Kari Jobe: I was born in Waco, Texas, but three weeks after that I moved to the Dallas area.
JA: Do you remember your first car?
KJ: Yes! There's a story behind my first car- my dad was taking me to school one morning when I was sixteen and he was like, "Do you like that car over there?" It was a red Ford Aspire. I don't know if you remember around '99 when the Ford Aspire came out, but they were overly round hatchbacks. They weren't cool. I was like, "I don't really like that car", and then he picked me up from school in it. He had already bought it! I felt terrible because I had already told him I didn't like it.
JA: What was your first real job?
KJ: I was always a babysitter, but my first real job was Abuelo's. I was a hostess.
JA: Do you have any phobias?
KJ: I don't like people on stilts. I don't know why, but I'm extremely scared of them.
JA: Did you run into a lot of stilt walkers at Disney this weekend?
KJ: Yes I did (laughs), like a whole parade of them. They had that one parade at the Magic Kingdom during the afternoon and there were lots of stilts. I didn't like that.
JA: Do you collect anything?
KJ: I collect birds. I love birds. I love anthropology type stuff.
JA: If you could live in any decade, which would you pick and why?
KJ: I would have to say either the 1920s or the '40s because I like their style and the music.
JA: Do you remember the first album you bought?
KJ: My first CD that I bought was The Cranberries, it was the one with the couch on the front. I don't know if I bought it because I wanted to hear The Cranberries or because I liked the velvet couch on the front, but I actually didn't even like it. I ended up throwing it away.
JA: So what are your favorite records of all time right now? Do you have like a top three?
KJ: Right now my favorites that I always go to are:
1.) Kim Walker, because I love to just get alone and worship with God.
2.) Brooke Fraser, I love her stuff.
3.) It's hard to narrow it down, but I really like Taylor Swift. That's my guilty pleasure. (laughs)
JA: What three adjectives do you feel best describe you?
KJ: Joyful, ditsy (laughs), spontaneous, and charismatic.
JA: What's your favorite virtue?
KJ: I don't know, that's a good question. The first thing that comes to mind is just being realistic. I like to be realistic when it comes to worshiping God, because the reality of it is that we really, truly need Him. Helping people to have that reality when it comes to worship. Not just singing and worshiping out of habit, but out of reality and being fully present.
JA: So why do you do what you do?
KJ: Because I have been so impacted by God's presence in my life, and worship does that. Not just music, because worship is not just music- it's what we do with our hearts, it's giving God everything that we are. I've learned so much by doing that, that He is just so worthy of it. When He comes and ministers to us in return, it says to draw near to God, He will draw near to us, but resist the devil and he must flee. That's what I want, I want to be close to God and I don't want the enemy to have anything in my life. That's why I do what I do. I love for God to minister to people, and to watch their faces in the middle of worship to get this revelation that "God is for me. God is moving on my behalf. God is going to heal me." I love doing what I do.
JA: What if this was your last interview to do? What message would you want to get across to people?
KJ: To live with no regrets, and if you have regrets to let God take those. Just lay those things at His feet, and start living today with the newness of what God wants to do. It says His mercies are new every morning, and He means that for us. We can take Him at His word. I think so many people miss out on everything God wants to do because they're living in the past. They're living in these regrets of yesterday, and you can't... you cannot do it. You can't do it without the Lord. You have to give your heart to the Lord. So live with no regrets, live honestly before God and be fully present, and worship God with everything you've got.
JA: A few fun questions to end on- Do you have a favorite movie?
KJ: Pride & Prejudice.
JA: The new one or the old one?
KJ: I like both of them, but I love the new one with Keira Knightley.
JA: What's the best Christmas gift you've ever received?
KJ: One year my family decided that instead of doing "big" gifts, we were gonna do gifts that meant something for each other. My family all gave each other something that they felt would really minister and bring strength. I received from my parents a bird. It was a symbol to me of my name. They just said "you're pure, and you're strong, and birds have to do with being peaceful and carefree." I think it was a dove. It really impacted my life, more than some kind of present it was something that ministered to and really stuck with me.
JA: And finally, if you had to sum up your life with just one word, which one would you choose?
KJ: Caught up.
Follow Kari on Twitter: @KariJobe