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10 Questions with ... Christy Nockels
May 8, 2017
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1. Brief history/synopsis
I am the youngest of three, the only girl, born in Ft. Worth, TX while my dad was in seminary at Southwestern. I was mainly raised in Oklahoma, where my dad has pastored for most of my life. I attended Oklahoma Baptist University but never graduated because I met my husband Nathan Nockels, married about a year or so later and started traveling together, leading worship. Nathan and I joined our friend Charlie Hall in 1996 and made a record under the name "Sons & Daughters." It was this record that Louie Giglio got a hold of in 1996 and because of that, he asked us to come to the first Passion Conference in 1997. In 1999, Nathan and I formed the group Watermark and signed with Rocketown Records, releasing 5 records. For the past 20 years, we've had involvement in the Passion Conferences and in 2008, we even moved to Atlanta to help them plant Passion City Church. We have now re-located to what we call our hometown near Nashville and we're loving it!
2. What does a normal day at home look like for you?
If I am not on the road, I'm home when possible! I home school my two girls, Ellie (13) and Annie (9), and our son Noah (16) goes to public school. If I'm not songwriting or working on a project, my days are filled with planning my podcast or recording for it, figuring out what is for dinner, running my girls to and from ballet, acting lessons and art class, doing dishes and regular old house work, and when I can, having coffee and connecting with the people that I do life and ministry with!
3. What's the song that you just can't get out of your head right now?
Anything from the band OH WONDER. They have a song called "Landslide" that gets stuck in my head all the time.
4. How much do you travel, what are the challenges? How do you juggle life on the road with wanting to be home?
Our goal is always to try to not travel more than twice a month. Some months we really succeed, some months we don't! The goal though, because my husband Nathan produces for other artists, is to have a few weekends at home where we don't have to do much but lay low together. One of the redeeming factors of us being gone is that we have some pretty amazing young ladies in our lives that hold down the fort for us when we are gone. These are young women who our kids look up to and I'm happy that our kids get the chance to be around other people here and there who love them and care for them.
5. What Artist or Pastor has had the greatest impact on you, and why?
Louie Giglio, founder of Passion Conferences has definitely been the most impactful leader in our lives over the past 20 years. It's through his leadership that we first understood what it really means to live for God's glory. Their founding bible verse is from Isaiah 26:8 and it says "yes Lord, we wait for You, for Your name and Your renown is the desire of our souls." This is the first time that this verse really came to my attention and the word "renown" to the forefront of our lives. Meaning that we can live our lives in such a way that we make much of God rather than making much of ourselves.
6. What's the last book you read?
"Looking for Lovely" written by my friend, Annie Downs was the last book I read. It is a beautiful balance of real and raw, mixed with the pursuit of the "lovely" that God offers us on our road to becoming. I love how Annie has this fun mix of not taking her self too seriously but also taking herself seriously all at the same time! One of the best parts of the book is how she addresses the truth about hope. She refers to hope as an "expensive commodity" and unpacks Romans 5 where it says that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope.
7. Funniest or most embarrassing moment on the road?
When I was very pregnant with my first child, we were traveling up until 36 weeks on a bus, which was crazy looking back on it. I was sitting on a stool while singing on stage, a quite serious and emotional song in fact, and I accidentally kicked my water bottle over and it started spilling down the steps of the alter of this church, soaking the carpet, so I felt the need to get down off the stool and pick it up. The only problem was I declared out loud "oh my gosh, my water!" Well, lots of people in the back couldn't see the water spilling down the steps and they thought I was referring to my water breaking and people started gasping thinking I was going to need to head to the hospital!
8. Tell us about one of the songs on your latest project, "The Thrill Of Hope"
Amaryllis - For my birthday a few years ago, in a particularly very dark and heavy season of my life, my sister-in-law Kristin Hall gave me a beautiful, white ceramic pot. With it, was a letter titled "Amaryllis Prayers" - here is an excerpt of her letter:
"There are the rare and beautiful treasures that choose to bloom when the conditions are the darkest. In the dark bleakness of winter, the amaryllis will spring up, pushing through the soil, displaying the beauty it was created to share. Sure, it would be easier to wait until the comfort of spring. The blooms might even be bolder and brighter with the consistent nourishment and protection the new life-giving season would bring. But the amaryllis bulb knows it cannot wait. It was created to bloom and grow"
In the song, Jesus is the Amaryllis in the first verse, literally "surprising the night." In the second verse, we're the Amaryllis, in a winter of our own and He's asking us to break through the hardness of the freeze all around us - the hardships of life, our hopes dashed, the death of a dream. He asks us to shine like He shines, surprising the night around us with the thrill of hope that looks like "the brilliance of summer, right in the middle of winter."
9. Person you'd most like to have a discussion with, living or dead (excluding deities)?
I'm not going to lie, I'd love to sit and have tea with any of the royal family from England! I have always loved Princess Diana, since I was a little girl. I remember watching her wedding and right where I was sitting when I learned of her death. I've always thought that was the most beautiful lady. A few years ago I went to an exhibit where much of her wardrobe was displayed as well as her actual wedding dress... I kind of couldn't get enough! Kate Middleton would be a close second! I'd just love to know what life is like as a royal. Also, I just love all things British!
10. Favorite Bible Verse....life verse?
Psalm 37: 4 - 7
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him and he will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, And the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
The word GIVE jumped off of the page at me. As I read it, the first time I saw that word give as in "I will show you what your desires are, in every season." But what God was also showing me in this moment was so much bigger than my dreams and desires coming true. He was showing me that He IS my dream giver. The very instiller of all my desires. He spoke to my heart right then, impressing on me that He was breathing in new ideas, dreams and plans.
Bonus Questions
How and when did you become a believer?
I suppose He slowly awakened me as a child with a little bit of everything, especially because my mom and dad had loved Him and had been faithfully following Him even before I was born. They were my first true worship leaders and much about my childhood pointed me to Him. My mom had a plaque for each family member with our name on it, the meaning of our name and a scripture that followed. Mine said: Christy - Follower of Christ - "Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass." (Psalm 37:5)
I memorized that scripture and learned to handwrite it as best I could, after all, it was on a plaque with my name on it, it must be important! God gave my mom the wisdom one night to respond to me. She turned that little piece of paper over, the one I have kept to this very day, and wrote "yes, if Christy gives her heart to Jesus, He will show her the way to go". I took her word for it. I set my little heart in His hands that night and He breathed His life in it.
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