Tasha Layton's Search For Faith
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It's Live in the Bream with the host of Fox News Sunday, Shannon Bream. This week on Live in the Bream, I'm so excited to have a conversation with somebody that I've known from afar, but she's one of those people, if you are an observer of hers, if you've heard her songs or read her books, you feel like you're friends with her already, which is a little bit unfair. But I do count her as a virtual friend. Welcome to Live in the Bream.

Welcome to Live in the Bream today. She's a worship leader, multi-book author, amazing singer. She's topped the charts with so many songs. You will know if you're a consumer of Christian music and beyond. Tasha Layton, welcome. Oh my gosh, it's so good to be on. Thank you so much for having me, Shannon.

I got to tell you, your book, which matches up with your hit song, Look What You've Done, is such a fascinating read because there's so much, you know, people will look at you now if they don't know your backstory and be like, oh, she is so successful. She's a wife and a mom and an author and has these hit songs. But gosh, your backstory is fascinating. Why did you decide to tell it? I mean, warts and all, really.

Yeah, I didn't shy away from the ugly parts. That's for sure. I think, you know, I've been on such a unique journey. I would stand with people after events and they would ask me, you know, well, how did you get from, you know, depressed and lonely and suicidal to free and how you are now? And what was that process like? And I was standing with people for so long explaining that I thought, you know what, I really should just write a book. And so

I started on the book and, um, I just started writing down little nuggets of what God had shown me along the way. And then when I got to about 40,000 words, I was like, wait, I think I have something here. And, um, and so then we explore publishing and stuff. And so, uh, then I put it out, but I'm, I'm so excited for people to know, you know, the whole story, because we see what we see on social media or the quote unquote successes and stuff like that. But

Like you said, you know, there's always a deeper story and there's ugly parts of it. And my hope is that when people read the book, they can see God's hand in their own story the way that they see his hand woven through mine.

And you took a lot of twists and turns. I mean, like me, you grew up in church in a humble family. You were very faith driven, but there were some hurts along the way. And you had some really big questions and some straying away and doing some other exploring.

But I think it's so good for people to hear that and know that and to understand you can find your way back. I mean, God has never left us when we're searching and doing other things. He's loving on us. He's pursuing us. But you share some really difficult things you went through on that journey. I do.

You know, the Psalms, David says, there's nowhere I can go from your presence. There's nowhere I can run from your spirit. And if I make my bed on a mountaintop or down below, you are there. And, you know, when you grow up in a conservative Christian home, or I would say not conservative Christian home, more like a religious culture, you know, you have this idea that you can earn God's grace or his favor or somehow, some way,

You being good entitles you to God being good to you or something like that. There's just this weird transactional theology that happens. And I think, you know, growing up in that I needed, I came to a point where I needed to know that I believed what I believed because I believed it, not because someone told me that I should believe it. And throughout that journey, God really showed himself faithful. And, you know, he's not intimidated by our questions. And I think we're,

often judgmental of people who are searching in their faith or, you know, people outside who are searching are judgmental of the folks who are settled in churches and in their faith. And so we just want to sit in the seat of judge, don't we? We just want to judge. It is our inclination, I think. It is. You know, we want to be the judge, the jury, the prosecutor. We just want all the roles. And I think the most important lesson...

Yeah. I think the most important lesson I learned along the way was just,

to get out of that seat of judgment, to not even judge myself for my questions, to know that God understands. He was human. He walked this earth just like us. And we don't have a Savior who does not empathize with our feelings and our thoughts. And to know that I'm not alone, because I think when people read my story, they're like, man, I really thought that I was the only one who maybe walked through church hurt like that or had those questions of faith and

Um, but God was with me the whole time. And I think two things I learned at that, you know, rock bottom place of trying to take my life at the end of that searching was number one, Jesus was the one with the power. And number two, that he was pursuing me, that I didn't have to strive or, or work up, uh, enough goodness to be worthy of his love.

That's so powerful once you can get that, like that you don't have to scrape and prove and fight and try that he's just sitting there waiting like I'm here. I'm gentle and lowly in spirit and I'm waiting for you. Like I'm here to redeem you and to love on you. And I think so many times people get the other part of the message and I do think you

you know, he is the one who can judge and we do have sin and we have to be accountable for those things in our lives. But that he came to redeem us from all of that, not to come down here and punish us all and say, I'm coming here to drop the hammer on you. Nope. I'm coming to get to know you and to provide you a way to me, to fellowship with me. Yes. Yes. But gosh, the new Testament calls him Emmanuel, God with us. We only love because he first loved us. He makes the first move.

And for you, you referenced this, but there was some hurt for you along the way for people who were part of the church and we can hurt other people, my goodness, within the church.

And we have to be so careful. But it was stunning to me in reading your book that for so long that kept you away from what you are, which is a worship leader, a singer, a writer that for so long, because of the way that you've been heard as a young person, you were not using these gifts. You didn't think that you were worthy or the right person. And my goodness, I that just that blew my mind to read that part of your story.

Well, you know, the New Testament says the enemy, Satan, is the father of lies. And I think, you know, he's not powerful enough to take us out. We are made in God's image. God's spirit lives within us. And that is a powerful, powerful thing.

And yet, if he can get us to believe the lie, we will self-destruct. And I think that's the whole point. He tries to hook those triggers in our heart at an early age so that, you know, the Bible also says, train a child in the way they should go and they won't depart from it. If we can believe a lie at an early age, we will.

end up making choices from that place. We view life and God and the world and ourselves through those lenses and the lenses are skewed because it's not the truth. And I think I needed to go through a process of God, um, really using some, some very wonderful people in my life to, to

to dig out the roots of where some of that stuff started and then start replacing those lies with this truth. And it's not an easy process. Often it gets uglier before it gets prettier and it's worse before it gets better. But man, is it worth it? And I never thought I could feel free and I do now. And that's thanks to the beauty and the power of the gospel. And Jesus, you know, he says, you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free. And it's like,

I never thought I could really feel free, and I do now, thanks to Him. Yeah, I mean, it's always there, and it's almost like you said, through some of our most difficult stuff is where we figure it out, where we really get it. But those roots that are planted in us as youngsters and young people, if you do grow up in church, I think that stuff doesn't return void. And so...

It's always kind of there and burrowing and blossoming at the right time. And I do think it's faithful. I got to tell you, too, that I mean, I had seen you sing in church when we are in the Nashville area. We go to the same church and what a blessing it is to be able to just enjoy these talents in leading other people to worship.

But I had no idea until I read your book, your whole backstory of being, you know, you got down to the nitty gritty in American Idol, which I do watch that show. I love it. But that I took a break there for like 15 years, but now I'm back. I somehow got sucked back into it because the stories are so compelling. I love it.

but didn't realize that Katy Perry calls you at one point and is like, hey, I'm going on this big tour. You've been really searching about what you should be doing at that point. Yeah. You've been to seminary, you're doing all this stuff. And...

you ended up for years touring with Katy Perry. And I know that there were some people who thought, oh, you shouldn't be doing that. Why are you going over to this big secular music scene and traveling the world with this essentially huge pop rock star, whatever you want to call her. But gosh, what a fascinating ride through your book to read about those years and your purpose that you felt in being there.

It was a crazy ride. I think all the things you can imagine it would be, it was. But I was working at a little church in Northridge, California, and didn't know that anyone saw me on Idol or anything. And I got a call one day from her manager who had somehow gotten my number and

And he said, you know, could you be here in 20 minutes? We're auditioning for background singers. And so I downloaded the song on my phone on the way. And when I got there, I was the last girl of the day. And I left for Madison Square Gardens with her. You know, two days later, it was just a very quick transition. And I had always thought that I would work in the church full time my whole life. And when this happened, I

I thought it was a little bit of a detour, but looking back, God was totally using that to prepare me for what I do now. Because when I stepped into all that he has for me now, I didn't have any distractions of production or touring or the music business side of things. I can solely focus on the ministry. And so it was an amazing, amazing four years with her. And

I learned so much, most of which, or most importantly of which, was that when Christ is in your life, when you are a follower of Christ,

His spirit within you is enough. You do not have to force yourself on other people. You do not have to shove anything down their throat or anything. You love them until they ask why. You love them the way that God is telling you to love them, and they will see and feel the difference. And that is powerful. We underestimate the power of God's love.

Yeah, because people are so hungry and thirsty for it, even if they don't know. I mean, we're all hurting and searching in some way the world and life in general is just wounding. I mean, you walk through life and people and circumstances are going to be challenging and they're going to be hurtful at times. And so I think it is such a beautiful thing when somebody just sees that you are kind, you're consistent, that you have kind of that servant mindset that they say, what is this? Because you're not like,

the rest of the world, at least we're fighting in our own sin natures to not be that so that people do see something different with us. We'll have more live in the bream in a moment. This is Jimmy Fallon inviting you to join me for Fox Across America, where we'll discuss every single one of the Democrats dumb ideas. Just kidding. It's only a three hour show. Listen live at noon Eastern or get the podcast at Fox Across America dot com.

Okay. So we've talked a little bit. We're talking with Tasha Layton, by the way, about her book, her music. But the book that I'm referring to that I've most recently read of hers, Look What You've Done. You've got a couple of other books, though. Tell us about those. Yeah. So I have a book called Boundless, and it's a workbook. And I'd like to describe it as the process God and my therapist took me through to get me free. If Look What You've Done is sort of a...

a lighthearted or not even lighthearted. I guess we do address a lot of serious topics in there and I don't shy away from the bad, but if look what you've done is sort of like a trade book or my life story. Boundless is sort of your task of finding the lies in your own life. It's, it's a workbook that helps people figure out where some things started and to work through memories and trauma and, and,

lies in your own heart. And then I also have a leader guide that goes with that to, um,

to facilitate if, if someone was to want to do that with a group of girls or, um, you know, not limited to girls, but, uh, we do have a lot of women's homes that go through the program. And so, um, boundless is the workbook that I wrote. And then there's a leader guide. And then I just finished my kid's book and it's going to print right now. So I'm so excited. It's sort of like a boundless for kids. It's how God feels about you. And I think there's nothing more important than, um,

Getting that message into the hearts of our children to know how much value they hold with the Lord and how precious they are to him. I think that's one of the most important things we can do for a child.

Yeah, you've got two little ones yourself. And in your book, you talk about them and their arrivals to, I mean, really beautiful, kind of miraculous things that happened along the way. How does being a mom impact everything else that you do and how you juggle all these different hats that you wear? Well, everyone told me, you know, when you have children that you will always

Understand the love of God more than you ever did before. It will clear some things up for you. And I just had this conversation with someone last night. I was remembering holding my first baby.

And I literally was just sitting in a chair holding him. And I looked down and I thought, wow, they were so right. I do understand the love of God in a very special way right now because of being a mom. And I think that impacts and influences everything that I do. It's the motivation of everything I do. I want to walk out my calling in front of them.

I want them to know that their mom loves them and that they are the priority. And, you know, everyone says or asks me rather, um,

How do you find balance? And I really don't think it's a matter of finding true balance. I don't know if we can ever do that, but I do have a lot of balls that I juggle and I just have to know which ones are glass and which ones I can't drop and which ones I can. And they are the two most precious ones that I never want to drop. And so everything I do, you know, dishes, laundry, errands, even work stuff like that can all wait.

And I'm so appreciative now of having children later in life because I'm definitely a different mom now than I would have been in my 20s and even, you know, early 30s. And so I'm so thankful for the journey that God has had us on. And in hindsight, I can see his faithfulness in the way he was preparing me to be their mom.

But man, sometimes it's hard when we're going through it, when we're impatient and we want the promise of God maybe earlier than is in His plan. Yeah, gosh, we learn so much in the waiting with whatever it is that you're waiting for out there. I know. So much as a young person, I thought getting somewhere was the thing, getting to "spiritual maturity" or whatever I was trying to achieve in my life, not realizing like,

All of life is a journey. I mean, you are learning in all of it. I unfortunately have learned the most in the really bad parts because, you know, I used to think like, oh, I can just be growing and spiritually healthy and strong and also be wildly successful and have no problems in my life. And my family's great. My health is great, you know.

The truth is, like, I've never felt closer to the Lord than when I was really struggling. So all of it is definitely part of the process. Speaking of process, I am fascinated by how a song comes together. Is it always different? Do you have a method to the madness? How do you write a song?

I'm so glad that you said that. You know, there there is not a specific process per se. I think every song is different, but I do try to write with people. So typically I'll write with two other writers. And because I am a mom and because I tour and because I write.

write books and stuff like that. I have to really set aside a very specific season for writing. And so typically January is my writing month and I will write every day, sometimes two and three times a day, um, to kind of knock it out. Or, you know, sometimes I feel a hankering in the middle of the year and I'll go write something, but, um, you know, sometimes it's a thought or a prayer, um,

I would say the biggest songs that I've had, they came from a very deep place in prayer. And it was something where, you know, I started out praying and then God would drop a melody in my heart and I would show up to a writing session and tell him what I was thinking. And, you know, when I first started, um,

you know, the songwriting world, just like musician world can be a little bit male dominated. And I think I would be afraid to sometimes speak up because I wasn't as experienced as someone else in the room, or maybe my personality wasn't as big as another writer. And I really had to trust that God was giving me a message that, you know, that's true for everyone. God has given you a message.

that no one else can deliver but you. He so uniquely fashioned you to do exactly what he's called you to do, that you can't compare yourself to other people. And, you know, comparison crushes creativity. When we start to compare ourselves with other writers or other people doing what we're doing, we choke out the unique quality in ourselves that God has put in us. And so I think I had to really become confident about

That God had given me something to say and that what I had to say was valuable. And I think, interestingly enough, those most personal songs have become my most universal songs that the most people relate to. And I think that is because the heart of the matter was God.

Very true emotion and very real and raw feelings and thoughts that maybe other people were afraid to say. And so I had to come to grips with that and and be able to verbalize that in a room with other people. It's not always easy, but man, is it worth it?

Yeah, and we're thankful for the songs that you put out there and whatever you got to work on this January too. I know it will be amazing. So tell us about what you're up to now, what's next, where we can find out everything and anything about what you're up to.

Yeah, I have a record coming out in the next couple months. I've been working hard on it for a while and I'm so excited. There are a few new songs on there that I am just so excited about. And right now I'm on Hit Steep Tour with Toby Mac and the other support artists, which were super just elated to be on this tour. It's just been an amazing tour. And then

If anyone wants to keep up, just TashaLayton.com or Tasha Layton on socials. I'm always trying to keep people updated, but I am not as focused on social media as other things. So sometimes things get lost, but I really try to, you know, be present. And you, you know, having gone to Church of the City in Nashville, you know, we did a digital fast last year and it really changed the life of our church. And I'm not glued to my phone anymore.

the same way. And I, I really forget to post things. And so thankfully I have some people to help me with that, but I would say just socials, my website and the kid's book is coming out, but, um, we, it's just gone to print. So it'll be just a minute, um, before we can buy it. But we're just excited that God has a lot in store for this year. And we feel it. We feel the wind of his spirit. We feel the momentum of, uh, what he's called us to do and just taking ground for the kingdom. I think, um,

In the Bible, when it says, you know, seek ye first the kingdom of God and all else will be added. I think when you put his kingdom first, it's the most fulfilling place you could ever live in.

So true. And when we know that, like you said, taking these messages of these songs late on your heart, when we know it's him and it's his message, how that frees us up as well, just to live in the space and the season that he's put us in. Tasha Layton, thank you so much for coming on. So excited about the kids book, the album. Again, look what you've done. The book is fantastic. I really encourage you to get it. And now I am going to go get Boundless too. Tasha, thank you so much for joining us on Live in the Bream.

Thanks, Shannon. Listen ad-free with the Fox News Podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. And Amazon Prime members can listen to this show ad-free on the Amazon Music app. From the Fox News Podcasts Network. In these ever-changing times, you can rely on Fox News for hourly updates for the very latest news and information on your time. Listen and download now at foxnewspodcast.com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.