Retracing the Tracks of Life

Today Brenda was looking through some photos that she wanted to put on her "magic" frame--you know, the ones that play photos on a video screen. She found some pictures from when we all went to California for a week, just before Josh was to start his first year of school. There we were at Disneyland: Brenda and I in our 90s hair, and the kids hugging Mickey. The memories come flooding back. And as I celebrate the passing time and the blessings of family and friends, I wonder if there were things that I could have done, as a dad and husband, to make our lives even better.

This week I spent a lot of time in my studio recording. I am the guitar player, the engineer and the editor since producers look to me to bring the whole kit and caboodle. Even after I record the individual guitar parts, I go back through each track to make sure they are clean and that no outside noises or unwanted material remains. I do cross-fades, zero-out dead space and combine each piece into a whole. I do the same process for every guitar track before I send out the finished product to the various people I work with. This process takes a lot of time. I have to make several decisions on the spot, make fixes if necessary, and move on to the next several seconds of audio. In order to keep going, I need to trust the little decisions I make along the way. And by the time I get to the end of each track, I make one last scan over the whole thing before committing. I record songs that require ten guitar parts sometimes. So to not waste time, I must learn to trust my instincts as I go along.

This process of retracing my guitar tracks applies to life. We could spend an inordinate amount of time second guessing our decisions. But if we make good decisions along the way--little insignificant ones, at least in the broad scheme--they all add up to a great life with no regrets. Yes, I wish for a lot of things: maybe that I could have gone in other directions with my career. But I know that the small choices I made were the right ones. So I have to trust myself and God Who guides me.

I am so proud of the way my family has grown. Brenda is my chief blessing in life. As we all travel down to Birmingham for the 4th to see my brother Jon and his family, I am so grateful that Josh and Betsy, along with their spouses, will join us. Man, how time flies!