Album Notes

This album was born out of a really difficult time that we walked through together. Joanna and I had just come out of leading worship at a Christian missions camp called M-Fuge. We had been a part of team that was not that cohesive, which made the summer difficult to some degree, and we were ready (believe it or not) to make it back home from West Palm Beach, FL to Kentucky. Near the time that camp was winding down, Joanna learned that her Mother, Genny, who was being treated for cancer was becoming too sick to take care of herself and Joanna's 40 year-old brother Dan who had Downs-Syndrome.

Almost immediately after coming home we found ourselves living in a full house with her mom and brother. I hit it off really well with Jo's brother Dan, and I became his caretaker as Joanna concentrated more on caring for her Mom along with her sister Sara. The next few months weren't easy, but in the midst of the hard times we made some great connections with one another and had many sacred moments and conversations.

On December 30th, 2004, Joanna's mother passed away. On that same day we received a call from Dan's adult day care, and I left to meet him at the hospital. We soon learned that he had an enlarged malignant tumor in his chest. One month later, 15 minutes shy of a month to the day, Dan went on to join his Mother and the Lord.

Unless the Lord captures a lot of the emotions we experienced and lessons we learned through this period of our life. Although it is at times contemplative, it is also an album of hope and celebration. It is an encouragement to others to allow the Lord be the chief builder in their life, because it is when storms come that our foundations are truly tested.

Psalms 127

1 Unless the LORD builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the LORD guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.

Matt