10 Questions with ... Carmen Justice

1. Brief history....birthplace, childhood, schools, jobs, current hometown?

I was born and am still currently living in Nashville, TN. I grew up north of Nashville in Hendersonville, TN where I graduated from Hendersonville High School. I studied Commercial Music at Belmont University in Nashville, TN from 2009-2012, but left Belmont right before my senior year to join the band 1 Girl Nation. I've worked in service industry jobs ever since I was 15 years old to support my music career, so I always have a huge heart for people working service industry jobs.

2. What does a normal day at home look like for you?

Most of my days look completely different, but no matter what my day looks like ahead I always start the day with coffee. I'm a big coffee snob so I make a pour over each morning in my Chemex. Shortly after, I either head off to the studio, coffee shop, or meetings. I love working out or running in the afternoon and hanging out with friends or trying out new restaurants at night!

3. What's the song that you just can't get out of your head right now?

Right now I just can't get Switchfoot's "Live It Well" out of my head. It's such a great song, great message, and I love Jon Foreman's voice!

4. How much do you travel, what are the challenges? How do you juggle life on the road with wanting to be home?

I haven't traveled a ton this past year which has been nice to be home with family in friends, but I've been itching to get back on the road. I'll be heading back on the road soon and there are definitely pros and cons. I love seeing new places and meeting new people, but it definitely can look more glamorous than it really is.

5. What Artist or Pastor has had the greatest impact on you?

Honestly, my pastor at my church has taught me so much recently. He always says the phrase "Get into the Word until the Word gets into you", and that has really inspired me to read my Bible a lot more lately. I really have learned the impact that spending time with God truly has. Meditating on the Word day and night is something that we are told to do, but far to often we get way too busy to make time for it. I'm very thankful my pastor has taught me to have a missional mindset and to look to the Bible, not the world, for direction navigating life.

6. What's the last book you read?

I have a short attention span, so reading can be super hard for me sometimes! However, I've recently been reading the book "The Traveler's Gift" which a friend of mine told me to read and it's been great! It is all about creating a mindset of positivity in order to create a career and life that reaches your fullest potential.

7. Funniest or most embarrassing moment on the road?

One time I actually fell off stage! I didn't get hurt or anything but I totally fell off the front of the stage and had to act like it was a part of the show. I think I at least tricked half the audience into thinking I meant to do it but there were definitely people who saw me fall off stage!!

8. Tell us about your latest project.

My recent single "Flaming Arrows" is a song a just released about overcoming fear. I truly believe that fear is something we all deal with, so I wanted to write a song about not letting it control us. This song was written in a place in my life where I was super anxious about the future and was dealing with a lot of sickness in my family and it was very overwhelming to me.

I loved the verse in Ephesians 6:16 where it says "take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one". Any time I feel as though I'm being hit on all sides by the enemy, I remember that FEAR WON'T WIN.

My other songs I've been writing have a similar vibe, songs about love and life and real issues, and I definitely hope my project I'm working on will be done very soon so that you can hear it:)

9. Person you'd most like to have a discussion with, living or dead.....Deities are excused from this question

I would LOVE to have a conversation with Michael Jackson. I feel like he is someone who I would be super inspired by and I would love to know why he wrote the songs that he did, struggles he dealt with, and what a normal day was like for him. He is just super intriguing to me. I wish he could give me dance and performing lessons!

10. What's the biggest "God moment" you've ever experienced? Personally or professionally, when has God shown up in a powerful way?

Not to be all cheesy, but meeting my husband, Matthew was a "God moment" that I'd never experienced before. I'd always heard that people found their spouse and they just "knew" and I thought that was so lame!!....until it happened to me. I really wasn't interested in finding a husband (God clearly knows me better than I know myself), but I truly felt like the way we met, the timing, and little things that happened along the way was truly a time in my life where God showed himself to me in a huge way.

1. Favorite Bible Verse....life verse?

I love Galatians 6:9: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

2. How & When did you become a believer?

I've been a believer since I was a little girl. I was baptized in 2000 and have always had great examples of faith in my family, however I really don't think I made my faith my own until college. I always had doubts about the Bible until I read "The Case For Christ" by Lee Strobel-that book truly changed the course of my life! I was challenged by the validity of the Bible and really grew in my faith in God during that season. I think that is why I make music-it is a way to glorify God in my life and for my songs to be conversation starters for other people who may not know the Lord like I do, or may be in the same season of doubt that I was in!