A Sonflowerz Christmas – in a nutshell

The older I get, the more I realize two things about Christmas: traditions never get old, and my eyes are bigger than my stomach. Around the Leander house, holidays are a mixed bag of American and British traditions. The Queen might as well have been literally in my parents’ living room as we watched her Christmas message via YouTube. I was stunned by her sincerity and the way she spoke of Christ’s birth.

“Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves - from our recklessness or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person - neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a Saviour, with the power to forgive.”

This never gets old. Neither does Christmas cracker wars after dinner. I think we came up with a new tradition this year, though, in honor of the Queen. With a few shovels and a little imagination we built a snow castle in my backyard (snowmen are so last year). We were lucky enough to get snow 3 days before Christmas.

My second realization, my eyes are bigger than my stomach, shouldn’t surprise me. Yet it does every year. There are just too many good things to eat, and not enough time or ability. Close friends came over for dinner and brought some amazing pies for dessert, which were devoured in a tiny second by (mostly) the guys in the house. By the end of the night as the movie credits rolled, I could barely lift a finger. It was a good Christmas in every sort of way.

-Becca

Winter Touring Has it's Moments (Blog By Elissa)

I stumbled into my house at midnight Sunday night after a weekend traveling around Colorado on tour. I had spent myself completely, but that's what a good tour does to you. My husband Chad came on this trip as well as Becca's husband, Bryan. The four of us had piled into the 'band van' Friday afternoon, ready for an adventure. One of my friends said "Oh, I bet that is so much fun...like a mini vacation!" Yes, it WAS FUN. But, it was a "vacation" with LOTS of logistics and places to be. Getting to take the husbands with us is a treat.

On the way up to Fort Collins, CO, Bryan drove while Becca ran the juke box of Switchfoot's new Vise Verses.

The event was a Christmas Tea with women of all ages. Too many twinkle lights to count, gorgeous table-scapes all prepared with the best linens, dishes and centerpieces. Each table was decorated by a different individual from the church! The room just sparkled.

We shared songs from our new album and our Christmas EP Beautiful Miracle. We helped a handful of kids get sponsored through Compassion International at our table. This gets me excited! Just think, the nations were impacted, many families were given aid and the Gospel was shared around the world, all through a Women's Tea in Colorado. Saturday morning was just as exciting when we performed again and a woman gave her life to Jesus.

We drove to Cheyenne, Wyoming Saturday night. Now, at this point the snow was getting a little nasty, but the roads were still manageable. We were getting hour-by-hour weather updates. "Sounds like it's stirring up for a big storm," said one broadcast. We unloaded the van and soundchecked. In the morning, I needed a load of coffee to get me going. The usual brew of the day is a cup of TEA, but I call in the coffee when I'm up at 6 am like I was on Sunday. Get to the church early and pray. That's the plan. Worship was exciting and I felt the Holy Spirit doing something really unique. I sang 'Mighty To Save', like I have dozens of times, but it felt like the first. God was moving and infusing faith in all of us. Calvary Chapel Cheyenne is a happening church, full of life, and awesome people. I hope we get to return soon!

The four of us were really hungry after church, and hoping for a GOOD bite to eat. Not the Burger King or MacDonalds, which sometimes happens to be the only place to eat when you're on the road. Not this day! All of us celebrated when we saw Chipolte.

Sunday afternoon we drove back down south to Denver, way out east to a large home for a "house concert". We have talked about doing this for a long time, but this was our first "house concert". The four of us set up in the living room. Becca on keys, Bryan on his djembe, Chad and me both on acoustic guitars. Chad is the master of guitar and keeps me on my toes instrumentally. The youth group of Redeemer Presbyterian and the leaders and parents joined us that night. The concert couldn't help but be personal and fun. We were right there in the living room hanging out with everyone! Talk about UP CLOSE. So fun. All the girls chatted with us in the kitchen for a couple hours. We loved it. Packing up and driving home was the hard part. The blizzard had really set in.

It was completely dark (no street lights) with six inches of snow on the road already. No snow plows had come through yet. To make it worse, our wind shield wipers weren't doing a good enough job. Caking ice all over so the drive was straining to see. The four of us prepared for a long long drive home and a stop at the Castlerock Walmart for new wipers. The boys are good with cars and the new wipers were installed quick. Bryan set the wipers in action and it was bad news. They didn't do a thing and in fact, it just smeared the water around. Ugh. It's late and we're tired. Chad decided to check the wipers again. Oh wait. The plastic is still on the edge. Ha. Now the wipers are working better than ever. Thank goodness! We need to get home! Winter touring has it's moments.

-Elissa

What's on my iPod?

Here are my top 10 songs that I’ve been re-playing all week.

1. Keep Your Eyes Open – Needtobreathe

2. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear – Sara Groves

3. Please Come Home For Christmas – Aaron Neville

4. Christmastime Is Here – Vince Gauraldi Trio

5. Paradise – Coldplay

6. Dark Horses – Switchfoot

7. Praise Him – Shane & Shane

8. Manifesto – The City Harmonic

9. Ships In The Night – Mat Kearney

10. O This God – Matt Redman

We just came home from a great weekend tour! My heart is still so full. We made it safely after driving through a minor snowstorm to reach Colorado Springs.

I’m reminded of why we do what we do when God use our stories to change hearts. One Asian woman came to Christ at our Christmas concert in Fort Collins, CO!

No doubt Wyoming is 10 degrees colder, windier and drier than Colorado Springs. But we left there feeling warm and welcomed. Bryan, my husband, was the navigator extraordinaire. Chad got some great footage of the snow on the fields and buffalo.

Our last stop in Parker, CO was a house concert. We don’t do many of these, mainly because many living rooms are too small. But this gorgeous house out in the country was a perfect backdrop for a holiday event. The only problem I have with house concerts is the food, drinks and desserts are too yummy. I can barely sing after. Instead I’d like a nap.

I was encouraged by all the teen girls that came, and it was so fun talking with them. One conversation started with “Oh I like your TOMS!” These girls rock. They have so much energy! I wish I could borrow some of it! Speaking of, I think I’ll go make my afternoon tea. Little boost of caffeine just helps.

-B

A Snapshot of Thanksgiving

Last week we headed to my parents’ house along with 12 other people. We all celebrated Thanksgiving Day with a load of food. I brought sweet potato casserole and Elissa brought her yummy green bean casserole. We’re pretty classic with our Thanksgiving, nothing too fancy, all the dishes the same every year.

But my new favorite dish was a cranberry relish courtesy of my mother-in-law. Since my in-laws from South Carolina were in town for the week, we took the week off and showed them the sights of Colorado and the scenic trails that we hike regularly. Earlier this year I made the mistake of assuring my mother-in-law that we’d certainly have snow during Thanksgiving week. Yet we ended up with 60-degree weather.

Spending a week with family made me freshly thankful for the blessings I have. If all of us stop long enough to really contemplate how much we’re blessed, we will be pouring out thankfulness to God. The automatic response is praise.

You don’t need much stuff to feel blessed. I remember visiting El Salvador and meeting Christians with overflowing joy. Yet they didn’t have the material possessions we have.

As I’m writing this, the Christmas season is in full swing. Every other commercial is selling the best gift to stick under the tree. It’s easy for me to get caught up in the sights and smells of Christmas, treating it like a national holiday or a big event to get ready for. I love having people over and going to parties. But this isn’t Christmas.

I looked up the word “Advent” to see what it meant. I had heard the word so many times in church but I really didn’t feel the impact.

Advent (from the Latin word adventus meaning "coming") is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas.

Expectant. Waiting.

I have to confess that my expectancy is normally about the feeling when Christmas Day comes around and I celebrate with family, food and gift giving. Yet, that’s not the main point of Advent. It’s a spiritual journey, expectantly waiting, so that with each day I grow closer to Christ through the miracle and revelation of His first coming.

And the expectancy shouldn’t end the night of December 25^th. We still wait in anticipation for the second coming of Christ, keeping our eyes on Him as we ring in another year, make our plans, and walk out the next 365 days.

-Becca

What happened to kindness?

Kindness. It's a lost virtue in our sporadic, fussy society. The mindset that goes around commonly every day is "I'm entitled to being treated a certain way, served a certain way, on my schedule, to fit my needs."

Today at the hair salon was no different. I walked into an already intense dialogue between a client and stylist. A simple mistake of being double-booked, which no one likes, turned into an excuse to give a speech on why she was entitled to her appointment that second. Despite the attempts to solve the problem by the stylist, the client stormed out, blasting out words that left the atmosphere cold. The stylist stood there in tears, and those in the salon were silent in shock.

What happened to kindness? Sure, its pretty inconvenient to reschedule a hair appointment. And everyone can relate to experiencing inconveniences at airports. Traveling full-time means this comes with the territory. But surely disagreements can be sorted out in a more respectful manner, can't they?

Gone are the good ol' days when strangers would chat on the bus about random things, and people would smile at each other when passing on the sidewalk. I don't think I was born yet when those good ol' days were in their prime. Kindness was not just a learned virtue, it was actually practiced and disrespecting someone was not acceptable.

Where does kindness come from? Titus 3:4 says, "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy."

Kindness is an attribute of God, and when we're kind to people, we're like God.

Knowing you've been shown the greatest expression of kindness through the salvation of our souls, gives us a reason to be kind to people.

When we first started the band, I was in my freshman year of high school. Peers were not expectant of you to be kind to your parents, and not much has changed. It's much cooler to be independent and do what you want. Some of that had rubbed off on my 14-year-old mind. I am ashamed to admit it. One day our drummer called me out on it. It wasn't long into the conversation before my heart completely broke. I realized even in front of my friends I had been slacking in my respect and kindness toward my parents. I immediately asked God to forgive me. I'm thankful my friend was bold enough to confront me in a gracious way and remind me of how important kindness is.

We have been shown generous grace and kindness by God, who saved an unkind people, so He could make us into the image of His Son! Let's not forget to extend that kindness to others, even in the inconvenience of life.

-Becca

Behind the Song "Made To Shine"

By Becca

One of my favorite tracks on our new album is titled “Made to Shine”. It came about through hearing the story of a 12-year-old girl who showed up to one of our concerts.

Though we didn’t get to meet her, we were told of her struggle with bullying at school. It was so devastating that she starting hating herself, and harming herself. This grieved me. I couldn’t believe how low the bullying had brought her and the horrible things she was doing to herself.

In our song “Made to Shine” are the words I would say to her if I could sit down with her and be face to face.

I won’t repeat what they said

They tore you down and broke your heart

The words resound in your head and make you feel like nothing

I know you’re chosen for great things

A child of God, a work of art

Fancy clothes and diamond rings will never match what you are worth

Hold on to the beauty inside of you

No one can take that away

At some point in our lives I know we all struggle with believing lies told about us. Whether they’re subtle or not, they creep into our hearts like termites inside the walls of a home. Lies eat away at the truth that we are children of God, works of art by the Creator God Himself, and no one – not even ourselves – could stain our image.

“Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”…Isaiah 43:7

When I stopped at this verse one day...

Read More Here

Hey friends!
We just got back from Washington state, and we had a blast. We stopped in Sequim, famous for their fields of lavender, and then went to Chehalis, home of the Southwest Washington Fair. We met Ernie Haas & Signature Sound - those guys can SING.

New Song "By Faith" on iTunes!

Elissa shares about the latest tour, and how the new song was inspired.

NEW SINGLE AT ITUNES NOW

"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1

I boarded a plane for Joplin, Missouri last week. The plane was too small for our carry-ons, the seats didn’t recline and the windows were dusty. The man next to me had traveled to Joplin a number of times over the last month to help the town recover from the devastating tornado that hit on May 22nd.

I’ve always believed that music can enter our hearts and bring refreshing even in the hardest times. Our mission in going to Joplin was to offer what we could; music that would bring hope in a dark hour.

After arriving, I met a pastor’s wife and her family. When the tornado hit, this family was in an IHOP having dinner. They survived by squeezing into the huge freezer in the back of the restaurant. She drove us to our lodging, past a main street of wreckage where many businesses such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot had been swept away.

The next morning we saw the work that was being accomplished at their church. Semi-trucks full of food and supplies filled a huge tent. Clothing and household items were available for those who lost homes.

I spoke to a teenage girl who said that 20 of her friends lost houses. At one point, the tornado path was about 4 miles wide. We drove to that spot, and as far as I could see the trees were stripped. Only the strong ones remained. Every house for miles was in rubble. It looked like the third world.

A music festival “Hope and Healing” was planned for that night. I saw such dedication by the volunteers preparing and serving meals for 2,000 people. If I could describe the Church in Joplin in one word, I would say “beautiful”.

All the believers there were joyfully and sacrificially caring for the broken. We were braving 100-degree temperatures, but it was worth it!

Becca and I took the stage and started with “My Adoration” as people came to the front to receive prayer. I was most encouraged by the stories I heard throughout the day of how people saw God’s hand delivering them through this storm. Many lives were saved.

Joplin will carry on, by faith. It’s in times like these that our faith can grow stronger, when we can’t see the healing, but we believe for the healing. As I read Hebrews 11, I see a list of patriarchs of the “Bible days” and all of the accomplishments they have made ‘by faith’. It’s too easy to close the book and imagine that those people are special, more gifted, or more deserving of mention than maybe my story will be. But this is not the case. Each one of us has a place in God’s history book and we are important to the work He is doing today. My story is unfolding and I can only walk it out by faith. All of us have a ‘by faith’ story.

Some times I feel physically tired from traveling, sleeping in different beds, adjusting to inconveniences, for the purpose of singing our songs and encouraging others. This is when I silently call on the Lord and believe for renewed strength. I determine that I will go forward by faith. Not by my strength, but believing for His.

So is our new album, “By Faith”. When we were in the studio, my voice was nearing complete exhaustion. Becca and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to press to the end of the recording. It was a total of 8 months and endless hours of purposeful work believing that these songs are going to make a difference, and change lives, by faith. I am seeing God do what we felt was impossible at times, with the release of the first song.

What is your ‘by faith’ story?

-Elissa

DOWNLOAD THE NEW SINGLE HERE

Lessons from London

After flying 5,000 miles across the Atlantic, we arrived at the Heathrow airport. I love coming back to my second home in England. Being in charge of planning this trip, I admit to being a little anxious. Two guys should be waiting at the airport exit to pick us up. But would they show up?

I was familiar with planning an overseas tour, this being our 5^th one. We waited about 15 minutes by the doors, smelling the petrol and damp city air as the automatic doors opened and closed. It seemed like an hour had gone by when finally the pastor and elder from a London church found our travel-weary group. They piled our luggage and gear in two minivans and drove us down the narrow roads to a small village in London.

As we were driven around, we heard the church's story. The pastor and his family had left Africa to plant a church in London. They described how difficult it was to leave everything, and suddenly my 8-hour journey and jet-lag seemed minuscule. They had given up much. Though the size of the church wouldn’t put them in the paper, and it didn’t have the sound and lights of a mega-church production, I learned so much from this generous church and pastor’s family. They were faithful. They simply did whatever it took to keep it alive and growing.

I was reminded of Philippians 3:12-14 that says: “I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.”

This family did not turn back as they left the familiar and headed to England to start a church.

The weekend in London for me went by fast. We picked up our 85-year-old 2^nd cousin to bring her to our concert Saturday night. She has lived her whole life in a nearby suburb. Such a highlight for me to have relatives from my British mum’s side of the family there!

Our talented Welsh friend drove in from Cardiff to drum for us, teach us some Welsh in her spare time, and help lead worship for the Sunday service. We met a joyful, diverse congregation who sang incredibly loud to every song we played! I’ll never forget how their voices overpowered the monitors.

In the body of Christ we are challenged to live out the task, whatever it is, faithfully. So often we give in to the desire to see instant results. If we don’t, we move on to something else. I want to be faithful in my own life, ministry and anything God puts in front of me to do. I know it will mean sacrifice and courage, especially when the immediate results are not there.

It seems to me that Jesus was a great example of this. He could have started his ministry at 18, or even 25, but he wait until he was 30. Why? Or perhaps he had started his ministry at an early age, faithfully serving his parents, earning respect from those around him and growing in His relationship with His Father in Heaven.

Jesus’ public ministry got him attention, but he never sought attention. His entire life was about glorifying God.

In whatever you are called to, even if it seems small, pursue a faithful journey. Applause and popularity are less important than longevity. Know that God has given you the grace to see it through, however long it takes.

-Becca

I can see the finish line now...

We are six months into the creation of The Sonflowerz new record! After two flights to Nashville and countless trips to our studio here in Colorado, we are nearing the finish line. Mixing is under way. For all of you recording geeks like us, you know how intense this stage is!

Our two producers, Don Koch and Matthew Fallentine have really made the songs come alive. The album’s drummers Jared Henderson and Dan Needham, have brought the rhythm and rock with guitarist Chad Tipps (a.k.a. Elissa's husband). Our friend Jared Anderson puts his vocals on a song too. This has been an amazing group to work with.

This summer we're hitting the mid-west and ramping up the promotion of the new record, set to release in the Fall. We already have plans to be on tour from coast to coast once the record releases. You'll find dates in California and Texas so far, with much more in the planning process.

So what is this record going to be about? We are waiting to release the title of the project, but I will tell you it reflects where we are as people, artists, and followers of Christ who live each day by faith. Seeing the world and all the problems facing us everywhere, tells me this is the moment we really need to know what true hope is. It's not in our comforts, conveniences, wealth or fame. It's not even in people, as good as they can be. Our faith has to remain on the solid rock, which is Jesus Christ. I am challenged everyday to put my hope in Him alone.

On another note, I am loving life as a newly married lady and learning how to cook for the first time. And it hasn't been a Food Network show. If DIY's "Renovation Realities" had a cooking version, I would have been on it a few times. And this high altitude doesn't help!

Our pastor wrote a book recently called "Fear No Evil". It’s about our church's recent history. As I'm reading through it, I have been brought to tears several times. Other times I've had to shut the book and just let my mind and heart soak it in. Does that happen to anyone else when you read a really good book? The last book I tackled is a familiar one to most, "Radical", by David Platt. I love to read, and finishing a book is the best feeling ever.

Our coffee table is home to a small rotation of magazines. No fashion magazines (yuck) will be discovered here. Relevant, Christianity Today, NatGeo and the Economist-to name a few. Elissa comes over and borrows the magazines, but that’s what sisters are for.

Check back with us soon for a release date for the new album! -Becca