Sharing inspiration, encouragement, hope for those who believe that life is a journey filled with ups and downs, that God is in control, and that love is the greatest gift we can have and we can share. Continuing my gift of gab thru word, a columnist who blogs, and a mother, a wife, a woman who shares her thoughts, opinions, and stories....
The Voice, Sandi Patty
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The Voice, Sandi Patty
It has been decades, wow, yes decades since I
saw one of my all-time favorite singers perform—Sandi Patty. And now, I will be attending a Forever Grateful, the Farewell Tour...
Sandi Patty is one of
the most highly acclaimed performers of our time with five Grammy® awards, four
Billboard Music Awards, three platinum records, five gold records, and eleven
million units sold… Sandi Patty is simply known as The Voice.She is the most awarded
female vocalist in contemporary Christian music history, with 40 Dove Awards
and was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2004.Sandi was
introduced to the world with her rendition of The Star Spangled Banner during
the rededication of the Statue of Liberty in 1986. Virtually overnight she
became one of the country’s best-loved performers.
Her voice has a pure quality that seamlessly
transitions from note to note, but with a force of power that you are blown
away...and the most amazing part is hearing her live performance. I was even
more astounded. In today’s musical world, where auto tune creates stars and a
live performance has to be supported with tracks, it is harder to discover a
singing talent that performs better on stage than their recorded selves.
Not Sandi, her talented voice hits every note with strong accuracy and
then it seems to penetrate your skull and vibrate your whole being with its
intensity. You do more than listen to her song, you literally feel it go through
your body!
I can remember it so well. It was the late 80’s,
Sandi was a powerhouse Christian singer and I was a chaperon for our youth
group to a concert in Mobile, Alabama. It was my first time to see Sandi in
concert. It was incredible.
Not long after, I was driving to New Orleans in
a little pickup truck, very pregnant with my firstborn to pick up my Aunt
Boopie from Gretna so we both could see her perform at the Lakefront Arena. If
I could have become a roadie, I would have just to hear her beautiful voice
again and again. Instead, I bought an album.
As an amateur singer, a wife to a Southern
Baptist Music Director, it became standard to sing Sandi Patty songs at church.
We all tried. Maybe we could hit the notes she hit, but no one, and I mean no one could transform them into music
magic like she could. We all paled in comparison, but the songs were so
beautiful and we did our best to impersonate her.
What’s better than one great voice….TWO!
Sandi and Larnell
More than Wonderful
By herself, she is pure majesty but Sandi Patty
is known for the dynamo, blowout duet.
Larnelle Harris, Steve Green, and Wayne Watson
all had these stratospheric duos that took us straight to Heaven’s Door. They
evoked a high that made you say, “Ok, we ready now, let’s load up and go!”
In the 90’s, a very dear family friend requested
me to sing the Sandi Patty version of It is Well for his mother’s funeral.
I did. Then it was banished from my song inventory because he, Chris King could
not bear hearing it. His only exception was for his own funeral. Nearly 20
years later, he revisited that request in his last week of his life to have me
sing it -- that was less than a month ago. Chris was 48 and he loved Sandi
Patty. As this grief is still raw, I had already purchased my ticket to see the
farewell tour. I guess Chris had his own farewell tour in mind.
Sandi has been such a part of my life all these
years, but the one connection I will always have with her and her music is that
the last song my husband, Norman and I sang together in church a week before he
was tragically killed was none other than, Another Time and Another Place, her
beautiful duet with Wayne Watson about Heaven.
Another Time and Another Place
I've always heard there is a land Beyond the mortal dreams of man Where every tear will be left behind But it must be in another time There'll be an everlasting light Shining a purest holy white And every fear will be erased But it must be in another place
So, I'm waiting for another time and another place Where all my hopes and dreams will be captured With one look at Jesus' face Oh, my heart's been burnin' My soul keeps yearnin' Sometimes I can't hardly wait For that sweet, sweet someday When I'll be swept away To another time and another place
I've grown so tired of earthly things They promise peace but furnish pain All of life's sweetest joys combined Could never match those in another time And though I've put my trust in Christ And felt His Spirit move in my life I know it's truly just a taste Of His glory in another place
Thanks Sandi, you have touched so many lives
with that beautiful instrument, but as for me, you have inspired, mentored,
challenged, evoked emotion in me through my adult life as I walked through the
pitfalls, the highs, and quiet moments of life. Your voice is ever near,
encouraging me, bringing my spirits up, cheering me, or your songs are on my lips
mimicking you as I go.
I lift your talent on high, but realize you are
a real person, with real issues and do not profess to be that perfect person or
perfect Christian who has it all together. You come across as someone you can
sit with and share your stories and laugh.
My decades of listening to you has been has been
More than Wonderful and you have made my life better.
How lucky am I that I was able to have a Sandi
Patty song ready to play in my head, or on my record player, cassette player, CD
player, and mp3 player.
The good news is when I reach Heaven, Sandi and
I can sing an epic duet even though I will probably be standing in line a few
centuries waiting my turn for the opportunity. But, it will be worth the wait.
Does
anyone really wake up with the thought that today may be the day they die? Saying
goodbye to your loved one seems so trivial until you look back and realize it
was the last goodbye. Then, it becomes a moment stuck in your memory that had
so much importance… but you did not see it coming. You relive all those last
days over and over again, savoring the countdown remembrance until the last
glimpse. At
34 years old, with two sons, six and ten years old, I faced the toughest challenge of my
life and upheld a family tradition of becoming a young widow. Both my
grandmothers and my aunt lost their husbands prematurely, two from car
accidents and one from cancer. I never dreamed I too would continue the custom.
Norman
was my husband for 16 and a half years, whom I married at a young and naive 18 years
old. Almost immediately, we traveled the world in a Contemporary Christian
singing group called Sound of Joy. We were full time Christian singers on tour in a greyhound bus, performing in 26…
Like in a relationship with my spouse, the bond is created with time spent in each other's presence and conversation. Without that time together, we begin to fill in the blanks with our own interpretations of their thoughts. Misunderstandings are created with assigning wrong motivations for certain acts. Our insecurities grow, especially when we feel less valuable because other priorities take precedent over our time. Accusations and Fear and then bitterness...seep in and cracks in the bond begin to shake the foundation of a marriage.
If you are not spending personal time with God, does that concern you? Or are you OK with it?
There are no boxes to check to Salvation. You don't have to read your Bible 20 minutes a day and pray before you go to bed, or attend a Church building service to fulfill your duties that stamps you as a Christian.
But, if you are not even doing those small practices, then are you sure you are?
This God thing is not a Cultural Expectation way of belief …
