With the boys on the road

Last weekend we headed out for a cross-country tour with our husbands.  Touring with them is the best!  My husband Chad is serious on the electric guitar.  He can play most any genre of music – & he joined us on Sunday morning in Des Moines.  Bryan, Becca's husband, can carry any beat on the djembe, so he handled the rhythm at our concerts.

Our first stop was McCook, NE (third visit since 2008).  After the show, several girls shared with me me that they were counting on us coming back this year.  I’m glad we were able to!  It was good to sing our new songs, and meet two girls who drove 2 hours to see us (when they saw our tweet) - awesome!  Making amazing friends wherever we go makes what we do that much sweeter.

A few days into the tour I was introduced to the 'Walking Taco'.  Ever had one?  It’s genius.  A bag of Doritos (or Fritos) is filled with lettuce, shredded cheese and ground beef.  You chow down with a fork.

Our concert in Iowa was hosted by KJYL in a beautiful country church.  About to celebrate 135 years serving the farming communities in central Iowa, this church has seen more than a century of change and progress.  It stands this day as a picture of our God – unchanging, faithful, steadfast.

Thank you everyone who drove to our concert in Lanyon.  We loved worshiping with you and packing out the sanctuary!

-Elissa

{Check out our Media > Pictures page for new tour pics}

Made to Shine - behind the song (video)

Check out our new video: Made to Shine!

This video is about the girl that inspired our song "Made to Shine", and her struggle with bullies at school. Find "Made to Shine" on our new album "By Faith". www.Sonflowerz.com.

Evacuee, a word I never thought I'd be

"The first time I saw the plume of smoke I was coming out of a wedding reception. “Oh no, that’s close,” I thought. The blaze had started less than 5 miles from my house and thousands of other residents in the Colorado Springs area. We couldn’t see the actual fire, but the smoke engulfed our neighborhood by Saturday night...."

Read more of Elissa's thoughts on the wildfire in the newest edition of Christian Songwriters Magazine!

Download this edition and read Elissa's story.

Dearly Loved

One song really seemed to impact people last week in Wisconsin. Our second time at Lifest, we packed 3 days with leading worship, teaching a seminar, interviewed with a radio station, and two concert sets at different stages and times. I think my Mom set up our merch table more times in one day than could count. She is amazing.

Each time we played “Dearly Loved”, a new song on our album “By Faith”, it seemed that people were hearing they are loved for the firs time. You know, we hear that God loves us, but sometimes it doesn’t sink in. It’s like watching a movie in a foreign language. But when you really get it, really, it changes everything! A sweet girl named Grace thanked me for the song after a concert, expressing how hard it is to sometimes see herself as truly loved and beautiful.

Dearly Loved
By Elissa Leander Tipps, Rebecca Leander Nicholson (Copyright 2011 Sonflower Worship/ASCAP)

Hasn’t anyone told you / Don’t you already know that your name has been written on His hands and on His heart / See the way He has given / His own life He laid down so that you could be with Him and know truly from the start that // You are loved even more than words can describe / Dearly loved from before the first dawn of time / You are loved even if the whole world tries to convince you otherwise / Forever you are cherished and dearly loved // I saw you walk away slowly / A solemn look on your face / You don’t believe you are worthy in light of your mistakes / A guilty conscience has stolen your understanding of grace / But God will never forsake you / Nothing you could do will change that // His love is enough to hold you together / Always enough to conquer your fears / His love is enough and someday you’ll know just how much

Our newest friend from Lifest, Tiffany Thompson, brought us potted sunflowers (real ones) one morning. These became the staple at our merch table. Lifest is one of those festivals where everyone feels like family, and you can be guaranteed that backstage will have cheese curds at the salad bar. I LOVE it. (Oh, and the custard in Wisconsin is incredible.)

Romans 5 talks about the Holy Spirit being the evidence of God’s love. It’s a gift from God that the Holy Spirit within us is our guide, our comforter, and our strength. I definitely experienced it first-hand on this tour. Each day was packed (no days off) and very demanding. I felt like a runner in a marathon, with each stride asking for God’s help to keep going and not give up.

Identify yourself as a recipient of God’s love and you will even be glad when situations require endurance. It becomes a strength and draws us closer to God.

-Becca

UK Tour Journal (Part 2)

Real life touring is a crazy experience!  The day before we left Wales to drive to London, we had a hic-up in our plans.  The rental van broke down at the very top of a parking garage.  Thanks to our Welsh friend Abi, who saved the day and gave us a ride to the rental car place.   Still, there weren’t many options for us…no vans in the company’s lot.  Once we got a ride to our flat, we waited for them to bring us a new van, from a city 2 hours away.

Another issue rose from this.  The van they brought us was smaller than the first. Oops.  There’s no way to describe how awkward the drive was with 4 adults crammed in 3 seats.  (Since this experience we’ve promised ourselves to find a twelve-passenger van next time in the UK!)

Stopping at Windsor to see the castle where the Queen is in residence, made the trip exciting.  The town of Windsor is quaint & classic: exactly the place I would imagine the Queen living.

The next morning began by singing for over 300 kids ages 8 – 11 at a public Church of England school.  One teacher commented that the kids were ‘mesmerized’. Well, it was like a field trip for them!  We explained the love of God to them and how He answers prayer.  The faces of these precious kids are forever impressed in my mind – so attentive and buzzing in their seats at the same time.

Around lunchtime we visited another school with Jr. high and High School students (the school was so big we couldn’t find the front door).  God gave us a word to share between songs, which came from John 10.  The teacher explained that this happened to be the verse for the year. (It’s another Church of England school – although most students are unsaved.) 

Later in the day we sat around a box of pizza with the youth worship team from the church who was hosting us.  It was shocking that about a dozen girls made up the worship teams!  It’s more common to see boys joining worship bands in droves, I think.  We answered their questions about being part of a worship band and living your calling.  It was really awesome to connect with the future worship leaders of England and to have this chance to inspire them!

Lastly we preformed a rockin’ concert in Ealing.  Folks came from other churches in London and the place was packed with all ages.  With my husband on guitar and Becca’s husband on percussion, we were jazzed by our awesome quartet. 

The crowd seemed so engaged in the lyrics of the songs, which were projected on the screens.  I knew God must be moving in many hearts that didn’t know Him.  After the concert it was clear that many people had been inspired and strengthened in their faith. One woman told the pastor “I came tonight as an Atheist, but I don’t think I’m leaving as one.”   Another women wrote in an email that she felt moved by a particular song and that it was helping her overcome her depression.

Great things are happening in the UK church!  We were “chuffed”, as they say in Wales, to experience it this year.  Time to start writing my own songs in Welsh, I think.

-Elissa

Becca's take on our UK experience

As I sit on my couch going through an entire box of tissues due to this icky cold I’ve caught since I landed, all the memories of this tour are being replayed in my mind like a camera roll. The UK means running into old friends and meeting a lot of new faces.

The country is getting geared up for the London Olympics, and they have splashed the shop windows with Union Jacks and spontaneous souvenir shops commemorating this historic time.  On top of the Olympics, it’s the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, which in my humble opinion, is a bigger deal than the Olympics.  She has reigned 60 years, which is amazing to imagine.  I might as well be 8-years-old when I think about the Queen and her elegance, dignity and grace.  She is one of my heroes.

Traveling through the UK this time was a breathtaking sight.  Yes, it rained a lot, but the subsequent effect was a green manicured canvas with brightly colored flowers everywhere.  When people say a visit to the UK is like walking into a fairy tale, it’s simply true, not an exaggeration.

Bryan and I grabbed coffee in the city center of Cardiff, Wales one afternoon on our day off to shop, and outside the window was a medieval church.  Everything around it had changed drastically since those stones were laid (don’t think Starbucks existed in Robin Hood days), but the church has remained untouched.  Beauty and history everywhere.  I’ve stamped my passport in London over 22 times, but I am never bored with this place.

Our team were troopers.  Touring isn’t all glam and bling, daily massages, expansive buses and cappuccinos on demand.  We crammed way too much gear and luggage in a way-too-small vehicle (um, Hertz) but we stayed in good spirits.

Wales “the land of song” was our first stop.  We led worship for a women’s conference, heard worship songs sung in Welsh and listened to our friend and pastor Kim Trobee speak.  Despite it being a first-time event, the church was packed and the women were excited to be there.  I was once again deeply moved by the passion in their worship and eagerness to receive prayer following the message.  It was so inspiring to me!

I became familiar with the distinct Welsh accent more on this trip than others in the past.  Perhaps I just listened more.  We saw over 300 teens from youth groups in Cardiff gather for four days to transform local communities, rain or shine, in practical ways. The morning worship meetings before the kids ran off to various places were the main event in many ways.  Our friend Dai Hankey stirred us up with a powerful message (and so many Welsh slang words I can’t even count)!  We gave a boost of spiritual energy to these teens before they poured out their hearts and served the needy.  What a privilege to be part of IgniteHope 2012!  Truly an epic weekend.  Heavy downpours didn’t stop our plans and this tough and determined Welsh spirit prevailed.  As a result 150 people responded to the Gospel message!

High notes and unexpected lessons

I was recently asked about my most embarrassing moment. Luckily for them, it had happened the day before and I had a quick answer. We were leading worship and I added a song to the set list last-minute, but forgot what key we normally play it in. It came time in the set for the song, and I began playing it in the wrong key, which was several steps higher than what I was used to. The chorus came around, and the note I was stretching for was so high the glass windows could have shattered. I saw the look on Elissa's face, and as sisters we knew exactly what each other was thinking...quick...move on to the next song!!!

I learned to double check the song key from then on. And engrained in me when I remember that moment is that it's not about me.

True freedom is living without the pressure to impress. I'm not singing to make friends. Embarrassing moment or not, I'm just being obedient to follow Jesus, what He asks me to do, and that is to serve Him by serving people.

Becca