Comfort for parents

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, July 15th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Nashville-based singer-songwriter Rosie Thomas had a string of alternative folk-pop records beginning in the early 2000s.

But these days, she’s engaged in a very different project.

WORLD Reporter Steve West recently talked with Rosie Thomas about her musical and personal journey.

MUSIC: [Sell All My Things]

STEVE WEST: If you heard one of Rosie Thomas’ early records and then saw her in concert, you may have sensed a mismatch between her upbeat demeanor and her often melancholy songs. That probably comes with her heart for people.

ROSIE: I always have this gut feeling that people are keeping things in. And I want to be the person giving them an invitation to let it out.

MUSIC: [Since You’ve Been Around]

That desire to encourage people was always there, but Thomas said it took an attack of anxiety while on tour to bring a change. She let go of the need to succeed.

ROSIE: I realized when I look back now that it was actually a loving gesture. It was as if the Lord was tugging on my pant leg going Rosie, there's more to you now. You gotta let something go. Are you willing? I sort of lost the purity of it all, you know, that really where it started was just to encourage others. And so I did: I threw it away.

Thomas took a break from touring after 2012’s With Love. She settled into home life with husband Jeff Shoop and had three children–now 7, 5, and 3.

MUSIC: [I Will Carry You (Always Here for You)]

ROSIE: God was good because that's when I got pregnant. And so these kids came along and filled me up in a whole new way and contentment showed up in my life for the first time. And then I took it from there. If this is how I'm supposed to feel, Lord, then show me what can I put back in my arms, my hands, that feels like this? And then the writing showed up again.

Thomas considered an album of lullabies for children. But then it occurred to her, what about parents? Don’t they need soothing and comforting as well?

ROSIE: I was full of anxiety, then just coming off that panic attack. And here I was pregnant. And I thought, Oh, no matter what I feel, no matter what I go through, no matter how flawed I am, I will carry this kid the rest of my life, flaws and all you know, and it will always be there.

She ended up recording an EP titled Lullabies for Parents, Vol. 1, which she released early this year.

MUSIC: [Even My Best Won’t Be Good Enough]

ROSIE: Buster may have been three months old, and I was at church and this woman came up to me. He was crying, and I was trying to comfort him. And she just said, very quickly, I just want you to know that even your best job, all that you give, who you are, it will never be enough. But God will fill your son.

MUSIC: [It’ll Be Alright]

Thomas has a way of seeing a hard thing as something used by God for good. A glib song title like “It’ll Be Alright” becomes a comforting reassurance as she sings.

ROSIE: When you go to bed at night and you feel guilty, it's a really good sign in a way, just to let you know, that just shows right there how much you love these people, these children, you know? And let that guilt go away. It'll be all right.

MUSIC: [All Is Full of Love]

ROSIE: A friend Mary, in her 60s, always said Rosie, if you don't say it, then who will? I said that I will. So I'm the one that will say I'm broken. I am the one that will say I'm struggling. I'm the one that will say I don't know how to parent. I don't know what I'm doing. I'll do it for the sake of those that are stuffing it so that maybe they can go even if it's under their breath.

Thomas continues to be transparent about her failings and her hope, sharing some of the lessons learned in her Lullabies for Parents podcast.

ROSIE: How do we remember that God's in control? I tell my kids every night God has–what, I say? And they get annoyed now. Perfect plans for us. Yep. Do you have anything to worry about? Nope. Good night. I'm telling myself that, right? At nighttime, we're good, Rosie. All right. It'll be alright.

MUSIC: [It’ll Be Alright]

I’m Steve West.

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