Every week her confessor said these two words and it finally reached her heart

In an exclusive interview with Cecilia Music, Kara Klein of His Own shares the inspiring story behind the song, along with the message it wants to send in a world desperately in need of hearing it.
Tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind your new single “Little Girl.”

This song is based on Mark 5:41: “He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha koum!’ (which means ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’)”.

Seven years ago, I [Kara] had been living in northern Italy, and was going through a very painful moment, grieving the loss of my dad and brother.  It was a time when I really felt dead inside, and had lost that fervor for life. There was a beautiful, elderly Italian priest who would hear my confession each week, and at the end of each confession, he put his hand on my head and said, “Talitha koum!  Little girl, arise!” This touched my heart so profoundly, and for nearly 7 years I wanted to write a song about this experience. I shared it with Maria and Christine, and we wrote Little Girl about the way God the Father heals our hearts as women.  

An emphasis in this song is the father-daughter relationship with the Lord – reaching out to him as Father. Why do you think this way of relating to God is particularly important for girls?

Knowing the heart of God the Father is so essential for all of us! We live in such a broken world where many women (and men for that matter) have deep trust issues with their fathers because their fathers have left them, disappointed them, or hurt them.  Every human father of course is broken (so all of us can relate to this to some extent), but we all long for perfect, unconditional love from a father.  Girls (especially at this time when the world is screaming that their worth lies in the size of their body, their accomplishments, how many likes they have on Facebook) need to be constantly reminded that their Father in Heaven loves them unconditionally, and nothing can change their worth.

To be addressed as “Little Girl” is humbling, it seems to contradict the mainstream feminist mantra of needing to be perceived as fiercely independent and powerful, yet in a way, also, seems relieving and loving.

No matter what we want to believe, the truth is that our first and truest identity lies simply in being a child.  Before we are singers, doctors, wives, mothers or teachers, we are first and foremost children of God the Father.  I think that – although many may not realize it – we actually want to be held in the hands of a Father.  We want to know that we don’t need to have everything figured out or under control (because in actuality we can’t!).  But we want permission to lean on someone else who is all-love, all-good, knows us better than we know ourselves, and will work everything for our good.

This song seems like it is obviously written for women, does it intend to reach the male population of your audience at all, or possess any particular value for men?

That’s a great question!  Actually, 25% of our audience is men even though we’re a women’s ministry, so we try to keep men in mind with all we do.  Because this song is based on Scripture, we hope that what will touch men is seeing who Jesus is as depicted in Mark 5:41. That they will also be reminded of His love, mercy, and goodness through this song.

Through this song, what specifically are you hoping to communicate to your listeners?

We want our listeners simply to know that they have a Father in Heaven who loves them more than they can imagine—and to not only know this in their heads, but truly in their hearts.  We want them to know that God wants them to be happy and fully alive!  And that He has the power to heal their hearts completely.

Finally, is there anything else that you wish to share about this song?

This song is on our new album, “It’s You” which we are currently recording in Nashville, and are planning to release in April!  You’ll be able to get it on our website, www.behisown.com, so be on the look-out!