So many of you have heard me share my testimony and sing this song with it...I thought I would finally post it in writing for you to reflect upon... I pray you are blessed... and free.

I’m Free (William J. and Gloria Gaither)

So long, I have searched for life’s meaning… Growing up in a home that was torn apart by violence, rage, alcoholism and abuse, I was a tattered child, unsure of my purpose in life and much deeper, my reason for existence. It didn’t seem I had one. I was a timid child, afraid of the dark and afraid of what tomorrow would hold. I didn’t fit in well being the only hearing-impaired child in the family. I spoke with a “funny accent” (so the kids used to tell me on a daily basis). I thought it best to withdraw and just focus on my work; overachieving came natural to me.

Enslaved by the world and my greed…I didn’t need anyone else, just myself, man’s accolades, my trophies, numerous awards, scholarships, titles, ribbons, recognition, prestige, pride, and the limited condemning knowledge I had of God.

Then the door of my prison was opened by love, for the ransom was paid, I was freed… As a young teen, my cousin asked me one day, “Do you know Jesus?” “Yes,” I replied, “I love Him.” “Did you ever make Him Lord of your life?” She persisted. “Well, I believe in Him…” “Let’s pray,” she said “and invite Him to take over your life.” So we did. A few years later, my mother and father, who divorced each other when I was 5, both went through their second and fourth divorces that same year, resulting in 16 scattered brothers and sisters. This deep hurt and continual sense of rejection from a lack of unconditional, repentant love catapulted my search for significance to a whole new level. Years passed of me trying to do it on my own. I put up walls and became a master of charades. I laughed when I wanted to cry and screamed when I wanted to hide. Suffering heartaches, broken relationships, broken dreams and witnessing shattered lives, I was floundering emotionally but seemingly together externally. I found myself lying on the floor one night, beseeching God to help me end this pain. I wanted out. In a final ditch effort, I asked this “big God” who supposedly existed in this crater-sized hole in my heart, to give me one good reason why I should remain here. It was at that moment, that I saw the bloodstained face of Jesus Christ upon the cross with the thorns on his head piercing His brow, gently lift His head to say “I died for you, will you live for me?”

I jumped to my feet and begged God for forgiveness. I realized that through Christ’s sacrifice (not mine) that I’m free from the fear of tomorrow, I’m free from the guilt of my past and I’ve traded my shackles for a glorious song, I’m free, praise the Lord, free at last. Despite various obstacles and everyday challenges, I know now that I am free from the guilt that I carried, from the dull empty life I am set free… For when I (really) met Jesus He made me complete, He forgot the foolish child I used to be. Thank you Jesus! “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32).

On February 11, 2012, I heard the news that my singing hero and biggest musical influence had died...Whitney Houston, age 48. For those of you who don't know, I decided that I wanted to be a professional singer the very first day I heard Whitney Houston sing, "The Greatest Love of All." From that moment on, I became consumed with all things Whitney. I had her cassettes, posters, videos, articles, taped interviews, and even bought clothes and hair bands to look like her... I thought she was the most beautiful woman alive with the best voice ever! Period. To this day, the greatest birthday gift I ever remember receiving was a ticket, from my parents, to see Whitney Houston at the NY State Fair.

The year was 1987. I remember being so excited that I was trembling the night before and all through the car ride to the State Fair. This was the first time I ever bought a t-shirt with an artist's face on it, covering the entire length of the shirt. I loved that shirt--I even slept in it as a kid. I remember entering the Grand Stand, rushing past the gate to take my seat, wondering just how close I would be to my "idol"-- I could not believe I was actually going to see her in person! My seat, as it turned out, was three rows from the last row in the whole place, with a big pole right in front of me! But, I didn't care: I was there and so was Whitney. I was in the same place at the same time, breathing the same air as her... who would have ever thought this could happen?! I watched her anxiously throughout the two hour concert, examining her every move through a pair of binoculars, getting chills every time I heard her effervescent vibrato and her powerhouse vocals crescendo--something I only hoped and dreamed I would be able to do someday.

As time went on, I studied her dramatic phrasing and vocal styling: her perfectly punctuated syllables and her never ending vocal rifts and trills that should have earned her an Olympic Gold Medal in vocal acrobatics! I watched every award show, tribute, special--ANYTHING that had her name on it. I wrote her fan club more times than I can remember and saw her in 5 more concerts, including one where I sat in the front row--I swear she must have thought that the little white girl standing and screaming all night was crazy!! But, I do think she waved at me once...so I like to believe anyway...

Slowly but surely, I watched her career reach unprecedented success and her life take on many changes; one of which, was marrying Bobby Brown. At that time, it became very apparent to me that not only was Whitney's music changing (transitioning from less contemporary to more R & B), so, her life roles, too, were changing. She became an actress, producer and ultimately, a mother...

My life was also changing... I was college bound and had been through a number of heartaches, including watching my parents divorce-- a couple of times. I was struggling with my identity as I wanted to be a professional singer (actually, I wanted to BE Whitney Houston and had to accept the fact that I was not, vocally or otherwise), but my grades and my parents pushed me into another direction--academics. Rightly so. As such, I became a chiropractor. Little did I know, through a series of life's twists and turns, and God's faithfulness (He remembers the desires of our hearts), that, one day, I would become a "singing chiropractor," and even sing some black gospel along the way.

I loved black gospel music and became part of a black gospel church. Eventually, and with much convincing, I came to revere and respect various other styles of gospel music. I remember one night, about that time, very clearly... during a quiet prayer with God, I felt compelled to "dethrone the idols in my life," as commanded in the Bible; that is, I was to "have no other Gods but the Lord." This may sound strange to you, but, I took down every poster, removed every audio cassette, and boxed up nearly 30 hours of video footage that I painstakingly collected over the years and gave it all away. Please do not misunderstand: I didn't stop admiring Whitney or loving her voice, but I wanted to love the Lord more...first. I needed to get my priorities straight. I realized that Whitney was a real person, with a family and priorities--and one of them was her daughter. So, I sent all of the video tapes to Whitney's management, for her daughter, with a note telling Whitney that I thought her daughter would like these someday... I had no idea how true those words would ring, yesterday, as she was pronounced "dead," in a hotel room, where her 18 year old daughter, in utter hysterics, was unable to access her for hours.

I do not know if her daughter ever got those tapes, but I do know, that God truly does work in strange and mysterious ways (Is 55:8, 1 Cor 2:7) and that the Bible says "obedience is better than sacrifice" (I Sam 15:22). I was obedient, that day, to do what I "heard" to do. Now 18 years later, I see the reason why. It is evermore real to me how we must trust the Lord, our God, during our most difficult and confusing times. Scriptures tell us that "He is our ever present help in time of need" (Psalm 46:1).

To Whitney: the greatest voice of all…"I will always love you."

To God: thank you for this gracing us with this gifted voice but most of all, thank you for your gift of grace, through your son, Jesus.

With much love,

Sherry Anne 

Satan started searching frantically, screaming, "It's gone! It's all gone! I lost everything when the power went out!"

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of His files from the past two hours.

Satan observed this and became irate. "Wait! He cheated! How did He do it?"

God shrugged and said, "Jesus saves."                       --Anonymous

I really like this email... it reminds me so much of the story in the Bible where the 450 false prophets of Baal challenged God's true prophet, Elijah (1 Kings 18:20-40) to a showdown. Don't believe me, read the book!  Baal was a false god that the people of Israel were worshipping rather than Yahweh--the one true God. So, in order to settle the debate, Elijah ordered that the both the false prophets and he set up an altar with which to offer up a sacrifice--each to his own God. Both would lay wood under the sacrifice and both had to call upon their God/god to consume the sacrifice (in other words, start the fire). So, in the morning, the 450 prophets began calling for their god. No response. By evening, they were wailing to the point of harming themselves and still no fire. Elijah, observing all this, called for his sacrifice to be drenched with 4 large pots of water. He then gathered all the people around his now soaking wet offering and called upon his God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel). Immediately fire came down from Heaven and consumed not only the sacrifice but all the water too!

So, I wonder, where are you today? Are you trusting in man-made idols? Are you bowing down to inanimate objects? Placing your faith in silver or gold? Is your trust in material or financial resources? Friends, our hope, trust, faith and peace can only be in one thing... Jesus. It is He who saves our very souls from the torment of hell. He, alone, carried all our burdens, pain and sin to the cross. Offer yourself up to Him today. Allow Him to consume your life and give you a renewed sense of purpose while yet, still here, on this earth.  Sherry Anne

10... God won't ask about the places you travelled, He'll lovingly take you to your mansion in Heaven (if you believed in His Salvation) and not to the gates of Hell.            --Anonymous

*Will you look to Him/turn to Him today? The Bible says that "His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts" (Is. 55:9). The Creator of this universe is not concerned with the things temporal or the things that will pass away, rather, He is concerned about YOU-- His creation. He desires a relationship YOU today! In the end, the final Ten Question Test all comes down to how you used your life, with your unique set of gifts and talents, to better serve others and draw them closer to their Creator.  Sherry Anne

*During this Passover season and the time of His resurrection, may you remember that He was despised and rejected by men... He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed (Is. 53)... all because, He took your place.         Sherry Anne

THE BOYS ARE BACK--the title of the latest project from The Oak Ridge Boys captures it all...
"like four strong winds blowing through a ramshackle shack, " the lyrics say and that's exactly how the boys started the show--they filed in one after the other and took their respective quartet positions on stage (Richard, William, Duane and Joe). It wasn't long, though, before Joe was hopping all over the stage igniting the audience and swinging the microphone stand around like a ragdoll--with enough energy to make this 'young' observer tired and out of breath! Not to mention, the powerhouse lyrics were also just as breathtaking...songs like "Hold You In My Arms," "Mama's Table" and "Beautiful Bluebird" journeyed us upward and onward from yesteryear ahead to our bright future. The audience was then lulled to a grateful heart by William's, "Thank God For Kids." But, Richard was not about to let the audience relax for long--for those who remember the earlier hits of the Oaks ("Elvira" and "Bobbie Sue"), you will be shaking and tapping to "Boom Boom"--with its blues/jazz/pop infusion and similar haunting base lines...Speaking of haunting, "Seven Nation Army," is entirely captivating with its impending rock melodic riff and current with today's mainstream audiences --the boys pulled this song off with both hands tied behind their backs--experiencing this song in the flesh is worth the price of the ticket alone. Warning: you will not be able to get the base line out of your head...ever!

On this particular day, the fair was honoring Veterans and the Boys were sensitive to honor our greatest heroes by singing two songs on their behalf, erupting the audience into one of the handful of standing ovations they received throughout the night. Of course, the night would not have been complete without a jammin' guitar (and banjo) ensemble and other moments showcasing the talented musicians and crew. I think the greatest moment for me was hearing "Elvira" and "Bobbie Sue" from the left corner of the stage platform and watching the audience erupt into smiles, applause and old memories as we all probably remember exactly where we where the first time we heard those megahits...oom pah pah oom pah pah oom pah pah mau mau...

Oh yeah, the boys are DEFINITELY back... and here to stay. Before this tour is over, get to a concert near you. I enjoyed every minute of watching this great American musical heritage onstage. Don't forget to get the Cd too...it is so well crafted and each song was meticulously chosen to feature the artist's abilities. I think it is probably their best project to date. If nothing else, it will probably "...Ease Your Troublin' Mind" until we all go to "Live with Jesus" (two of my favorite songs on the CD).

Thanks Boys!!!

The Lord bless and keep you,
Sherry Anne