Check Randy Owen's New Song for St. Jude

Y'all Check out the new single from Randy Owen for St. Jude. http://www.randyowen.com/


As a parent of a St. Jude kid, this song hits close to home. I have seen so many little bald headed kids in the past two years I feel this song. I have watch a child loose their hair. You see the little braids drop every day till there is none left. The bandannas and baseball caps only cover so much. They know they are sick. And this just yells it to the world. Wiley lost very little hair through radiation. For Wiley it is the scars of surgery. The ear-to-ear cut to attack the tumor, the upside down horseshoe for a shunt are the hair "badges" of his battle.

How Blue?

I pray to hear my son's laughter. It hurts so much to hear him in frustration and depression over what he has lost, the fears of his future, and the physical pain that he is having.

It's hard to imagine having to put a baby monitor in your 19 year old's room. But we had to. I have to listen to him cry out to God for help. I have to then sit there helpless as a dad. I try to comfort him. But at times, there is no consoling him. It breaks my heart.

I live to hear him Laugh.

Quote of the Day

In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.

--Bertrand Russell

Have you questioned something lately?

Great Easter!

I had a great day yesterday with my family. A wonderful Easter. My mom and Mother-in-law fixed an incredible lunch. Roast, gravy, mac-n-Cheese, mashed potatoes, black-eyed peas, and the list goes on. I'm still full.

Then, we went home. I spent the rest of the day playing my guitar and teaching my youngest boy to drive a manual transmission truck. It was a good day.


I feel I am truly blessed and highly favored.

Know and Remember, we are saved by Grace through Faith in Christ Jesus. There is an empty tomb and an empty cross to show God's love for us.

Gurgle,Gurgle, Cough

It's spring in Mississippi. The birds are chirping. Days are getting longer. The temperature is rising. And every surface is turning pine-pollen yellow! The other common sound of spring is the "Gurgle, Gurgle, Cough" of the allergy sufferers. I'm one of them. I take, or have taken, every over-the-counter med I can find! I have two options - Take enough meds to sleep through spring and into summer or just suffer through it. So, I just suffer. Niquil, by the way, works the best but I can't stay awake.

Quote of the Day

The problem with having a sense of humor is often that people you use it on aren't in a very good mood.

-- Lou Holtz

I Don't Sound Like That . . .

Have you ever heard yourself on tape and thought or said "That does not sound like me." I hear it a lot in the studio. I know the feeling. When I sing a vocal line, it just sounds different when I play it back. But after years of doing it, it no longer bothers me. I know that's the way i sound.

So i take the experience of listening to myself and learn from it. Rather than fight the idea of i sound different, i work to improve the way i sound. I work on tone, pitch, enunciation, and style.

Quote of the Day

Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.

--Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Quote of the Day

I'm looking for a lot of men with an infinite capacity for not knowing what can't be done.

-- Henry Ford

Quote of the Day

Powell's Principles

1. It ain't as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.
2. Get mad, then get over it.
3. Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.
4. It can be done!
5. Be careful what you choose. You may get it.
6. Don't let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.
7. You can't make someone else's choices. You shouldn't let someone else make yours.
8. Check small things.
9. Share credit.
10. Remain calm. Be kind.

-- Colin L. Powell

Music Therapy

The band got together last night and rehearsed. It was therapy to me. After three long days at St. Jude and a long day at the office, I could immerse myself in music. For a couple of hours, I was away from the stress of life.

When the music stops and very thing is cut off, the daily grind is easier to handle.

As I prepare to preach this Sunday, I use the music to get me into the groove. A few minutes of playing clears my mind and gets me ready.

Quote of the Day

We sow our thoughts, and reap our actions.
We sow our actions, and reap our habits.
We sow our habits, and reap our character.
We sow our character, and reap our destiny.

-- Unknown

Back to the Daily Routine

Well, we're back at home. Even though St. Jude feels like home now. There is a level of comfort when you are there that I can't explain. But every parent I have met there feels the same way.

We got great reports back from all the doctors. The tumor is "neutral" - no growth, no shrinkage. After a little more than two years in this battle, "neutral" is great news.

We ran into another Crainiopharyngioma kid, Stephen, while we were there. We met him as he was going through his radiation back in the summer. He could be Wiley's twin. There is a distinctive "Cranio" look. He has had another cranio growth removed back in January. He was looking great.

As I was sitting in one of the waiting area, a gentleman in his late 20s was walking around hugging the staff telling them "thank you". He was wearing a patient wristband. I over heard him tell a nurse it was his last visit as a patient. He was a cancer survivor. He now has three kids of his own. And thanks to St. Jude he is still here. St. Jude sees patients 10 years after treatment is finished.

Wiley is in a research program to study his type tumor. I pray that they can learn more from Wiley, and Hunter also, about this and how to minimize the damage it causes and the difficulties it causes.

Little People,Big Words

As you sit in the waiting rooms at St. Jude, you see little bald-headed children running around every where. You can see the progression of the chemo. When we were here for Wiley's treatment, we would watch them go from up and playing to barely able to move in a matter of days. I happened to Wiley too. It was and still is difficult for me to witness. I remember watching one young lady gradually loose her battle with her cancer and be sent home for her final days to be treated by hospice. She went around telling all the Doctors, Nurses, and the staff in the clinics and houses her last goodbyes. That was the day she was leaving to go home and ultimately die.

This trip I met Evan. Evan has a brain tumor I can't pronounce - but he can. He could even spell it for me. (I must admit if he misspelled it, I would not know.) Evan is 7 going on 8, or 38 to listen to him talk. His battle began when he was 4. He told me about his vacation to Lookout Mountain. He said he had fun even though he could not get his Hickman wet. I do not know his prognosis. But I know he was a bundle of joy and energy. To me, Evan was a little boy with big words and an even bigger heart.

Remember St. Jude and kids and families that are here. For many, the stay maybe just a few days for a checkup. For others, the roller coaster of childhood illness may just be beginning. We meet people who are here for 2 months, 6, months, 12 months, 14 months, and longer. People from Memphis to people from Australia. When they are here they all share a common enemy in a very personal battle.

Settling in at St. Jude

Well, we are here. We drove up yesterday. (Dropped the band's PA board at Yarbrough's Music.) Last night, we had pizza and karioke at the Grizzly House. And a fun time was had by all.

It was a long, trying night. We have gone through the hoops to have Wiley "gassed down" before they stick him. He has developed a hyper-anxiety about needles. I can't blame him. He has been poked so many times. Some attempts were not the most pleasant. The last IV took me and 6 big boy nurses in the ER. Three of us left crying, plus the doctor and Wiley. NOT GOOD! We were informed last night that they would not "gas" as planned and approved. The anxiety kicked in. AAAARRRGGGHHHHhhhhhh! I'm not frustrated with Wiley. I am very frustrated with the doctors at St. Jude. This is not something you can just spring on us. We would have requested some med to calm him - and us!

Then a nurse anesthetist was incredibly rude to Stacy about the whole ordeal in the waiting area. We have never experienced this from the staff at St. Jude. I am very disappointed.

What Was He Thinking?

Today the Pastor was out today. So we had some wonderful fill ins. Adam Epperson and Mark Jones did incredible jobs.

But, in the morning service Adam showed a music video from Casting Crowns. It was graphic. But it was very appropriate. I did not think to myself "What was he Thinking." I knew what was on his mind and why he did it. It was good - no it was great.

But i have to ask what was one of our deacons thinking. He grabbed Adam by the neck and got in his face, just berating him. Be cause he was offended. If you were offended i agree you should talk about it. But, physically grabbing - i do not think so. I wish i knew what he was thinking or not thinking.

I am very disappointed.

A Day for Moving

I have good friend and DBA packing up and heading to San Diego. He is starting a new mission church for the Vineyard. I am so excited for him. I have enjoyed having him in our office.

The mission field is southern California. And for a Mississippi boy, it could be a foreign mission. When I see 1400 SqFt homes for about $2,000 a month, it seems like a world away. As I sit in my home, I think this is almost twice the size. My shop is 1200 SqFt. I have almost 3 acres and I am on a 10+ acre lake. The cost for this - no where hear that much. Yes, I'm sure of it. It is a foreign country.