Jonathan Taylor Martin
I grew up in South East Texas and though I have no real complaints about growing up in the heat of Texas, I must say that I prefer the four seasons of middle Tennessee. Music has always played a big part in my life, but after High School I firmly decided that music wasn’t for me and was set to go to a beautiful college in Texas a couple hours away from home. Thankfully I have a close mentor that sat me down in a Starbucks and forced me to reconsider “my” plans. That day I discovered Belmont University in Nashville and allowed my heart to reconsider music as a potential ministry that the Lord wanted to use in my life. Though I wasn’t able to get my room deposit back from the college in Texas, everything else fell into place and I moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University in August 2005.
I have always loved writing but never realized how much I enjoyed it until I moved off to college. Even in music, writing songs is my favorite part. There is a real satisfaction that comes from being able to get out on paper what is stirring in my heart, but the satisfaction is even greater if I can give my thoughts a compelling melody. I had written a few songs before, but it was during my first year at Belmont, often times hidden away in one of my favorite practice rooms, that my love for writing grew. I also started a blog when I moved off to college that was meant to help me stay connect with those back at home, but over the years it has turned into another way for me to explore things that God is teaching me in and through His Word.
My friends in Mosaic really are family at this point. We all met that first year in 2005, I fell in love with Emily, who is now my wife, in 2007, and our deep friendships and collective longing and call to ministry encouraged us to start this music ministry at the end of our time at Belmont in 2009. Committing myself full-time to this ministry and to these people has had an powerful impact on my life and the Lord has used it to form and shape me more than anything else in my life. In life you don’t always see the fruit of your work, that is especially the case when you only stay in each place for a couple of days, but one of the main reasons I know that I’m right where the Lord wants me is because of how powerfully He has used this time and this ministry with Mosaic to draw me closer to Himself.
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