The needle is stuck again

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I have seen numerous members of my family and friends go through the ups and downs of chronic illnesses, and watched as they struggled with tasks which once they had performed with ease.
When I was just a child, volunteering in a local nursing home, I met a woman who was around eighty at the time. Her name was Georgia
McMahan. Georgia endured many of the ailments of her fellow residents but you would never know it.
From the moment you saw her, the smile that beamed from her face uplifted you and gave you a spirit of glee that could carry you
through any task. Added to the smile were words of encouragement, concern, and hope that poured from her very being.
While many of the folks that my efforts brought me in contact with were mired in what seem to be a ditch of despair, Georgia shined as
if standing on a mountain top in a field of wild flowers.
Sometimes as I hear different people share similar issues again and again, I see in my mind the spinning turntable of my youth with a 33
1/3 rpm record going round and round. I remember when a particular tune had been played too much or accidently scratched, sometimes the needle would find itself stuck repeating the same musical phrase over
and over again.
It took me getting up, going to the record player, and bumping the needle’s arm ever so gently to help it get out of the record’s deep
dark vinyl groove and move it musically on down the road.
Like that needle, it is so easy to get stuck in the scratches and wore out spaces of our lives and find it hard to move on. We spin
around endlessly in the same spot, repeating the same actions, saying the same things only to find ourselves doing it over again.
Sometimes it takes someone to give us a gentle shove to realize that just a millimeter down our path we may find something better, and
even if we don’t, we are better for the trying.
As I think back on Georgia now, I sort of see her as that person in that place who God sent to gently nudge all those around her and give
them a chance to stop being stuck in a groove that was wearing on them and everyone that could hear their song.
Are you serving as a catalyst to help yourself and others over the hump and find a smoother path?  If not, why not?
I can surely say the path that Georgia showed me as a child sure gives life a better spin than any others I have seen. I hope I can
always take the spin that lets me seem as if I am on the mountain in a field of wildflowers.

Loving beyond worldly measure

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Some of the most difficult times to watch are when someone we know is trying to be there for a loved one when he or she is coming to the end of his or her journey. As I think back through the years, I remember watching my mother and father as they reached out to support friends or relatives in such times.
If the loved one was elsewhere, they would close up the business, and off they’d go for an undetermined amount of time to just be present.
There to be called upon if needed for and extra pair of hands and legs to: run errands, do day-to-day tasks, cook, just simply sit,
talk, laugh, console, remember, and pray.
I saw my mother and father do this time and time again. I know they drew no financial benefit from what they were doing. Their only
requite was in knowing they were serving Christ with their actions.
Sometimes their presence reached beyond the caregivers to the patient and I know that brought a peace over each of them when they knew they comforted someone as they prepared to cross over.
As a small boy, I watched this routine many times as they said goodbye to former co-workers and neighbors, friends from throughout
their lives, and of course, relatives of every description who impacted their lives.
I vaguely remember one period in my childhood when I felt I was spending more time in hospitals and funeral homes than at school but
death comes at God’s appointment not on our timetables.
I am now at a similar point in time of my life as they were when they were saying goodbye to so many. So, I have become readily cognizant that like my folks, many of those I know are being called, some old, some young, but its seems more with every passing year.
As I reflect on what can I do to support their loved ones, I think back on the model that my parents gave me. I try to simply be present
whenever possible to offer support and help them walk down the path I have already walked. I know that hope, comfort and strength should be offered along the path and I only pray that I can be an instrument to provide some aspect of these to all concerned along the final journey.
Most of us know someone who is facing this point in life, what are you doing to support he or she, and his or her circle of caregivers?
I encourage you to find some way to make a difference; you may be able to leave a message of love that changes a life forever and
passes a legacy of love to your children as they see how you help others in a time in life we all must face.

A country church where the world meets to worship

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I reached over and turned off the 5:15 a.m. alarm. Rubbing my face with my hands, I wiped the sleep from my eyes as I threw back the covers and headed towards the bathroom to wash myself awake.
The hotel room looked like many others that I stay in week after week when I am on the road to share my music, so I finished getting ready, slipped into my suit and carried down my bags and instruments and loaded the car and made my way to the breakfast room by 6 a.m. to eat a bite before taking the twenty -minute drive to the church from Americus. Read more

Country humorist and actor Randall Franks appears with former President Jimmy Carter

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Franks, Randall, Pres.Carter 2016

From left, Pastor Jeremy Shoulta, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, former President Jimmy Carter and International Bluegrass Music Museum Legend Randall Franks. (Randall Franks Media)

Country music humorist Randall Franks, “Officer Randy Goode” from TV’s “In the Heat of the Night,” recently debuted music and comedy from his upcoming Christian CD “Keep ‘Em Smilin’” at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga. to an international congregation.

“Performing years ago for a Carter family gathering and grand marshaling the Plains Day Parade are some of my favorite memories of my entire career and I shared those experiences in my latest book Encouragers II,” Franks said. “I was so honored to join in study, worship, and sharing of musical gifts with the congregation at Maranatha including some old and many new friends. It was a blessing to be with the Carters again whose service greatly influenced my youth and inspired my desire to serve.”

Pastor Jeremy Shoulta shared a musically-themed sermon entitled “Why Sing” based on Colossians 3:12-17. Franks blended his fiddling, guitar and Appalachian dulcimer sounds with songs and humorous stories intertwining with the message and congregational hymns. Hymns were led by music leader Danny Ariail and supported by Maranatha musicians Carol Anderson and Jan Williams. The congregation included worshippers from China, Japan, Australia, U.K., Canada and within the U.S. from Hawaii to Washington, D.C. Former President Jimmy Carter taught a lesson on King Solomon and then joined in worship with former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. Also among the congregation was National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis.

Franks’s latest book is “Encouragers II: Walking with the Masters” and his new CD “Keep ‘Em Smilin’” from Crimson Records will release in May. For more information, visit https://randallfranks.com/

A little country sound goin’ ‘round

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Two of my favorites country performers Gene Watson and John Anderson are back with successes to share.

Gene Watson blends traditional, organic country that purists long for in his new album, Real.Country.Music., available across digital retailers. Watson’s 33rd studio album charted at No. 72 on Billboard Top Country Albums and is No. 1 on Amazon’s best-selling classic country albums. Read more

Activity helps strengthen each day

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Click, click, click, click, emanates from my sneakers as I walk along the hiking path ever hopeful that with each passing mile I am a little more fit and well on my way to losing the few pounds I am seeking to shed.

After opening boxes, and pulling jeans up only to find they will not close and a crowbar will be needed to get them back off. Read more

Spring forward with hope

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As the first yellow daffodil lifts the dirt from the formally cold ground. Its green blades protect it as it finds its way rising towards the warmth of the sun. As God paints a splash of colors alongside a variety of beautiful colors against the rolling green hills, I feel a sense of hope. The warmth shines upon my skin warming the depth of my soul as I soak in the blue of the Spring sky.

The depth of the gray of winter begins to fade away from my heart as I seem to be frozen in the moment of time. If only for this moment I revel in the miracles of God’s creation, as hope seems to reach up from the earth through the bottom of my feet reaching throughout my cells.

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Glistening from the heat

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I watched the white sheers wave gently back and forth in the windows of the living room as the breeze eased its way into the house.
It was an extraordinarily hot day. By mid morning the coolness gained in the previous night had given way to the demands of the sun making everyone glisten in anticipation for the afternoon that would change all of us into a cross between a drenched cat and a swimmer climbing out of the deep spot in the creek. Read more

Birds in the wind

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I am walking down a dark lane lined with trees which have shed their leaves. I see in the trees one bird it seems to cower and shiver in the wind. Its feathers seem to be worn with time. It moves closer to the trunk of the tree as the wind blows harder. Read more

Is there light at the end of the tunnel?

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There are not many instances that we today have an application for such a question.

Tunnels are few and far in between in our day-to-day travels unless you live where subways or mountain tunnels are the norm. Read more