How to Make Jesus Loud at Christmas w/ Yancy

Welcome to another joyful episode of the Collide Kids Podcast! Host Christen Clark is joined by the talented Yancy, a worship leader and Dove Award winning children's music artist with a passion for crafting fun, high-quality music for kids.  In this festive episode, Yancy talks about her dedication to creating energetic worship songs. She introduces her new Christmas single, "Go Tell It (on the Mountain),"  now streaming on all platforms.

The conversation is filled with Christmas cheer, discussing holiday traditions, favorite festive foods like sausage balls and peppermint bark, and her excitement for early Christmas preparations. Yancy shares her musical journey, starting from a summer camp song to focusing on children's worship, with the support of her father's involvement in children's ministry.

And Listen to Episode #13  to hear how Yancy's got started in music!

Stay tuned for the "Kids Only" segment featuring Yancy's son, Rhythm, and his joke. Join us for an episode full of Christmas joy, inspiring stories, and delightful music—perfect for the holiday season!

LINK: yancyministries.com

Clip Finder: 

**Finding Purpose in Unexpected Paths**: "And I finally got to a place, released my first kid's album back in 2006, and then still didn't even know for sure that was the path God had for me. And as I walked stuff out just the following, like, 18 months or so, just a lot of things in my life changed, and it just became more and more obvious that God was opening up doors for me to do music for kids and for families, and there were people asking me to do that."
— Yancy [00:08:29 → 00:08:56]

"Full Circle Moments": "It's like that my first group of preteens and stuff are all now, you know, married and having kids of their own and working jobs at their first church."
— Yancy [00:09:55 → 00:10:05]

**Passion for Music in Children's Entertainment**: "When I started doing stuff for kids, it didn't mean that I wanted my musical art to be any less. You know? Like, I still want to write songs that have a great catchy pop hook."
— Yancy [00:11:26 → 00:11:41]

"Creating Music for Kids": "Just kinda able to put all those things together, but definitely happy, fun, energetic."
— Yancy [00:13:00 → 00:13:06]

Different Take on Christmas Music: "There is a lot of Christmas music out there that is just maybe a little more reserved or even drab. And, and so, yeah, my, you know, like my Christmas music is super happy."
— Yancy [00:17:12 → 00:17:22]

Christmas Morning Playlist Must-Have: "The track's a party, and I'm excited for all the Collide Kids' podcast listeners to play it with their families and add it to their playlist when they're doing their things in the car or maybe even when they're opening presents on Christmas morning and just have fun singing along with this song that just reminds us that we have a job to do, and that's to tell the story of Jesus."
— Yancy [00:20:52 → 00:21:23]

**Holiday Music Must-Haves**: "Go Tell I

“That’s My King” is a vibrant praise song with an edge by Dove Award winning artist, Yancy.  Filled with celebration, praise, and amazing wonder. Yancy put her rockin’ fingerprint on this song originally made popular by Cece Winans. It’s time for every generation to unite their voices to take a stand and shift the atmosphere when they push play on “That’s My King”! LISTEN NOW!

Bark proactively works to monitor, detect, and alert you to potential issues on your kids' devices. Visit bark.us to learn more about how you can keep your kids safe online. Use the code COLLIDEKIDS to get 15% off Your Bark Technologies Plan !

Transcript

Christen Clark [00:00:29]:

Hey, y'all. Welcome to the Collide Kids podcast. I'm your host, Christen Clark. The Collide Kids podcast is a show for kids and families where we learn together how life and faith collide. It is so great that you are listening today. Thank you so much for being here and spending time with me. Hey. If this is your first time listening, I just wanna remind you at the end of every episode, don't turn it off early because there's the kids only segment where kids just like you get to be on the podcast.

Christen Clark [00:00:55]:

If you would like to be on the podcast, you can head over to my website, collidekidspodcast.com, and click the tab that says kids only. You can record it right there, and I would love to put you on the next episode. And while you're at the website, I would love for you to subscribe to our newsletter, comes out midmonth, just once a month, and you get to be the 1st to know about upcoming episodes, giveaways, and lots of fun family content like recipes, especially some fun holiday recipes that are coming out soon, family game night ideas, and a lot more. Lots of things your family will really enjoy. Well, I am so excited today about our guest, and I know you're gonna really enjoy this conversation. But before I introduce her, I would like to thank the wonderful sponsors of today's episode, the baby believer series from catechesis books. Baby believer primers help parents teach their children the central tenets of the Christian faith that they may never know a day apart from the Lord. Well, today's episode, we're gonna be talking about Christmas music.

Christen Clark [00:01:52]:

And I know there are some people that prefer Christmas music after the Thanksgiving season. However, there's so much good Christmas music. I don't think you're gonna be able to fit it in if you wait. So let's see. Let's let's take a poll. Raise your hand if you think Christmas music should wait until after Thanksgiving. Okay. I see a few hands.

Christen Clark [00:02:15]:

Now raise your hand if you think that Christmas music is great year round. Yes. My hand is raised on that one as well. So there's 2 camps, and that's okay. Today, we're gonna be talking about some Christmas music. And the reason we're talking about it is because you are gonna wanna download this early on and not wait until the Christmas season to get this song stuck in your head. My guest today is Yancy. She is a worship leader and songwriter for kids that travels the globe doing family concerts and training worship leaders with her music that makes Jesus loud.

Christen Clark [00:02:48]:

Her Dove award winning music is all the things kids love and everything adults value. Every week, her songs are used in thousands of churches around the world. Yancy's mission is to help kids fall in love with Jesus one song at a time. Yancy lives with her husband and her sons, Sparrow and Rhythm, in Nashville, Tennessee. You guys get your Christmas spirit ready because we're talking about Christmas music today. Here is my conversation with my friend, Yancy.

Yancy [00:03:25]:

Yancy, I am so excited to have you on

Christen Clark [00:03:27]:

the Collide Kids podcast again.

Yancy [00:03:30]:

Thank you. I'm happy to be back.

Christen Clark [00:03:31]:

You are probably one of my first so I think, like, you're, like, the one of the first 10 or 15 episodes. Like, you were early on.

Yancy [00:03:38]:

Well, it's nice to be back. Thanks for having me.

Christen Clark [00:03:41]:

Yeah. I'm so excited. And we get to see each other once in a while at different conferences and things, but it's always good to see all the things that you're still doing, and I love what you are passionate about. Would you just tell our listeners a little bit about who you are and what you do?

Yancy [00:03:56]:

Yeah. So I, in a nutshell, I make music, and, I make music for kids. So I write songs. I record them. I produce music projects and videos, even a a Christmas musical last year, did that. And then, I've written a couple of devotionals for preteen kids. I've written a book for adults to just help them learn more about worship. That's a passion of mine.

Yancy [00:04:21]:

And so I love being able to help church leaders and even moms and dads, you know, be more intentional about what they push play on, for their family and for their kids' ministry and their church. And so, yeah, that's kind of that's kind of it in a nutshell. And then I get to travel and do live events and do family concerts and lead worship at some different VBS and camp events in the summer, and it's a lot of fun.

Christen Clark [00:04:47]:

Very cool. I love it. And I love your pink hair,

Yancy [00:04:49]:

by the way. I love the

Christen Clark [00:04:50]:

I love that. So fun. And if you're watching this on YouTube, you get to see what it looks like. So I am excited to talk to you about all this stuff, especially about Christmas music because that is one of my favorite things. But before we do that, because this is a show for kids, I always make my guests tell me a joke. So do you have a joke for us today?

Yancy [00:05:09]:

Yeah. It's yes. It's like a joke slash really like a meme, really.

Christen Clark [00:05:13]:

Okay. I love memes.

Yancy [00:05:14]:

I don't know that there's a full on punch line like a real joke, but, I saw this just last week actually scrolling on my phone on Instagram, and it's a picture of Jesus in a coffee shop. Okay? So just Okay. For that. Jesus standing in line at a coffee shop. And there is a sign that says one free coffee per person. And so Jesus goes to place his order with the Arista guy and he says, so I guess I'll take 3 free coffees Because

Christen Clark [00:05:48]:

For the trinity.

Yancy [00:05:49]:

Father's father's

Christen Clark [00:05:50]:

father's father's

Yancy [00:05:50]:

holy spirit, 3 in 1. And so Jesus, I guess, was caffeinating himself up for this road trip that that he was taking with the disciples. And

Christen Clark [00:06:02]:

I love that. That's good. And I love coffee, so that's fun. Now you know I love memes, and I post them on my social media all the time. And it's been dubbed my meme ministry because I have a lot of, like, church leaders I found out that started following me for that. So I'll have to find that one and add it to my meme ministry.

Yancy [00:06:20]:

I can send it to you.

Christen Clark [00:06:22]:

Okay. Please do. I'd love that. Let's talk a little bit about Christmas music. Mhmm. Tell me why you decided because you do a lot of kids' worship songs. You do a lot of you do a lot of covers, but you also have written a lot of music for kids and preschoolers, which are great. Like, we still sing, Hosanna, ho ho ho.

Christen Clark [00:06:42]:

That's my favorite song.

Yancy [00:06:43]:

Yeah.

Christen Clark [00:06:44]:

Even though it's preschool song, we did it all the time when I was a kid's worship leader in the big kids, and they loved it.

Yancy [00:06:49]:

Every year, like, you know, the Spotify rap thing that comes out of the end of the year, it's, like, still every year. My number one. That's your

Christen Clark [00:07:00]:

number one. That's good.

Yancy [00:07:01]:

On my Spotify rap, which is amazing in so many ways. Yeah. And then there's a part of me that goes seriously, like,

Christen Clark [00:07:11]:

All the ones. Right?

Yancy [00:07:13]:

Else that people will love as much as that one, but it's a a sweet gift.

Christen Clark [00:07:19]:

Yes. It's great. And another thing that I love about it, being a kid's worship leader, is I love being able to incorporate things that kids would hear on Christian radio or hear in big church. So they're not just getting kids' songs that are just for them, but they're getting songs they're they can carry into student ministry or you know and so you created a lot of those songs and adapted them for kids because sometimes those songs are really long or they're too low for kids to sing.

Yancy [00:07:45]:

Yeah.

Christen Clark [00:07:45]:

So I love that you did that. Tell me a little bit about how you got started in kids' worship. I know that we touched on that in the last episode. I'll be sure to put that in our show notes. But how'd you get started in that? Let our listeners know.

Yancy [00:07:57]:

Yeah. So I've I've been making music for a long time now, 27 years total. And music was always a thing that I set out to do, and I'm sure I explained to that last time. But there was this, a series of years. I mean, really, it was probably spread out over about 5 years or so where it's just I had a chance to write this one song for a summer camp program for kids. And I kinda say God led me through a bunch of easy yeses because it was just kinda record this one song and then go back to doing what I was doing and then record another song for kids. And I finally got to a place, released my first kid's album back in 2006, and then still didn't even know for sure that was the path God had for me. And as I walked stuff out just the following, like, 18 months or so, just a lot of things in my life changed, and it just became more and more obvious that God was opening up doors for me to do music for kids and for families, and there were people asking me to do that.

Yancy [00:08:56]:

And then at the time, I was, like, doing some events for a couple of different ages, but it was just easy to see that, okay, the event that I was leading worship at for preteens, I just was connecting with that group of kids, and they were really responding to what I did. So it just got to a point where it was like, okay, well, let's do this. You know? And I I grew up around children's ministry because that's what my dad did. So it wasn't a foreign world. And so I think that's why it was so easy, like, at that point in my journey to just be like, okay. Let's do this. Because it's not like it was like, okay. Now you're gonna speak in French.

Yancy [00:09:31]:

You know? And you're like, I don't know how. Right. It was definitely like something that I was very familiar and close with. I just had not previously planned to take all of my musical goals and apply them to that specific age group. You know, it's been a lot of fun. So that's been my focus now since 2008 and it's cool. It's like that my first group of preteens and stuff are all now, you know, married and having kids of their own and working jobs at their first church. And it's been really, really fun and sweet just even in the last couple years of, like, running into some of those different people at conferences I go to and Mhmm.

Yancy [00:10:14]:

Stuff, and they've got their own memory, you know, like, attached to what my music meant to them. You know?

Christen Clark [00:10:20]:

Yeah. That's really cool. And that's cool when you can be in ministry for that long where you can experience that cycle. So that's really neat. And I love your music because I'll tell you, when I was growing up, kids' music that I listened to was most of it, not all of it, but most of it was pretty hokey. It was very like, it was like the fake children's voices singing a song, and that's to me, to this day, is nails on a chalkboard. I don't like hearing fake children's voices. Like, actually, get kids to sing on the album.

Christen Clark [00:10:51]:

I don't understand. I love that your music is easy to sing, but it's also a lot of fun. Is that something that you set out to do when you create songs is what's really fun or what's really engaging for kids?

Yancy [00:11:02]:

Yes. I mean, I think there's always elements of that. And especially especially when it's the music that I'm doing for younger age kids, then sure, there's a whole lot of action, a whole lot of movement and fun that you want to be there. But, yeah, I I think for me, you know, I I always set out to perform music and to write music. And so those were my dreams and goals. And so when I started doing stuff for kids, it didn't mean that I wanted my musical art to be any less. You know? Like, I still want to write songs that have a great catchy pop hook. You know? Like, and I want, you know, like, I want the music to sound normal, you know, which I think is like what you were describing before.

Yancy [00:11:48]:

Like, there's so much music for kids that does it sound normal, and that's why it can be so frustrating. Yes. And annoying to listen to. Right. It's just like, I'll listen to stuff. I'm like, why? Why does anyone make themselves listen to this on the speakers? You know, like, this isn't good. And so, you know, like, I'm coming out at still wanting to make great music, you know, still wanting it to be good as as far as, like, an art project. You know, like, I still want it to be good.

Yancy [00:12:19]:

I'm just aware of who my audience is. And so that means I'm paying attention to the vocabulary or, you know, like you said, like the vocal range of the song or, you know, how it's gonna be used. And, you know, I've done enough live performance things and and led groups of kids in worship to know, like, okay, this is what it's gonna feel like live, and this is maybe what's not gonna work or, you know, will work and then make production choices and some decisions in the studio based on what it would be like to, like, make that song work with a group of kids. Yeah. So just kinda able to put all those things together, but definitely happy, fun, energetic.

Christen Clark [00:13:07]:

Yeah. And I think that's good too to consider. Like, how is this gonna sound when a group of kids is singing it? How is this gonna sound in a large room or whatever? And you have that experience because you still leave worship to this day. So you're still able to know that. So that's really cool. Speaking of happy music, your Christmas album is one of my favorites. We did that a lot, especially around the Christmas season, and I love Christmas all the time. So I don't know about you.

Christen Clark [00:13:32]:

What's the earliest that you start listening to Christmas music?

Yancy [00:13:35]:

Well, it all depends on the year, I guess, because if I'm working on something or not. You know, it's like the big ones. What people may not realize is, like, when I made a whole Christmas album, we recorded it in May. Oh, wow. Because, like, that's what you have to do to have it ready

Christen Clark [00:13:49]:

For Christmas.

Yancy [00:13:51]:

Fall and, like, get into all the systems and all the things. Yeah. So it's like you're never doing it in the right season by any means. I'm more of someone that likes to be prepared. So I I'm certainly not a wait until after Thanksgiving person.

Christen Clark [00:14:07]:

Same.

Yancy [00:14:07]:

The the people that do that have very little stress in their life and obviously have a lot of extra time that they can program all that together. Like, I'm one of those people, like, I get my house decorated for Christmas sometime earlier in November, you know, because we go out of town for Thanksgiving holidays. And so it's like, I need I need Christmas to be, like, fully operational

Christen Clark [00:14:31]:

Yes.

Yancy [00:14:31]:

You know, before that takes place. Yes. And I love like, wrapping presents is one of my favorite things, actually. Like like, gift giving is definitely a love language of mine. No doubt about it. Like, let's just state the facts. Like, gift giving is certainly there. But, specifically, I love to wrap presents.

Yancy [00:14:52]:

I'm very anti a gift bag.

Christen Clark [00:14:55]:

Oh, okay.

Yancy [00:14:56]:

Because, I mean, they're just so lackluster to open up. You know? Yeah. It just happens like that. And, yeah, and so I'm very handsome. And so I love wrapping presents. So Oh. I plan ahead for Christmas because I have to start wrapping. You know, like and I even have to get certain presents ready for some of our family that lives in another state that we go see at Thanksgiving.

Yancy [00:15:24]:

Like, I get things all ready for them for Christmas, like, before that. So

Christen Clark [00:15:29]:

Wow.

Yancy [00:15:29]:

Keep my ducks in a row.

Christen Clark [00:15:30]:

That's good.

Yancy [00:15:31]:

I take I take no offense in Hobby Lobby putting Christmas stuff out in the summer.

Christen Clark [00:15:36]:

Yeah. So I usually leave my stuff up. Because if you work that hard to decorate and do all that and then I found out there's what is it? 3 kings, Sunday sometime in January that celebrates I think it's a a Spanish holiday. So they so you get a you get a, like, a week or two more to be, like, validated for your Christmas decorations. But I have a friend that she puts it up December 1, and she tears it all down the day of Christmas.

Yancy [00:16:02]:

Yeah. Like, why? Like like, what? What? Doing that on Christmas?

Christen Clark [00:16:08]:

I don't know. So you have some great Christmas music, like I said before. And you said earlier that somebody said, made a comment about your music that it was very happy Christmas music. Tell me a little bit about that. Was that your goal to make happy Christmas music?

Yancy [00:16:22]:

I mean, I don't know that I had thought about it. It was so funny. So I have a a Christmas album called Have a Fancy Yancy Christmas, and then I've recorded a bunch of other single songs or, like, shorter EPs of Christmas songs since then too. But when I made that album and, you know, like, first started having some people come over to the studio and hear what we were doing or even when it first came out, like, people kept commenting, like, it's so happy. And, like, it was, like, left us scratching her head because you're like, why? Like, people are saying this as in it's odd and, like, that's so not what Christmas music normally is like, you know? Yeah. But, you know, sometimes, especially the traditional Christmas music, you know, it's just lots of slower songs and sleepy songs and, you know, string and orchestra. And there, you know, there is a lot of Christmas music out there that is just maybe a little more reserved or even drab. And, and so, yeah, my, you know, like my Christmas music is super happy.

Yancy [00:17:22]:

Like, even, I guess, an example of that is, like, I took, you know, Christmas music is super happy. Like, even, I guess, an example of that is, like, I took have yourself a merry little Christmas. That's normally, like, this very slow song traditionally, and I actually, like, sped it up and made it be a fast song.

Christen Clark [00:17:36]:

Because it's like the lyric

Yancy [00:17:38]:

the lyric matched that vibe. Yeah. For sure. Anyway, so, yeah. I just try to make music that still is Christmas day, you know, like, you hear the sleigh bells on it. Like, that's we kinda joke, like, that's what makes any Christmas That's right. Any Christmas song. And then it's

Christen Clark [00:17:51]:

just That's right.

Yancy [00:17:52]:

The sleigh bells track in it. But aside from that, then then, yeah, it's just still trying to make energetic, happy, fun music that is a good time and makes a good soundtrack to, you know, do your Christmas decorations or go Christmas shopping in the car or go to your soccer practice or whatever thing, go to church.

Christen Clark [00:18:11]:

Yeah.

Yancy [00:18:12]:

Yeah. So definitely just making happy fun Christmas music is now it's become a thing. So heave it up.

Christen Clark [00:18:20]:

Yeah. Which makes it which really does make it more exciting for kids. You know? Because when they hear Christmas music, you don't want them to dread it. But at the same time, it's so I think a lot of the slow ones tend to be very nostalgic, and so the adults have a tear in their eye or whatever. But the kids want something that's exciting and they can jump around to.

Yancy [00:18:37]:

And it's a joyous season. You know? Like Right. Like, what we're celebrating is totally joyful. Right. Floyd to the World season, and so the music should reflect that.

Christen Clark [00:18:48]:

Absolutely. So you have a new song that's just come out November 1st. It's called go tell it or go tell it on the mountain. Can you tell us a little bit about this song and how you came to put this together?

Yancy [00:19:01]:

Yeah. So, you know, I've I've recorded a decent amount of Christmas songs so far. So, you know, there's there's always more, but sometimes it's like, okay. Well, which one have I not done that I still could do? Yeah. It's it's kind of funny. There's twofold. So especially last summer so I'm a mom. I have 2 boys.

Yancy [00:19:19]:

And my younger son, Rhythm, he definitely was drawn to go tell it on the mountain last Christmas. You know, just and some services we went to and music that we listened to. It was like he kinda kept either requesting it or asking me questions about it. And I kinda was like, alright. Well, if if, like, rhythm is interested in this, there's something to that. Like, that that's what I should do next. I should make a version of this. But then, like, another fun layer to it is actually when I was a kid.

Yancy [00:19:46]:

So, I mean, I started, you know, singing at church and performing special songs and doing solos in the kids choir and all that when I was in elementary.

Christen Clark [00:19:54]:

Mhmm.

Yancy [00:19:55]:

And I totally, like, performed a version of Go Tell It on the Mountain back in the middle digits. And I actually, like, I need I need to work on this because I'm trying to track down the footage of me performing it on our local Christian TV station. We lived in Montgomery, Alabama at the time, and find a club of me performing Goes Hell It on the Mountain because I think that would be like a really fun little

Christen Clark [00:20:22]:

Yes. For sure. To show.

Yancy [00:20:25]:

Yeah. So, I mean, obviously, I've got some history with this song as well. And so had that on my things to do list for this year to record a version of it. And just one day driving around my car kind of came up with this vamp part that is kinda why I'm calling the main title Go Tell It. There's a vamp that I'm definitely, like, doing a whole bunch with the Go Tell It, but it still is Go Tell It on the Mountain. And kinda added, extra little section to the chorus of the song and wrote another bridge lot of fun. Like, the track's a party, and I'm excited for all the Collide Kids' podcast listeners to play it with their families and add it to their playlist when they're doing their things in the car or maybe even when they're opening presents on Christmas morning and just have fun singing along with this song that just reminds us that we have a job to do, and that's to tell the story of Jesus. And so Yeah.

Yancy [00:21:24]:

Really excited.

Christen Clark [00:21:25]:

I love that. When we used to sing that, we would point to someone, and we would say, go, and we would shout the word go because, like Yeah. Hey. It's your job. It's my job. We're to go and tell people, not just to stay where we are and hope people figure it out. We need to tell people. So I love I love that song.

Christen Clark [00:21:40]:

That's definitely a fun one. Very cool. So it's available, Spotify, Apple Music,

Yancy [00:21:45]:

all those

Christen Clark [00:21:45]:

good places.

Yancy [00:21:46]:

Available, all the places. I can give you a link that you can put in your show notes and then they'll click through to it, and then they'll just pick which platform they wanna listen to the song on, and then they can listen to that. And then I've got a a whole Christmas playlist as well. I'll make sure I have a a link to as well, and, obviously, Go Tell It will be added to that for this year, but it'll be all my Christmas songs together with a few other favorites mixed in and would love for everybody to listen to that this Christmas.

Christen Clark [00:22:17]:

That's great. I love that. Yes. We'll definitely include that link so people can download it easily because I'm sure it's gonna be a favorite. Alright. I have a quick rapid fire. I'm a ask you a bunch of questions about Christmas. Okay? So let's see how we do.

Christen Clark [00:22:29]:

Okay. So favorite Christmas carol? The first Noelle. That's a good one. What about your favorite Christmas song that's not a hymn or Christmas carol?

Yancy [00:22:40]:

Oh. Can I give you several? Sure. Can I take one? There are, like, different reasons. Okay. I mean, Tennessee Christmas just for, like, nostalgic reasons. Yes. A 100%. Like, that's you know it's Christmas if you're here in Tennessee Christmas.

Yancy [00:22:57]:

And then I always loved Emmanuel and which I did a version of that as well. That was like Amy Grant, Michael O'Beesmith classic as well. But there's a song by Christy Nockles that I love called wrap this one up.

Christen Clark [00:23:11]:

Okay.

Yancy [00:23:11]:

It's so cool. It's very like, the premise of the song is about, you know, Jesus being the lamb of God. And so it's all told through the the narrative of what it's like normally to be that sacrificial lamb Wow. And just the process that they go through, you know, like over in Israel and likening the whole Christmas story of Jesus with this sacrificial lamb concept. To me, it's one of the best things I've heard in a really long time. I mean, it's now been out, like, 5 years that still, like, I still am, like, this is this is the best concept that I've heard in ages.

Christen Clark [00:23:49]:

I love that. Okay. Let's see. Favorite Christmas singer, like the classics, the favorite voice you always go to.

Yancy [00:23:57]:

I mean, I have to go with Amy Grant for that.

Christen Clark [00:23:59]:

Okay.

Yancy [00:24:00]:

I pull that one out and I pull the Mariah Carey one out, and it's like, one is my childhood, one is my teenage years.

Christen Clark [00:24:08]:

That's right. So what's your favorite Amy Grant song?

Yancy [00:24:11]:

Lots of things from the very first one. Okay. I mentioned Emmanuel already. Like, that's up there. Tennessee Christmas is from that text.

Christen Clark [00:24:19]:

Okay. Okay.

Yancy [00:24:20]:

Love has come.

Christen Clark [00:24:22]:

Love has turned around for the.

Yancy [00:24:24]:

Yeah. I like that one. And then she's got a version of joy to the world that is so somber and actually not joyful.

Christen Clark [00:24:36]:

Really? Which is like

Yancy [00:24:37]:

the opposite of everything we just talked about, but there's also something so cool.

Christen Clark [00:24:42]:

Yeah. Helps you see the weight of it. Mhmm. That's good.

Yancy [00:24:45]:

About that version.

Christen Clark [00:24:47]:

Alright. What is your favorite place to visit that reminds you of Christmas?

Yancy [00:24:51]:

When I was a kid, we were always traveling back to where my grandparents lived because we didn't live in the same spot. And then now as an adult, I guess home or I mean, I live here in Nashville, Tennessee. So going to Opryland while it's decorated for Christmas is always a good time.

Christen Clark [00:25:10]:

Love that. Alright. Last one. Favorite Christmas food or dessert? What is it? Like, do you have to have this for it to actually be Christmas or feel like Christmas?

Yancy [00:25:19]:

I mean, probably like sausage balls. Me too. I mean, that's definitely like a classic. Yeah. We love that. I love peppermint bark as well.

Christen Clark [00:25:29]:

Oh, okay.

Yancy [00:25:30]:

That's always good. And then my grandmother always made this stuff called pecan piecake.

Christen Clark [00:25:36]:

Oh.

Yancy [00:25:37]:

That's very good as well. And so that's just part of, like, always around. And I I still make it now, you know, every Christmas. So I guess that's probably one of those things that it like, it feels like it has to be there.

Christen Clark [00:25:48]:

Yeah. I carried over the tradition of making sausage balls for Christmas. And then if I ever make them outside of the Christmas holiday, my kids are like, why are you making Christmas sausage balls? Like, it's like it's Christmas food.

Yancy [00:26:01]:

Literally, we at my house always have just done that. And then my my oldest son finally really fell in love with them this last year. Uh-huh. He started eating them, and I'm like, there's no reason you can't make them other times when he gets sick. But just We have made him a few other batches up at a couple other points this year because he then it's kinda made it be a more regular thing in the Nice. Movie. But That's good. Yeah.

Yancy [00:26:26]:

I always make, like, hot chocolate on Christmas morning. So that's like a I guess that's probably a thing for me, like, as a mom. It's like I make the hot chocolate and everybody has their hot chocolate before we've, like, dive into doing presents and all that kind of stuff. So it's like Oh, that's cool. I need that, like, check mark for me.

Christen Clark [00:26:43]:

Okay. I like that. That's good. Well, now I'm so pumped about Christmas, aren't you? Yes. Let's go.

Yancy [00:26:50]:

We need to start wrapping presents.

Christen Clark [00:26:51]:

Oh, you do. Absolutely. Well, this has been so fun. Thank you so much for being on the show today, and I definitely will include all the links we talked about so people can go check out your music and download your new songs because I think they're definitely gonna enjoy listening to this this Christmas season to go tell it.

Yancy [00:27:07]:

Yes. I would love it. Please push play. Tell Alexa to play it.

Christen Clark [00:27:12]:

That's right. So before I let you go, I always ask my guests to tell me a memory from when they were a kid. So we've talked about a few, but do you have another memory you wanna share with us today?

Yancy [00:27:23]:

Yeah. So, I mean, the first thing that popped in my my head, I know I've come across this picture in recent years where it was a Christmas when I was a kid, and I got this pink boom box. And I have the picture to prove it. It was amazing. And so I gotten a bunch of, like, people's albums at Christmas and, you know, like, I had all my soundtrack so I could practice my singing and all of that stuff. And so this pink metallic Sony boom box was amazing back in the day. The only thing is I do remember it had, like, a mechanical failure pretty early on.

Christen Clark [00:28:01]:

Oh, no.

Yancy [00:28:01]:

And when we took it back to the store, like, there were no more pink ones. So I ended up with just, like, a normal black one moving forward. But on Christmas, the pink happened, and there is a picture.

Christen Clark [00:28:14]:

Nice. Well, I had a boom box. I had had a plain black one, but I would always record stuff from the radio. So I'd put my cassette tape in, and I would have my trigger finger ready. And whenever an Amy Grant song came on the radio, I'd record. So I never got, like, the first 10 seconds of her songs. That's a fun memory. Well, cool.

Christen Clark [00:28:32]:

Well, thank you for sharing that for us, and thank you so much again for being on the show. This was so fun.

Yancy [00:28:37]:

Thank you for having me. It's always a good time.

Christen Clark [00:28:49]:

Oh, I love that she had a pink boom box. That's so fun. Well, I really enjoyed hearing from her today. I think it was so fun for her to share about her music. And if you'd like to hear her full story of that, she goes into a lot more of her testimony of becoming a worship leader and her passion for kids music. So you can go back and listen to that older episode. She was episode number 13. That was a while back.

Christen Clark [00:29:12]:

Wow. She said it is so important for her to create music for kids that is fun, and it's well done. She wants to do it well, and I think that she has definitely done that. Yancy reminded us today that the Christmas season is a happy time where we are celebrating joy to the world coming through Jesus Christ. He is our salvation, and he is the reason that we celebrate. It was so interesting to learn today that Christmas music albums have to be created really far in advance in order to be ready for the Christmas season so we can listen to them. So if you're someone who loves Christmas music year round, if you become a songwriter or a music producer someday, you will definitely be enjoying Christmas songs in the spring and in the holiday season. That's good to know.

Christen Clark [00:29:57]:

Well, talking about all these Christmas traditions and Christmas foods got me thinking about all the special holiday foods. I'm interested to know, does your family make cinnamon rolls or sausage balls like my family does, or is there a special side dish or dessert that you have to have to make it Christmas for you? That might be something fun for you to share with your family members that you're listening with right now, or maybe you can text your grandma and say, make sure that you make the special cake that you always make for Christmas. So it's a good reminder to get those things ready because Christmas is really right around the corner. And just as another shout out for the newsletter, this month, I'm gonna post my sausage balls recipe, which is really good, and some fun content to help you prepare for the holiday season. So be sure to subscribe for the newsletter so you can get that in your inbox very soon. Yancy's new Christmas single, go tell it on the mountain, is available wherever you get music. You can watch the lyric video on YouTube or tell Alexa, play Yancy, go tell it, or listen wherever you stream your music. Well, now it's time for the kids only segment.

Christen Clark [00:31:04]:

This is the part of the show where you get to be on the podcast. So this is really fun. This is Gancy's son, Rhythm.

Christen Clark [00:31:17]:

Hi. I'm Rhythm Gold, and I have a joke for you. What do you call cheese that isn't your cheese? Nacho cheese.

Christen Clark [00:31:25]:

Nacho cheese. That was great. Thank you, Rhythm. That was so good. Hey. If you would like to be like rhythm and tell your favorite joke or maybe an encouraging quote you like or a bible verse or a song, just head over to my website, collidekidspodcast.com, and you can click the tab that says kids only to learn how to record it right there. It sends it right to me and you could be on the next episode. And subscribe to our YouTube channel, Collide Kids Podcast, that's pretty easy to remember, where you can watch the full length interview for today's episode.

Christen Clark [00:31:58]:

You know, a great way to support this podcast is to leave a rating and a review on whatever podcast app you're using. It really does help other people find out about the show, and I love reading what you guys think about the Collide Kids Podcast. You can also share this episode with friends and family and let them know why you and your family like to listen, or you can go by my website and click the link that says support. And anytime you think about it, I always appreciate your prayer support as well. That is so important.

Yancy [00:32:25]:

Well, I hope you have

Christen Clark [00:32:27]:

a great week. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. I hope you get a chance to enjoy some Christmas music. And in case no one has told you today, I would love to be the first to remind you that God loves you so much. Thanks for listening.