Ode 17

O Holy Night and The Splendor of Christmas

Many thanks to all who purchased copies of O Holy Night. We sold approximately 40% of the supply. That means there are more available for the coming holiday season. If you are interested in obtaining a copy you can send your shipping address, along with $15 to Larry Parker, SUMC, 1795 Old Peachtree Road, Duluth, GA 30097. I'll ship it to you free. If you are in the area you may want to simplify things by dropping by Sugarloaf UMC at the above address and picking it up there.

A lot of folks have bought the Sugarloaf Choir's newest, The Splendor of Christmas along with O Holy Night. When you do that we'll get them to you at the combo price of two for $25. When you purchase your copies of our CDs you are helping us fund the incredible music ministries of SUMC.

Music Atlanta 2010

I just finished my stint at Music Atlanta for this year. It was great to hear some new music, lead worship with Marty Parks at the opening session, and spend some time getting refreshed spiritually. Most of all, it was truly a blessing to see old friends and make new ones. Scott Revo and Dawn Johnson, along with the Pine Lake Music staff put this event on every year. It has got to be a lot of hard work, but it's worth it. Many thanks to everyone who made it a very special three days.

Duluth Arts League Features Sugarloaf Choir

The Duluth Fine Arts League has a website. On it they feature Duluth, GA artists. I just discovered they featured our choir during the Christmas season. I'm not sure why they picked the songs they did, or why they picked The Joy of Christmas CD, but it's fun that they selected us for the Christmas season. You can listen to five songs from our recording, The Joy of Christmas, on the site. By the way, the soloists are (song 2) Tim Foster, and me on the last song. Click here to check out their site and listen.

God and Dog

One of my choir members sent this to me today. Thanks Julie. My choir knows how much I love my dog, Mr. Bean. Believe me, there are some strong truths to this song and video.

God n Dog

Hello Big Game, Goodbye College Football

Confession: I anticipate tonight's final bowl game with great joy mixed with a fair amount of dread. I have great joy in that this is the BIG game. I mean really, really big. Yet I have dread in that I'm asking myself, "What will I do tomorrow night? Study? Do something beneficial for mankind? Clean the house? Cook dinner for my wife?" The whole thing sends shivers up my spine. My pizza guy is really going to miss me.

Vacation with the lovely Mrs. Joanie

We have complained about the very cold weather at the beach.  
We always complain about the amount of work we have to do to our house when we come down here. Now for the good news. That's all the complaining we do. I love being on vacation with my wife.

Today we went to Fort Morgan for the first time. Thought about taking the ferry to Mobile but decided instead to hang out at the historic fort. I would love to go back and spend a few more hours with the camera. There was the coolest texture everywhere. What a great place to shoot some pictures. My friend Andy Brophy would love this place (He is an unbelievable photographer ...young and growing rapidly in the skill).

Anyway, if you want to look at more pictures that I took today at Fort Morgan visit my Facebook page. ...but no complaints. I'm on vacation.

The Christmas Angel: Ode to Lindsay Susanne Parker

It was a dark Christmas back in 1987. The phone had just rung with the news that she was gone. Seventeen months of hope, prayer, uncertainty, and fear had just culminated with the message that brought tears and anguish to my life. Her heart had unexpectedly stopped beating. It was over.

Back up to the summer of 1985. Hope was in the air. A new child was to be born. The appointment was made and the doctor was ready to deliver our baby girl in the operating room. Giddiness was in the air until the dark cloud burst into the room bearing the news that something was terribly wrong. Lindsay was not healthy. Her tiny bent frame was the testament to her ills. The seventeen months had begun.

I do not wish to talk about the bad for it does my heart no good to reminisce on the things that could have been. My catharsis is to write of her black hair, her little...

Shipped Yesterday

Those of you who pre-purchased O Holy Night will be happy to know that the CDs have shipped. Hopefully, you will be able to enjoy the new Christmas music this week. If you would like one or more, refer to the above posting for details.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Really God?

When I heard Hurricane Ida was on its way up to Gulf Shores I had to double check the calendar to see  what date it was. Then the next thing out of my mouth was, "Really, God? Really?" Here we are at the end of the season, enjoying fall colors and cooler weather and we have a category 2 hurricane coming through the Gulf of Mexico. Who would have guessed. The season has been so unpredictably quiet that the storm chasers on TV were acting absolutely giddy with delight that they would finally get to be in a storm, reporting on the tube one last time this season. Just as the official time for hurricanes...

Selling to Poor Markets

I read this article this morning and thought about the possibilities of expanding this thinking into other areas. Very enlightening should you choose to read.

At the Base of the Pyramid

Blessings!

It's So Good to be Home

The best part of pulling up into my driveway Saturday night was seeing my wife and my pup. That makes this one of my favorite postings in a long time. It's just so good to be home.