 1: l P betterhelp dot com slash love Someone so with
Speaker 1: me on love Someone is an amazing artist who has
Speaker 1: had quite an amazing laster for years and like I said,
Speaker 1: a moment ago, I discovered you before we started playing
Speaker 1: you on my radio show because of my daughter Brier,
Speaker 1: when I adopted b I think you had had discovered
Speaker 1: her even before we adopt. Yeah, before I we our
Speaker 1: family was blessed to adopt her. She was in foster
Speaker 1: care for a few years and went through some stuff,
Speaker 1: some stuff that I would not have been able to survive.
Speaker 1: She not only survived, she went through it with grace.
Speaker 1: And I think, honestly, I think your music was a
Speaker 1: big part of that. Lauren, Wow, well that is beautiful.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that part. That's amazing. I tell you,
Speaker 1: I have so much care and concern for people in
Speaker 1: the foster care system. And I was just with a
Speaker 1: friend the other day who had what a gift adoption is.
Speaker 1: She was able to adopt this child and her the
Speaker 1: child's parents came to the United States and were here
Speaker 1: like on a trip. They weren't even a resident of
Speaker 1: the United States, citizens of the United States, and she
Speaker 1: had her baby while she was here, And it just
Speaker 1: so happened that because my friend was registered in the US,
Speaker 1: she was able to adopt this child and it changed
Speaker 1: her life. Both of their lives, and I love stories
Speaker 1: of redemption like this. I love people coming out of painful,
Speaker 1: broken situations and there's someone else to greet them on
Speaker 1: the other side of that. It's really beautiful. I hope
Speaker 1: to do this someday. You are a part of the story.
Speaker 1: That's what I'm trying to tell you. You You are a
Speaker 1: part of that story. But if you want to talk
Speaker 1: about building a family through adoption more and I can
Speaker 1: hook you up. Okay, I really want you. People are
Speaker 1: always like, what are you going to have babies? I'm like,
Speaker 1: if I have children, great, If I don't, great. I
Speaker 1: just really I'll tell you this is kind of a secret.
Speaker 1: But I remember I was sixteen years old and I
Speaker 1: was sick at the time, and I'd walk around in
Speaker 1: the backyard of our home and I was just dreaming.
Speaker 1: I was always dreaming because I was placed on homebound
Speaker 1: for like two years, and that was kind of the
Speaker 1: only place I had to exist, right outside of the
Speaker 1: walls of our home. And so I used my imagination
Speaker 1: a lot. And I saw this picture of this little
Speaker 1: tiny cottage, and behind this cottage was a mansion and
Speaker 1: it was a huge home. And I walked into the
Speaker 1: mansion and it was two long hallways and multiple doors
Speaker 1: on the hallways, and kids were running all over the
Speaker 1: place like laughing and super joyful. And I still remember
Speaker 1: seeing their faces and seeing exactly what this looked like.
Speaker 1: And that was half of my life ago. And I
Speaker 1: remember God saying, you think that music is going to
Speaker 1: be the mansion, but actually music is going to be
Speaker 1: the cottage to support what is going to be built
Speaker 1: inside of the mansion. It was all of these children
Speaker 1: that were in foster care and orphans in different countries,
Speaker 1: and I saw all of these spaces, and so I
Speaker 1: feel like there's so much in me that wants to
Speaker 1: get my hands into that world. So I fully accept
Speaker 1: your offer of getting me connected, but also just I
Speaker 1: feel like those are the kind of moments that I
Speaker 1: live for. Those are the moments that when I think
Speaker 1: about music, I feel like that is the sole purpose.
Speaker 1: I think back to that mansion often, like I will
Speaker 1: live in a cottage for the rest of my life.
Speaker 1: Probably I'm kind of a cottage person. I love little cottages, right,
Speaker 1: and I feel like the space in which music dwells
Speaker 1: can be this much. But the passion to see life
Speaker 1: change come to people is like a mansion inside of me.
Speaker 1: You know. So I love this story. This is personal,
Speaker 1: this is awesome. You just described my life. Only it's radio,
Speaker 1: not music that built the mansion. Only the mansion isn't
Speaker 1: a mansion. It's a farmhouse. And Brier is the twelfth
Speaker 1: child that God has brought to me through adoption. Wow.
Speaker 1: And so what you just described that kids of all
Speaker 1: nations running in and out of the rooms. It's not
Speaker 1: that happy and cheery as your vision was. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of screaming mom, Mom, tell on, tell baby Paul
Speaker 1: to knock it up. You know, there's let's get real.
Speaker 1: Life isn't cheery and happy all the time I was
Speaker 1: at this concert, it's like a worship night a couple
Speaker 1: of nights ago, and this lady shared her adoption story
Speaker 1: and I uncontrollably wept. I wept for a long time.
Speaker 1: I was like the woman in the room that everybody
Speaker 1: was like, okay, seriously, like that happened twenty minutes ago.
Speaker 1: She's still crying like I was that person. And it's
Speaker 1: I think it's because there's something so deep in there
Speaker 1: that I don't even have the awareness of quite yet.
Speaker 1: And that's just honest. Like there's something in there that
Speaker 1: I don't even quite know. But the way that I
Speaker 1: feel about my nieces and nephews, it's made me scared
Speaker 1: to become a parent because I'm like, man, I don't
Speaker 1: know if I could love kids greater than my nieces
Speaker 1: and nephews, Like, I don't know if that's possible because
Speaker 1: of my love for them. And everybody tells me, oh,
Speaker 1: just wait, just wait till it's your own. You're you're
Speaker 1: gonna have all the love that you could possibly imagine
Speaker 1: in store for them. And so to see that you've
Speaker 1: been able to carry that love out for so many people,
Speaker 1: for so many children, is really encouraging to me. Well, uh,
Speaker 1: it's not easy, and it will break you into a
Speaker 1: bazillion pieces because when whether you adopt or give birth
Speaker 1: or foster, your heart is walking around outside your body
Speaker 1: for the rest of your life and you can't protect it.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, who, I love this. I'm willing to wait.
Speaker 1: It's worth the way Lauren Dagia. Let me tell you
Speaker 1: it is worth the way it is worth the way.
Speaker 1: Were you raised in a house with faith? I was,
Speaker 1: and I grew up in a household that was honest,
Speaker 1: and I think there's something about that where we could
Speaker 1: I mean, I'll never forget being around like drugs for
Speaker 1: the first time or something and going home and telling
Speaker 1: my dad and there wasn't this like scolding. There was
Speaker 1: like a hey, if you ever get nervous in those situations,
Speaker 1: just call me. I'll come get you. And it was
Speaker 1: like what you know? And I feel like because we
Speaker 1: had this household of people who got they just got it.
Speaker 1: They got what the world was like, they got what
Speaker 1: faith looks like in the middle of the world. And
Speaker 1: I feel like it gave us a pretty holistic view
Speaker 1: of how faith can interact in a world that's so different.
Speaker 1: And for me, that's what that's what faith looks like. Lauren,
Speaker 1: your music is heard by millions. Every time I play
Speaker 1: one of your songs on my radio show, you got
Speaker 1: ten million people listening to it. And that's just me.
Speaker 1: That's not Christian radio, that's not the international market, that's
Speaker 1: not your videos, that's not your YouTube, that's not you know.
Speaker 1: Think about how many millions of lives have been impacted
Speaker 1: by the lyrics. And it's not just the lyrics. The
Speaker 1: lyrics are pretty impactful. If someone were to just go
Speaker 1: through your song list. You go through your CD and
Speaker 1: read the lyrics to each song. Song. The lyrics are
Speaker 1: a sermon, you know, a message, but it's the way
Speaker 1: you deliver them and your voice and your love that
Speaker 1: comes through loud and clear. And I think for God
Speaker 1: to grow that child of your music and to grow
Speaker 1: you to the point that you wouldn't be destroyed by
Speaker 1: the success you're experiencing. Wow, Oh my gosh, that is
Speaker 1: a revelation right there. I feel like I sit in
Speaker 1: that for a long time. I have interviewed so many
Speaker 1: and got to spend time with so many amazingly talented
Speaker 1: young people, so many really talented young people when they're
Speaker 1: in their teens or twenties, and by the time they're
Speaker 1: in their thirties or late twenties. Oftentimes my heart is
Speaker 1: grieved when I see how the worldliness and the machine
Speaker 1: has taken over. The machine, the industry has taken over,
Speaker 1: and that innocence and that joy that I noticed when
Speaker 1: I met them is completely gone, and it's just the
Speaker 1: machine cranking out. You know, you got to keep feeding
Speaker 1: the machine. And when I look at you, I don't
Speaker 1: see any of that. Oh wow, I see just raw
Speaker 1: natural beauty does that make sense, Oh one. I used
Speaker 1: to tell people it was a hard season. That became
Speaker 1: my favorite season. I would tuck away, I'd walk up
Speaker 1: the stairs and I would sit in this closet like
Speaker 1: I had the whole house to myself. I was alone.
Speaker 1: But I just remember reading this devotional that was so simple.
Speaker 1: It was like two pages of this much, you know,
Speaker 1: a short little paragraph. It was just enough that was
Speaker 1: digestible for me in that season, and I was given
Speaker 1: a lifetime of something to hold on to. And I'll
Speaker 1: never forget going into the studio and writing you say
Speaker 1: and you talk about the machine. And I just finished
Speaker 1: my first double Awards and I grew up in Louisiana.
Speaker 1: I'm like a Southern girl through and through, and I
Speaker 1: remember feeling so out of place and I was on
Speaker 1: a red carpet and people cared about what I had
Speaker 1: to say and there were lights in my face. And
Speaker 1: I won all these awards and I left the awards
Speaker 1: show and the next day just hit rock bottom, just
Speaker 1: like it was like such an extreme high, and I
Speaker 1: crashed and I was so lonely the next day because
Speaker 1: I realized, this will take me away from who I am,
Speaker 1: This will take me away from the things I love
Speaker 1: about myself. This will take me away from that Louisiana
Speaker 1: girl that is totally down to just jump in a
Speaker 1: kayaking go looking at some alligators, or go to my
Speaker 1: friend's house and have some moores around the fire, you know.
Speaker 1: And I've felt so lonely, like this is something that
Speaker 1: no one else in my circle is experiencing. And this
Speaker 1: platform and having people care what you have to say
Speaker 1: becomes so you place yourself in an area of vulnerability
Speaker 1: that not many people have to walk through. And so
Speaker 1: there's some defense mechanisms that naturally get built up. And
Speaker 1: how do I stay shielded but to a healthy amount
Speaker 1: where I'm not just crippling who I actually am in
Speaker 1: the process, where I'm not fearing myself underneath boulders, but
Speaker 1: that I actually stay pure to who I am. And
Speaker 1: I walked into to the studio the next day and
Speaker 1: I sat there and talked with my producers, and I
Speaker 1: was like, this is too much for me to handle.
Speaker 1: And I remember there being a crossroads where it was
Speaker 1: like you can jump ship and no one will really
Speaker 1: ever notice, Like you just finished your first award show,
Speaker 1: like it's not going to be a big deal. Or
Speaker 1: you can just stick this out. But right now you
Speaker 1: have a choice to make that you will fight to
Speaker 1: keep your core intact. And I haven't done it perfectly.
Speaker 1: I'm not even going to say that. But from that interaction,
Speaker 1: we took all the lies that I was believing about
Speaker 1: what this industry will do to me and replace them
Speaker 1: with the truth of what God can do through me
Speaker 1: and how how I can if I keep the core
Speaker 1: of who He's made me in those two years in
Speaker 1: that season of isolation, if I keep that core fed
Speaker 1: and nourished, I can do this. And I will one
Speaker 1: say that there were you you had mentioned like three
Speaker 1: or four years of things turning a page. I will
Speaker 1: say two of those years I handled it very poor,
Speaker 1: Like just internally. There there were so many things that
Speaker 1: I had to learn at such a fast pace, and
Speaker 1: I've made decisions that I would totally change and if
Speaker 1: I could go back and change them, you know. But
Speaker 1: I feel like two nights ago I had a conversation
Speaker 1: with my manager about this very thing, and I told her, Lee,
Speaker 1: regardless of what comes for any of the music I
Speaker 1: put out from this point forward, if I if you
Speaker 1: see my feet wandering, ever, stop me in my tracks.
Speaker 1: I I want to make sure that at the end
Speaker 1: of this road, I care about people more than the
Speaker 1: way I cared about than when I started. I want
Speaker 1: to get to the end of this and know that
Speaker 1: when people came to my shows in the beginning of
Speaker 1: my career, they experienced they experienced something pure, and when
Speaker 1: I am on my deathbed the last show that they
Speaker 1: came to, they still felt the same presence, in the
Speaker 1: same comfort. I don't want to forsake that space for
Speaker 1: the things of the world. And though it is tempting,
Speaker 1: I mean, my gosh, the hustle and the amount of
Speaker 1: opportunities and the imminent pressure to keep success beyond anything
Speaker 1: you've ever produced before, like stay successful, and then some
Speaker 1: that is like vulturistic. Don't ever listen to any of that.
Speaker 1: Just shut your ears to it. Yeah, that's what we
Speaker 1: say internally all the time. Like just from that conversation
Speaker 1: the other day, we were like, we're not going too
Speaker 1: working hardest, beautiful thing. It is a strong work ethic.
Speaker 1: I love I love it. But striving for things that
Speaker 1: the world puts in front versus resting in what God
Speaker 1: will provide, those are two very different places. Resting comes
Speaker 1: with sustainability. It allows you longevity. Striving creates burnout, it
Speaker 1: creates disdain and jadedness. There's a difference between working from
Speaker 1: a place of rest versus working to beat the next
Speaker 1: door down. And I have seen miracle after miracle of
Speaker 1: that very thing where we'll be like, Okay, we don't
Speaker 1: know how, wonder how it's going to turn out, scratch
Speaker 1: it our head, wonder how it's going to happen. And
Speaker 1: God's like, oh, yeah, here's where I'm going to drop
Speaker 1: it in. Here's where I'm going to dropping in. And
Speaker 1: here's an open door. I hope you enjoy walking through it.
Speaker 1: And it's like so exhilarating because you know you're you're
Speaker 1: walking hand in hand with what you said earlier with me,
Speaker 1: Almighty us talking today is one of those situations. I
Speaker 1: listened to your show when I when I was a teenager.
Speaker 1: It was like a friend and a comfort. I would
Speaker 1: listen to your voice and it would be at the
Speaker 1: midnight hour and I would just I don't know, I
Speaker 1: remember it playing at midnight and just thinking I have
Speaker 1: someone who is peaceful. I felt peace listening. It didn't
Speaker 1: matter what story it was. I felt comfort just in
Speaker 1: the way that you spoke in the tone of your voice.
Speaker 1: Now I know what was behind the voice, but I
Speaker 1: feel like it's a full circle moment for me as well,
Speaker 1: because there were there were so many times where You're
Speaker 1: show held my hand when I would just drive around
Speaker 1: the car at midnight because I didn't know what else
Speaker 1: to do, you know, And so then to see that
Speaker 1: God would use Briar, that he used your story to
Speaker 1: sit here and make something beautiful happen, I mean years later,
Speaker 1: I wasn't even singing at the time, Like years later,
Speaker 1: these words penetrated your Heartbriar and became a place for
Speaker 1: a full circle moment to happen. It's pretty amazing. It's awesome. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm so grateful to be a part of this. I
Speaker 1: mean so grateful to see that words and that just
Speaker 1: even a voice can mean so much. Your mom's voice
Speaker 1: meant something to me, and now my voice has meant
Speaker 1: something to you, and therefore it meant something back to
Speaker 1: your mom from you. That's wild. And here's the thing
Speaker 1: I know, because of who Briar is, when she finds
Speaker 1: her voice, when that relationship develops between her and God,
Speaker 1: she is going to be able to inspire so many
Speaker 1: young people. We got four hundred and eighty seven thousand
Speaker 1: kids in foster care right now. Wow, and less than
Speaker 1: five percent will ever have forever families. So she will
Speaker 1: be god willing the voice to encourage them. Wow. I
Speaker 1: look forward to seeing that need to. I'll be standing
Speaker 1: next to you, girl, Give me a call. What an
Speaker 1: absolute pleasure it was to have Lauren with us today.
Speaker 1: I'd like to thank her and my podcast sponsors that
Speaker 1: make this conversation possible. I love being creative, and I'm
Speaker 1: excited to welcome Annie's Kid Clubs as one of my
Speaker 1: podcast sponsors. As fast paced and crazy as the world
Speaker 1: is today, I love that Annie's Kids get kids off
Speaker 1: the screens and into some hands on creative fun. There's
Speaker 1: kids for all ages, even adults, from young woodworker kids
Speaker 1: to cardmaking to knitting. Annie's has a great summer offer
Speaker 1: seventy five percent off your first month visit Annie's Kit
Speaker 1: Clubs dot com slash Radio. Annie's Kit Clubs dot com
Speaker 1: slash radio. They let everyone escape into a world of creativity.
Speaker 1: We've been talking with Lauren Dagel and if you are
Speaker 1: not familiar with her music, trust me you should be
Speaker 1: and if you are now you know why she is
Speaker 1: so beloved around the world and where can people find you?
Speaker 1: Where can people see you? Like, give me the well,
Speaker 1: we are going on tour in September. We've finally gone out,
Speaker 1: so you can go to Laurendagel dot com for all
Speaker 1: the tour dates, and my instagram is at Lauren underscore
Speaker 1: Dage for the fun extra behind the same things. Okay,
Speaker 1: Lauren underscored Dagel Instagram and Laurendiggel dot com for tour dates,
Speaker 1: and we we meaning Brier and Mom and Toe will
Speaker 1: see you in September. Yes, okay, good y'all come backstage
Speaker 1: and give me hugs. Lauren gifted us with a beautiful,
Speaker 1: powerful new single this February called hold on to Me
Speaker 1: that we've been listening to a lot here at my house.
Speaker 1: Social media exploded after she performed it on the Voice,
Speaker 1: so we already know it's going to be a huge
Speaker 1: crossover success. You can listen to hold on to Me
Speaker 1: and download it from her website Laurendagel dot com. And
Speaker 1: if you're lucky enough to score tickets to a performance
Speaker 1: while she's on tour this fall, you're going to be
Speaker 1: in for a treat. I cannot wait for more new
Speaker 1: music from her and to watch and applaud how her charity,
Speaker 1: The Price Fund, continues to help build strong kids and
Speaker 1: strong communities where every member from every generation is supported
Speaker 1: and reminded of their importance. Lauren credits her grandfather with
Speaker 1: instilling the idea within her that loving the world happens
Speaker 1: one relationship at a time. I couldn't agree more. That
Speaker 1: is why I call this podcast Love Someone, and why
Speaker 1: I implore you all to do just that. Get to
Speaker 1: know the hearts of your family, your friends, your neighbors,
Speaker 1: your community. Reach out in love, and you will change
Speaker 1: the world one heart at a time, just like Lauren is.
Speaker 1: I do hope you're enjoying these long, lovely summer days
Speaker 1: and taking the time to do a little stargazing at night.
Speaker 1: Please join me next time on Love Someone for Another
Speaker 1: in Inspiring Conversation. New episodes drop the second and fourth
Speaker 1: Tuesday of the month. You can subscribe on any of
Speaker 1: the dozens of podcast platforms out there, so you won't
Speaker 1: miss a single one. God bless you and thank you
Speaker 1: for listening.