15.3.17

Open Hands

If you've never heard Laura's story, take time to read it. Her music is a blessing to our family. We received this Open Hands CD at a time that coincided with us being on the road, so it has become our van soundtrack. We don't know the words well enough to sing along to the whole CD yet, but we each have our favorite songs. 




Open Hands is the follow-up to 2013’s critically-acclaimed God of Every Story, and in the years that have passed since her last release, Story has given birth to twins, making their brood a family of five. Now, as a mom to three kids—Josie, Benjamin and Griffin—the posture of “open hands” feels more necessary than ever before as she juggles ministry and motherhood.

The title track—already a chart-topper prior to the album’s release—features guest vocals from Third Day’s Mac Powell, a fellow Atlanta-native and Story’s longtime friend. “You Came Running” borrows imagery from the biblical narrative of the Prodigal Son. In true Story fashion, several selections (“Awake My Soul (1000 Tongues),” “For The Love of My King”) reimagine timeless hymns, which she refreshes with an original chorus.

About Laura: 
GRAMMY® award winning artist, speaker, songwriter, author and worship leader Laura Story has a gift for penning songs that connect with people all around the world. Among her successes as a solo artist with her smash hits “Mighty to Save” and “Blessings,” Laura has also penned hit songs for other renowned artists including Chris Tomlin’s “Indescribable.” Her solo artist music debut in 2008 with Great God Who Saves led to four Dove nominations and the award for “Inspirational Album of the Year.” In 2011, Laura released her sophomore project Blessings. The album and the emotionally powerful title was inspired by her real life trials and adversities, primarily her husband Martin's diagnosis of a brain tumor. The album resonated with a huge audience and led to whirlwind career highlights for Laura, peaking at the No. 1 album spot for three consecutive weeks on Billboard’s Contemporary Christian Overall chart, topping the iTunes® Christian/Gospel Top Songs chart and holding the No. 1 spot for an impressive 28 consecutive weeks on the Christian charts. The success of the single “Blessings,” which was certified RIAA Gold, includes the GRAMMY® Award for Best Contemporary Christian Song, the Billboard Music Award for Top Christian Song and the Dove Awards for Song of the Year, Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year, Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. The song inspired Laura's first book, “What If Your Blessings Come Through Raindrops?” in 2012. God Of Every Story released in 2013 to much acclaim, and her first ever Christmas project God With Us, released in October of 2015. Laura recently released a new book and bible study curriculum When God Doesn’t Fix It; Lessons You Never Wanted to Learn, Truths You Can’t Live Without.  She has a graduate degree from Covenant Theological Seminary and has served as a worship leader at Perimeter Church in Atlanta since 2005, but her greatest joy is being a wife to Martin and the mother to Ben, Griffin and Josie.

In addition to being an artist, mom and author, Laura Story is also a worship leader and is gifted at teaching the truth of God to others. “We have this picture all the way through the Scriptures of all these great leaders in this process of surrendering everything. What the Lord is asking them is not, ‘You need to hold on tighter. You need to manage this better.’ What the Lord asks us is to surrender,” she offers, “It’s about learning to live with open hands, learning to live life in this constant state of saying, ‘Lord, my life is Yours. My time is Yours. My resources are Yours. All of this is Yours. Do what You will.’”

Open Hands’ fresh collection of originals blends Story’s signature congregational worship with intimate moments. I wanted to make an album so that each song I write would be just that seed of hope or that lifeline that someone listens to during that tough moment and thinks, ‘I’m going to choose to trust God, even during this,’” Story shares. “I pray that God would speak through me in the midst of the music.”

Social Corner

Web and Social Links:
Video links:
Open Hands (Official Lyric Video) - https://youtu.be/AABE--YR1No

For an entry in the giveaway, leave a comment on this blog post answering this question: What is your favorite song? (Be sure you include a valid email address for contact if you win.) Winner will be chosen Tuesday March 21st and will have 24 hours to reply to claim CD.


“Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255:  “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”):  Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway.  Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation.  I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller /FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days on the same blog, you are not eligible to win.  Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again.  Winner is subject to eligibility verification.
Jennifer

6 comments:

  1. Probably my favorite Laura Story song is "Blessings." It reminds me that God's viewpoint is often different than mine, because He sees the whole picture and I only see a part of it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have personally never heard of Laura Story, but I am going to find her now and listen to some! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Choosing my favorite song is tough, but I am jamming out to praise music as I travel today. I was just singing along to Who Am I? so I'll claim it as my favorite right now. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love her song "Mighty To Save". It comes on my Pandora all the time and I get exited every time 😁

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love her song "Blessings." It is a great reminder that I can count on God even in the hard times and see His goodness.

    ReplyDelete
  6. My favorite song is "Blessings" because it is my life song with all of the health issues I personally endure, the loss of my step-granddaughter to cancer when she was 9, my uncle to ALS just 2 years later, my aunt's struggle and need for a double transplant while we were losing my uncle, my son trying to process all of these feelings with his diagnosis of high-functioning Autism, and my Dad's decline and increasing anger due to his Vascular dementia. The constant in the midst of this never ending storm has been God. He has taken our prayers, our teardrops, our storms, and our sleepless nights and been my family's strength, our hope, and our peace. He has used our trials and turned them into blessings and he has taken our brokenness and made it beautiful. When He is working in us and through us, especially during the trials, the blessings abound not only for us but all of those who come into contact with us because His glory shines through!

    ReplyDelete

comments from friends: