About Jen Jen lives in Southern California with her husband, John, and two children. She has always loved to sing and has been involved in worship since high school. About Back to the Manger In the Fall of 2008, Jen was challenged by the Advent Conspiracy to re-examine how she approached Christmas. How could she spend less, give more, and worship more fully? She decided to write songs as Christmas gifts that year. Jen had so much fun recording those Christmas gifts that she decided to spend 2009 working on a studio album. With Tom Lillo producing and engineering, she recorded eight songs with some fantastic musicians (Noah Needleman - acoustic guitar, Will MacGregor - bass, Jack Kelly - drums, Walter Rodriquez - percussion). The result of Jen's hard work and dedication is the album, Back to the Manger. With six fresh Christmas songs that look at how things may have been on that first Christmas morning to how we might look at Christmas today (plus two new arrangements of Christmas classics), Jen hopes Back to the Manger is an encouragement to you as you celebrate the birth of Christ and reflect on the precious gift God gave to the world in His son, Jesus. About Peace in the Distance This song was inspired by a piece of artwork done by her sister-in-law, Liberty Worth, title View from the Manger. Liberty describes it like this: I thought about the role an olive branch would have played in the Nativity. I imagined Mary's viewpoint, looking out over the edge of town from the stable, tired from the long journey, but amazed at what was still to come. The olive tree is just a periphery bystander, but its presence harkens back to the olive branch of mercy and hope after another long journey that God offered to Noah. Olive trees being everywhere in Israel, it's not too much of a stretch to imagine one stretching it's branches into Mary's line of sight as she pondered all she had been through and all yet to be. In Fall of 2011, Jen got back together with Noah Needleman (acoustic guitar, production) to record Peace in the Distance - a beautiful snapshot of how Mary must have felt on her journey.