Biography // Laurie Roberts
My name is Laurie Roberts, and I was born in Kellogg, a small mining town in the panhandle of northern Idaho, in 1964. I have lived in Idaho my entire life, splitting my life almost evenly between Kellogg and the southern Idaho city of Meridian. My dad, Burt Roberts, grew up in Meridian, where his father, Evert Roberts, founded and then pastored a non-denominational church for 62 years. My mother, Pat (Tricia to those closest to her), grew up in Kellogg, where her mother, Naydeen Taylor, pastored a non-denominational church for more than twenty years. From the beginning of their marriage my parents were involved in ministry, and my father assisted both his father and his mother-in-law at various times and eventually served tenures as senior pastor of each church—prompting a number of moves back and forth between Kellogg and Meridian.
I am second youngest of five children and the only girl. After graduating from the University of Idaho in 1986, I began to teach English and coach volleyball and golf at Kellogg High School, where I remained for fifteen years. In 2002 God began to nudge me to make yet another move back to my “other home”—Meridian. By this time my parents had landed back in Meridian, and my father had become the senior pastor at Meridian Gospel Tabernacle.
What a blessing my Christian heritage is. I am blessed to have Christian parents, grandparents, brothers, and cousins. My own Christianity is something I have always been conscious of. I don’t know if it’s theologically defensible, but I have always sensed that I have known God from birth. I don’t remember a time when I did not feel like I had a relationship with God, and when I did not know that Jesus is my Redeemer. And even during the biggest challenges of my life, I have had complete confidence that I was resting in the palm of God’s hand.
I have been singing for as long as I can remember. My mother began to sing and harmonize with me when I was five or six years old. She would teach me a song (“Nothing Could be Finer than to be in Carolina” and “You are my Sunshine” were two favorites), and then she would harmonize with me—urging me to stay with the melody line. Eventually she would tell me to sing her part (the harmony line) while she sang the melody. I loved to harmonize, and I did it every chance I got.
Some time between second grade and junior high I became much more shy and self-conscious about singing in public. I still loved to sing and harmonize in the congregation at church, but I did not want to have anything to do with performing for people. I sang in junior high and high school choir, and I was even chosen to sing in Idaho’s All-State choir during my senior year of high school, but I did not think of myself as a singer, (and I certainly had no vision of myself as a piano player or song writer) until my late twenties.
For a long time, my wonderful brothers—Kent, Kevin, Paul, and David—were the singers in my family. They have all been involved in leading worship at our churches in Kellogg and Meridian, and eventually, I began to help with worship as well. For some time I was content to rather quietly support the worship leader, but eventually I found myself singing out more, improvising more, singing songs in the spirit, and even writing a few songs. In 1995 I began to play the piano in our worship services at Christian Life Center in Kellogg, and as I gradually became more adept, I found a new freedom and excitement in worship.
The final element fell into place in 2001. Until then I had written a handful of songs, but I did not feel particularly skilled at it, nor did I have a strong desire to write. Then things began to change. I began to feel that as I went through my day, songs were constantly going through my head—new songs—my songs. I would sometimes call my answering machine at home to sing a melody or a snippet of a song into it, so I wouldn’t forget. Tentatively at first, I began to share my songs with our congregation in Kellogg and then in Meridian, after my move in 2003. People seemed to be moved to worship by my songs (what an overwhelming experience for a songwriter), and I had a growing desire to sing them for whomever would listen.
In the last five years I have completed two CD projects with my own original worship songs: For Such a Time as This, in 2005 and Perhaps God, in 2008. I have thoroughly enjoyed recording in the studio, as well as putting a band together for gigs at a variety of venues—from my local church to the coffeehouse down the street.
January 2010 finds me teaching English at Timberline High School in Boise, living in Meridian, and contemplating a third CD. I am also the worship leader at Meridian Gospel Tabernacle, in Meridian, Idaho. I am excited and hopeful about the path my life is taking. I am trusting that God will be with me through the challenges and obstacles still to come, and that he has some wonderful surprises in store for me.
I am second youngest of five children and the only girl. After graduating from the University of Idaho in 1986, I began to teach English and coach volleyball and golf at Kellogg High School, where I remained for fifteen years. In 2002 God began to nudge me to make yet another move back to my “other home”—Meridian. By this time my parents had landed back in Meridian, and my father had become the senior pastor at Meridian Gospel Tabernacle.
What a blessing my Christian heritage is. I am blessed to have Christian parents, grandparents, brothers, and cousins. My own Christianity is something I have always been conscious of. I don’t know if it’s theologically defensible, but I have always sensed that I have known God from birth. I don’t remember a time when I did not feel like I had a relationship with God, and when I did not know that Jesus is my Redeemer. And even during the biggest challenges of my life, I have had complete confidence that I was resting in the palm of God’s hand.
I have been singing for as long as I can remember. My mother began to sing and harmonize with me when I was five or six years old. She would teach me a song (“Nothing Could be Finer than to be in Carolina” and “You are my Sunshine” were two favorites), and then she would harmonize with me—urging me to stay with the melody line. Eventually she would tell me to sing her part (the harmony line) while she sang the melody. I loved to harmonize, and I did it every chance I got.
Some time between second grade and junior high I became much more shy and self-conscious about singing in public. I still loved to sing and harmonize in the congregation at church, but I did not want to have anything to do with performing for people. I sang in junior high and high school choir, and I was even chosen to sing in Idaho’s All-State choir during my senior year of high school, but I did not think of myself as a singer, (and I certainly had no vision of myself as a piano player or song writer) until my late twenties.
For a long time, my wonderful brothers—Kent, Kevin, Paul, and David—were the singers in my family. They have all been involved in leading worship at our churches in Kellogg and Meridian, and eventually, I began to help with worship as well. For some time I was content to rather quietly support the worship leader, but eventually I found myself singing out more, improvising more, singing songs in the spirit, and even writing a few songs. In 1995 I began to play the piano in our worship services at Christian Life Center in Kellogg, and as I gradually became more adept, I found a new freedom and excitement in worship.
The final element fell into place in 2001. Until then I had written a handful of songs, but I did not feel particularly skilled at it, nor did I have a strong desire to write. Then things began to change. I began to feel that as I went through my day, songs were constantly going through my head—new songs—my songs. I would sometimes call my answering machine at home to sing a melody or a snippet of a song into it, so I wouldn’t forget. Tentatively at first, I began to share my songs with our congregation in Kellogg and then in Meridian, after my move in 2003. People seemed to be moved to worship by my songs (what an overwhelming experience for a songwriter), and I had a growing desire to sing them for whomever would listen.
In the last five years I have completed two CD projects with my own original worship songs: For Such a Time as This, in 2005 and Perhaps God, in 2008. I have thoroughly enjoyed recording in the studio, as well as putting a band together for gigs at a variety of venues—from my local church to the coffeehouse down the street.
January 2010 finds me teaching English at Timberline High School in Boise, living in Meridian, and contemplating a third CD. I am also the worship leader at Meridian Gospel Tabernacle, in Meridian, Idaho. I am excited and hopeful about the path my life is taking. I am trusting that God will be with me through the challenges and obstacles still to come, and that he has some wonderful surprises in store for me.
