What we're after, both in getting music and then singing the best of Christian hymns along the way,

are songs that both teach us about God, so who he is and what he's done, and help us respond to those truths.

Today's episode is part of a short series of interviews we're calling hymn stories,

where I interview modern songwriters and musicians about their hymns,

all of which are featured in the brand new Sing Himnal, published by Crossway in partnership with Getty Music.

Laura Story is a Grammy and Dove Award-winning singer-songwriter and serves as a worship leader at Perimeter Church in Johns Creek, Georgia.

Jordan Coughlin serves as a worship pastor at Christ Covenant Church in Atlanta, Georgia,

and they are both together contributors to Crossway's

new Sing Himnal. Laura and Jordan, thanks so much for joining me today on the Crossway podcast.

It's our treat. Happy to be here. So I'd love just to start off with both of you, just hearing a little bit

about where you're both from, your families, and what you're doing these days.

Laura, we could start with you.

So I live in a town a little bit north of Atlanta, Georgia.

I'm in a church called Perimeter Church, where I am one of the worship leaders there.

And my husband and kids, we're all kind of at the church there.

It's kind of a neat thing. My husband works at the church. A family affair. Yes, my kids go to school there. My kids are 1199 and 6. Wow, awesome. Jordan, how about you? I also am in the Atlanta area, but we are in the city of Atlanta. This is a joke that Laura and I have. Yes, because we never see you. Right. Right. Right. Yeah. You're close, but you still. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Atlanta's a big,

metropolis. So yeah, moved to Atlanta in 2020, and I helped pastor church there. I'm the worship

pastor and do counseling and various things. But have a wife been married 20 years, and we have five kids

aged 18 to 8. Wow. Wonderful. Yeah. So you both have been connected to the Christian music industry for a

long time. Laura, 20 years ago, you wrote a song that I would guess had a pretty big impact on your life to follow.

Maybe in some ways change the trajectory of your career. I wonder if you just briefly share

a little bit about that for those who aren't familiar with that story. Oh, yeah. So the song

...