Contemporary artist Natasha Owens has been building up a steady following in Christian music over the past eight years. She connects with her audience through shared struggles and her story of not only survival but victory. Her experience is empowering and I am grateful for the opportunity to connect with her.
We discussed her newly released deluxe version of her holiday record, Christmas Memories. She also spoke to me about encouragement in the face of fear, upcoming tours, and what she hopes to do with her music.
You recently released the deluxe edition of your 10-song holiday project, Christmas Memories. Can you tell me more about that?
We didn't finish with every song I wanted to include on the album. So, we create four new songs this year and add them to the collection, thus making a deluxe version with 14 songs.
How did you choose the new songs to add to the deluxe version?
It's so hard to narrow the song choices down--especially for Christmas (It's my favorite time of the year). There were a few I thought should've been included on the original Christmas album. So we made up for it by adding them to this deluxe version.
We did a song from my favorite Christmas movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Then, we covered "That Spirit of Christmas" by jazz legend Ray Charles. Another song addition was in collaboration with the Nashville Orchestra; we worked together on "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year."
For the last one, we were going to do "The Twelve Days of Christmas," but Texas-style, since I'm from Texas. But, I realized the other 49 states weren't going to understand some of that Texas humor. So, instead, we made a song about my family and me. We made it really funny with all the things about myself and my life. This ended up being a very well-rounded album with fast songs, along with slower ballads, plus the contrast between traditional and new songs.
I'm sure that you've worked on this album during COVID-19. How did quarantine otherwise affect you?
I do wish I had hunkered down and done more in quarantine because I bit off more than I could chew last year. We made this Christmas album plus another record, which came out a couple of months ago. So two albums in a year were definitely overwhelming, but we certainly accomplished a lot. I'm glad I was productive.
The part of your story that resonated with me most is how God met you in the middle of a downward spiral. Can you speak about that?
This topic is hard because many churches are not helpful with it. They're very faith-based, which is great but sometimes not realistic. There's a balance between saying things to cheer someone up and knowing when they need dire support because they're simply in survival mode. Some churches have recovery-type programs, but most don't. It's difficult, but necessary to recognize that at the point of drowning, it has nothing to do with faith and everything to do with fighting for your life.
A barrier is created between the people on that downward spiral and God for one reason or another. Most of the time its guilt; it's feeling guilty about what they did or how they treated God in the midst of a trial. They feel like, "I'm so far away from God because of the things that I've said or the things that I've done. For these reasons, I can't turn back to Him."
People feel like they have to redeem themselves and get on better footing before they turn back to God. That's such a misconception because you don't have to have it all together. As far as you run, He runs with you. And He's right there when you turn back to him.
He never leaves you, but we sometimes feel that He's left us because we put a barrier up. Most of the time, people don't turn to God until they lose everything. My story is very different. But, I can honestly say I wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for God crossing my path when He did.
Every time He's come to my rescue, it's always a place where it's not the "right time." Logically, it does not make sense when He throws me that lifeline. Additionally, it's usually not an answer. It's usually another question thrown out to me that causes me to respond to Him.
I was in the midst of a depression when I was asked to be a music minister. I thought, "I don't have anything to give. I'm on a downward spiral. I can't get out of bed every day, and you want me to step up, be a minister, and pour into other people?" Logically, it would be "let me wait and get my stuff together before I accept your call." But if I had waited to get my stuff together, I wouldn't be alive today.
What would you say to others who are struggling in a similar spot in their life right now?
You need to know that, first of all, God loves you, regardless. He has not left you, so hang on. I'm a walking testimony, proving that you can make it through whatever you're going through. Sometimes, people just need a hug and need to hear that God loves them. We want to say things that make people feel better, but sometimes it's just a touch that makes them feel better.
God offered me a lifeline. He answered my fear with a push beyond my circumstance and a call to trust Him. He promised to reward me in return by fixing my situation. But it required giving up all control to Him, which was scary.
I have a tough time prying my hands open and giving everything up. Even when I do, I pull it back with a belief in my own mind that I can do it better than Him. We feel safe in our own comfort zone. But every time He's ever called me out to do something for Him, it's been outside my comfort zone.
At the time that He intersected my path and depression, I was so tired, mentally and physically, that I just wanted to rest. I couldn't do it anymore. God was able to use a pastor to say the exact thing to me that would penetrate my heart walls. God puts you back together, but you have to be willing.
What Bible verses do you feel connect most to this message?
Deuteronomy 31:6 is my favorite verse that I've used for many years. There are other verses that say the exact same thing; this one was just one of the first ones that I found and I keep gravitating to it. It simply says, "He will never leave you nor forsake you." That's a promise that God gives.
Over the past 18 months, one of my other favorite verses has been 2 Timothy 1:7, where it speaks about God's gift to us not of a spirit of fear, but of peace, love, and a sound mind. Fear, the one thing that grips me often, has taken over this world the past year and a half. As Christians, we need to be aware of COVID-19. But we have to live by that Timothy verse. You just have to live your life and cling to verses like that for a sound mind.
It's so simple to live for Him once you realize the concept of His love. There's nothing you can do to cause Him to love you any less or any more than He already does right now. You can disappoint Him. But He's never going to stop loving you.
One song of yours that stood out to me is "Perfect." I think the lyrics are a beautiful representation of how God sees us. What audience did you mean to direct this song to?
When we originally sat down to write that song, it was targeted toward teenage girls. As females, we try to measure up; we compare ourselves to everything that we see in our society, and that puts so much pressure on us. We just need to understand that God made us all different and in his eyes, we are perfect.
No matter what size you are, no matter what size you wear, no matter what color you are, it just doesn't matter. We are all one race under God and He gave us all strengths and weaknesses. We were all made different, just like all the snowflakes are different.
You have look at the fact that says, "God, I am perfect in your eyes. You made me perfect. I may be weak, I may be lacking, but when I have Your Spirit in me, that's what makes me perfect." I hope that resonates with not only teenage girls, but teenage boys and people of all ages. I think it's a universal message even though it didn't start out that way.
What touring plans do you have in your future?
We have a Christmas tour this year that I'm very excited for. We did one last year and were surprised by the amount of churches hungry for Christmas events (So much so that we didn't set aside enough days). This year, we went back to the churches that wanted me to perform last year, as well as some of the ones I went to last year. We'll be on the road for roughly two weeks.
After that, we'll start focusing on our spring tour which is actually just a rescheduling of our fall tour from this year. We begin in March, touring with pop band Apollo LTD.
We're starting up our Warrior Events again. Warrior Events are women's conferences that we do because I'm a firm believer that strengthening the female strengthens the entire family. We're going to be continuing these events throughout the spring and the summer of 2022.
How can I be praying for you?
When we're on the frontlines of ministry, we're on the frontlines of battle. And when that happens, the devil doesn't like it. So we always fight extra hard with him just before a tour, before new music comes out, or when writing new music (these are the times when the world falls apart around you). So please pray that I have strength and peace of mind.
I will have a physical copy of my deluxe Christmas album available sometime in the near future. Also, we're publishing a book with lyrics, pictures, and family recipes from my childhood. It gives the audience more detail of my life and what life's like for my family at Christmas. It makes my music more familiar to people. And I want people to get to know me.
Selena Schulz is NRT’s youngest staff contributor. She loves God, music, reading, and writing.
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