Time to feel old: Baby, Baby by Amy Grant is 25.

I don’t think it’s a secret that I have an evangelical Christian background, and I have the Youth Group war stories to prove it. I’m sorry, you thought I was prissy, Youth Pastor, but I’m just not cool with an “ice breaker” that involves 8th grade girls and boys taking off their shoes and hitting each other with their socks. You’d understand if you had to smell Jon’s feet. And did you REALLY think it was a good idea to have an all-night “lock in” with a bunch of high schoolers? There are corners of my home church that I pass when I’m back for weddings or funerals that STILL make me blush because I know what went down in them. Stairwell 4b was NOT just for prayer circles, ya’ll. And that missions trip to Mexico? Yeah, I totally met a guy I thought was “The One” and STILL to this day fight with my friend over as to who he liked more. (I’ll confess, he totally liked her more but only because I did not have a flattering 9th grade year. If he could see me now…. )

What you may not know about me is how influenced I have been by Amy Grant. Yes, the singer of “El Shaddai;” Yes, the big “Christian Cross-over” artist with the hit Baby, Baby;” Yes the woman who left her husband for Vince Gill (HE WAS A DRUG USER AND A CHEAT, OKAY?); Yes the one who sings Tennessee Christmas which makes me cry every time I hear it and I’m from Pennsylvania.

I mean, I’m not saying my 2002 “Album Cover” photoshoot for the EP I made in my semester abroad music program was inspired by her:

But I’m not saying it wasn’t

(There is actually a MUCH MORE HEAVILY INFLUENCED photo that is on a FLOPPY DISC in my home and I cannot retrieve it and I am so sad)

I’m here to make you feel old because Baby, Baby by Amy Grant is 25.

And to celebrate, Amy teamed up with Tori Kelly for a remake of the song- and it’s pretty awesome!

There’s so much to love here: Classic song that brings up memories of trying to sing sexily in front of the boy I liked when I was 9; Reminder that Amy Grant exists and how much I used to love her; Reminding me that Tori Kelly has a new album and I haven’t listened to it yet (Guys, if you don’t know her, she is really freakin’ good pop singer!); The Facebook hole I just went down preparing for this post in which I found Amy’s kids and her ex, Gary Chapman, who is as Bible-thumpin’ conservative as they come and married to a woman who cannot be much older than his daughters.

Listen to the song, Enjoy the nostalgia, laugh at how “cool” I was in 2002 and stalk Millie and Sarah Chapman on Facebook if you want, I don’t care.

It’s been 25 years since Baby, Baby, and I still know all the words:

Share a Youth Group War Story in the Comments. Did you ever attend a Lock-In?