Music from my past

10/08/2011 DATELINE: London, Ontario-  Friday night I went to see an old friend, oh, he's not a personal friend, he's a man who influenced my life via the vinyl records of my past, but because of him (in part) I made a choice to believe in Jesus Christ, because of him I went to the Country of Haiti when I was 21 years old,

 

because of him I value artistry and songmanship (is that a word?)

His name is RANDY STONEHILL, I first heard Randy when I was 9 years old, I purchased his record "Welcome to paradise" and the songs blew me away, "king of hearts" was my favorite...listen to these lyrics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDJOZEN3HUo&feature=related 

Randy had a unique comedic approach to faith, he didn't slam it down your throat and he basically said to be a Christian "the least of these" must come first, you can't "brag" about being a follower of Jesus if you don't reach out to the hungry and downtrodden, Loving those in need begins the journey...another lesson Randy taught me was that sincereity and transparency are crucial elements to integrity and representing your Faith. sadly I placed folks like Randy on a pedastal back then and as I began to work in Christian radio I witnessed my musical heroes failing, falling or freaking out and not one of them today is on my manmade pedastal, but I must tell you that Randy Stonehills recent visit to London, Ontario did my soul a world of good, you see, Randy played to about 40 people! a far cry from opening for Petra in 1985 at Pine knob to about 9,000 of us...yet he was gracious, he performed many songs from his huge catalogue from all four decades, he even did an encore of one of his first recordings from back in 1971 (called "I Love you")  he hung around after the concert to discuss anythinig and everything from his career to his wonderful wife, he just treated all of us with respect and humility. WOW! was that refreshing. it gave me hope for this Christian music industry again, perhaps they could learn some things from pioneers like Randy Stonehill. never forget why you do this, never forget Who you do this for and most importantly, never forget how blessed you are to still be doing it. Godspeed Uncle Rand. the new album "Spirit walk" is spectacular and your voice is still in fine form. now let the world tour begin again :)

Randy's "Wild frontier" cover AARP edition

http://www.randystonehill.com/ 

MY TOP TEN STONEHILL SONGS

1. Thankful
2. Light of the world
3. King of hearts
4. Hymn
5. Keep me Runnin
6. Life is tough, God is good
7. Celebrate this heartbeat
8. Christmas at Denny's
9. When I look to the Mountains
10. That's why we don't love God

Mom and Dad's 60th wedding anniversary

sunday we held a party. it was really a celebration! my Mom and Dad had their 60th wedding anniversary on September 15th and we invited family and a few close friends to Frankenmuth to celebrate the occasion. what it really became was a tribute to the institution of marriage. no one who sits at the front of a Church at age 20 really truly expects "til death do us part" to last 60 or more years! I know I don't, I fully expect Lorna to have had enough of me by our 20th anniversary...but I must admit that time does something to a marriage. it creates such a need, such a bond that the couple really begins to wonder how they could survive without the other. that's where I'm at. I really find that I need my wife. not just for dinner and a movie but for so many important tasks. I need her to be a friend first. I need to know we can do stuff together and have fun and not put on a fake front...I need her to be a counselor of good advice, someone who will tell me honestly what I'm doing wrong, I need her to keep me sane. to show me her confidence in me when I lose mine. I need her to put things in perspective so I don't start hitting the panic button. I need her to simply say "I love you". and she does. my Mom and Dad had a nice day gathering with loved ones and remembering the days of their youth. but I think I came away the most blessed because I witnessed the future and discovered it's possibly not as scary as my mind wants to make it. and that was only one lesson of a dozen more I experienced sunday. thanks mom and dad for your committment to us kids, each other and God. I hope to be half the person you have lived out in front of me. I will always strive to make you proud.

something different...being unemployed in Michigan

I left Beautiful Aspen, Colorado on January 4th driving the two day haul back to Michigan, My mother in law's health requires that my wife Lorna and I be available for her 24/7...I left Colorado with no guaranteed job back in Michigan, something I would normally NEVER do. but I come back Trusting God for a new opportunity and exciting challenge.
all of sudden virtually everything I do is seen thru the eyes of an unemployed man...I went to see a film called "Up in the air" about a man who travels the country FIRING PEOPLE...I watch a DVD called "Sunshine Cleaning" about a woman who starts a company cleaning crime scenes but things go bad and she loses her job...what's going on ? why is the world ganging up on me ? every person I see or talk to all of sudden is asking.."find a job yet?" I hate this. my Church wants to put in the bulletin that I need prayer for a job and for some reason I battle the image of loser...but the truth is I am anxious yet excited about the potential, how many times in your life do you get the chance to try and make a decision like this ? 2 or 3 times ? another battle I face is trying to lose or leave my identity with my former employer (having been there for 18 years) I still get calls from folks daily who want me to put them on a radio show I left 8 months ago! it's bizarre, so now I look at the future, what do I want to be ? do I want to conitnue all I've ever known as a radio producer ? do I want to make a transition into Politics or marketing ? do I want to make a huge leap into the medical field or retail/sales ? what is my purpose ? what is my vision for the next 5 years ? my Church has tried to help me decide these issues...friends like Foster Braun, my brothers, my wife and other old friends have been giving me encouragement and ideas but it's alot tougher than I would have thought while I was living in Aspen. Michigan unemployment numbers are intimidating and trying to define who I am with out my job/career has been confusing and difficult. bareing my soul here probably is a bad idea but I really do feel like this crucial next step will make me or break me, GOD HELP ME. I know you will, I'm already blessed just knowing you God.