Remembering Wendy Bagwell & The Sunliters

One of the most colorful and enjoyable groups to ever grace a Southern Gospel stage was Wendy Bagwell & The Sunliters. Those who never got the opportunity to see or hear them perform really missed a treat. One of the few groups to sing for almost 40 years with no personnel changes really spoke volumes about them. They had their own unique style that really identified with a lot of people and they became one of the top sellers for Canaan Records, a company they stayed with from 1970 until Wendy’s untimely death in 1996.

Wendy Bagwell & The Sunliters was one of the groups I cut my teeth on as a kid. For some reason, I loved their music and Wendy’s comedy. Wendy, who admittedly was not the best singer in the world, was smart enough to surround himself with great talent, and with Little Jan Buckner and Geraldine Morrison by his side, they sang and laughed their way to Carnegie Hall and across the ocean into Europe; not many groups can add those highlights to their resume.

In my spare time, which isn’t much, I have been transferring my favorite tunes by Wendy Bagwell & The Sunliters from my collection of records and tapes to CD. So far, I’ve completed 4 CDs worth of great music. As I’ve been listening, I’ve again realized just how great they really were. Granted, no one could spin a tale like Wendy, and no matter how many times I’ve heard him talk about Wilbur Wingate or Ralph Bennett or Corrine Cunningham, I still can’t help but double over in laughter. But at the core of their vocal sound, was Little Jan and Jerri. No one could harmonize better than those two ladies. Jerri had a voice that one could easily recognize. She had a voice that wouldn’t quit and as Wendy would say, “could tear the wall paper off the wall.” She had volume and quite a range as well. Then there was Little Jan. I have always been such a huge fan of Little Jan’s singing. She is such a stylist and had a voice that was so pure and perfect. As I’ve been transferring these records onto CD, I’ve had a blast listening to Little Jan transform herself and evolve into the stylist she has become. It was in the early to mid 1970’s that Little Jan really came into her own as a singer and it was then that the group began to gel into their own unique style. In the beginning, the group had very much of a folk sound. But as the 60s rolled into the 70s, the group, while maintaining that folk feel, began to evolve into the legendary icon they’ve become today. To me, the music they made in the 1980’s was the pinnacle of their career, producing some really GREAT records like “All Together Now”, “Above it All”, “It Ain’t Love ‘Til You Give it Away”, “Let’s Turn the Lights On” and “What’s That Name”. Even as the1990’s came around and they weren’t touring as much as they once did, they still made some great music. Two of their best from this era were “Tell it Again” and “Roll Away the Stone.” It was a great shock and tremendous loss when Wendy died suddenly on June 13, 1996. I saw the group perform at an outdoor event in Stuart, Virginia one month prior to his death, and I’m so glad I did.

Probably one of my fondest memories of Wendy was back in July 1988. I was 16 years old and was a Saturday DJ for a local Christian radio station. I attended a concert with Wendy Bagwell & The Sunliters and the Hemphills and did radio interviews with both groups. Wendy took me on their bus and did an interview with me and he made this timid, shy 16-year-old feel like somebody special and treated me with kindness and respect. I always appreciated that, and never forgot it.

While I love the music of today, I don’t ever want people to forget those who paved the way for them. Wendy Bagwell & The Sunliters not only paved the way, they were trailblazers. There has never been a group quite like them, and probably will never be again. Everybody always tends to remember the Statesmen, Blackwood Brothers, Happy Goodman Family and such when names are called out as great groups in Gospel Music; Wendy Bagwell & The Sunliters is a name that rarely gets mentioned. By all standards, these guys were great and are truly missed.

Of the group, Little Jan is the only living member and you can see some great vintage photos of the group on Little Jan’s website, www.littlejanbuckner.com.

The Best of…Heirloom

This year for Christmas I got what I’ve been wanting for the last 2 years…a CD recorder, whereby I can transfer my many, many, many records and tapes onto CD. Having this contraption has been everything I dreamed it be; only problem being my wife now thinks I love it more than I love her…though I continue to assure her that I do, as I sprint my way to my music room. She just shakes her head. LOL!

Anyway, while I haven’t gotten a lot of records done, I’ve been thumbing through some tapes and ran across this little gem I’ve had for quite sometime called, “The Best of Heirloom.” Remember them? They were a short-lived female trio originally consisting of Tanya Goodman-Sykes, Sheri Easter and Candy Hemphill-Christmas. Eventually Sheri left because of the demanding road schedule of Jeff & Sheri Easter. Tanya and Candy brought on board Barbara Fairchild and they continued on. I remember I loved listening to this recording and it evokes some powerful moments of worship, praise and reflection with such songs as “Prayer Warrior”, “Crying in the Garden”, “Beside the Bedside of a Neighbor”, “There’s Still Power in the Blood”, “Suffer the Little Children”, “I Know Jesus”, “Mountain of Sorrow” and “Send Down Your Glory”. When these ladies were going strong back in the early 1990’s, I don’t think I fully appreciated their music. But as I’ve grown, so has their music to me. I find it quite relevant to my life today and have found these tunes coming back to minister and speak to me.

My one regret is I never got around to getting their last recording, a “Hymns” project, which included all 4 ladies. I only heard one song from it, “Crying Holy Unto the Lord”, as it was the single release. I’ve never found this recording since the days after it was released, and would have loved to hear these ladies tackle those great hymns. I know the harmonies would have been heavenly.

If there was a title aptly used, it is “The Best of Heirloom”, because these songs truly were the best of the best from their 3 recorded offerings prior to this release. It is my opinion that these ladies need to resurrect Heirloom and record just one more time.

These are a Few of My Favorite Things…

Since we’re coming up on Christmas, I thought I’d take a few moments to run down a makeshift list of my personal favorite Christmas recordings. At first, I thought I might try to list the ones I consider to be the greatest Christmas recordings of our genre, but decided against it and just list my top 8 favorites (in no certain order). So, here ‘tis…

1 – Hoppers-“Glad Tidings” (aka-“Great Joy”)
I will admit that this one ranks at the top of my favorite Christmas CDs. It has all the sounds and songs of a great Christmas recording. The orchestrations are absolutely heavenly. My only gripe is the couple of songs that they used what I call “fake orchestrations”. It really cheapens the whole recording when compared to the colossal orchestral arrangements by Wayne Haun. That one minor detail certainly doesn’t detract me from enjoying this recording to the fullest extent. Just the first 4 songs alone are worth the price of the CD.

2 – Denver & The Mile High Orchestra-“Timeless Christmas”
This one ranks at the top as well. This one and the Hoppers are the only Christmas recordings that I listen to outside of the Christmas season. I have never made it a habit since I’ve been writing for SoGospelNews to write reviews for Christmas recordings, as I find them very hard to do. When I heard this one, I just HAD to tackle it. If you own only ONE Christmas recording, be sure it’s this one.

3 – Talleys-“A Family Christmas”
Very few groups have been able to touch the music of the original Talleys, and this ranks as probably one of, if not their very finest work. Released way back in 1988, this has the feel of a superb Christmas recording, and includes some great traditional Christmas songs, as well as a few new ones, but all done with the finesse and class that is unmistakably “Talleys”.

4 – Amy Lambert-“Home for Christmas”
Released back in 1996, I love the feel of this recording; it’s very simple, yet very elegant. It has a Smoky Mountain feel to it, and is one you can just sit back and enjoy over and over again. You can almost smell the smoke from the fireplace when you sit and listen to it.

5-John Berry-“O Holy Night”
Much like Amy Lambert’s “Home for Christmas” recording, this too has that simple, yet elegant feel. Lots of acoustical instrumentation makes this so easy to listen to. I will admit, I’ve not followed Berry’s Country Music career, but if his music is like this recording, I think I could be a real fan.

5 – Canaan Records-“Country Christmas”
This was a variety album released on Canaan Records back in 1981. Artists that were on Canaan at the time (Happy Goodmans, Cathedrals, Florida Boys, Lewis Family, Inspirations, etc.) went in the studio and recording one song each. Also, I love the cover picture on the record. If there was ever a great wintry, Christmas cover, this is the one! I bought this record sometime in the mid 1980s and it is this album that introduced me to what has become my all-time favorite Christmas song, “O Holy Night”, and Johnny Cook and the Goodmans perform it magnificently.

6 – Wayne Watson-“One Christmas Eve”
It’s not a Southern Gospel recording, but when this was released about 12 years ago, I bought it on a whim and loved it from beginning to end. It’s Contemporary, but it’s great. It also includes some tunes that you don’t normally find on the average Christmas recording such as “I Wonder as I Wander” and “Sweet Little Jesus Boy”.

7 – Gaither Vocal Band-“Still the Greatest Story Ever Told”
While I wouldn’t exactly call this a great “Christmas Sounding” Christmas recording, I still love it. It also contains some great songs like “Reaching”, “New Star Shining” and of course the now classic, “Mary Did You Know?”

8 – Cathedrals-“Cathedral Christmas”
This recording, released back in 1985, features the epitome of great quartet accapella singing. I’ve never been one who likes accapella recordings, because I find them boring. But I think it’s because this recording has spoiled me. While it doesn’t contain actual music, it has a definite Christmas feel and ranks in my top 8.

Emma & TaRanda

This past Saturday evening (October 14), I took my little girl to see the Greenes at Riverside Baptist Church in Graham, North Carolina. Let me kind of set things up…

I had told Emma we had a couple of surprises for her on Saturday. We had a fun family day at a local farm (which was surprise #1) where Emma rode on a train, enjoyed a nice hayride, saw some great animals and came home with a big, orange pumpkin right from the pumpkin patch. Emma had a blast. We came home and prepared ourselves for surprise #2. Let me stop here and inject something here…for as long as Emma can remember, I have always made promises to her, and have always bent over backwards to keep them. I haven’t broken one yet, as I am smart enough to try to keep it safe as to what exactly I promise. But if I promise it, I make it happen. Well, Emma knows that, and she’ll tell you that daddy always keeps his promises. So with that in mind, the hay was murder on my wife’s allergies and she ended up with a bad headache, so she opted to stay home and true to my word, I took Emma to hear the Greenes.

Now anyone who knows me knows that I am a BIG fan of the Greenes, and an even bigger fan of TaRanda. My wife and I fell in love with her spirit and her voice when we first met her not long after she joined the Greenes. Anyway, Emma is probably a bigger fan than I am. She has TaRanda’s “A Thing Called Love” CD memorized word for word and note for note. Needless to say, Emma was so excited to go see the Greenes.

The Greenes did their normal marvelous job and TaRanda had already sung “Sky Full of Angels” earlier in the evening. Tony was wrapping up the invitation and TaRanda mouthed to me asking if Emma would come up and sing with her. I asked Emma and being the shy little girl that she is, shook her head no. I tried asking again, but she wouldn’t give in…even after TaRanda poked her lip out and gave Emma those sad puppy dog eyes. As Tony was wrapping things up and closing out the evening, TaRanda said someone had requested her sing “Sky Full of Angels” again. So as she belts out the song, she comes out into the audience and approaches me and Emma and has me sing a couple words into the microphone, and then she let Emma have it as Emma sang, “Nobody but Jesus gonna take my soul.” It was priceless! I was about as proud of a daddy as anyone could be. It was just precious to me. It was all Emma could talk about on the half hour trip back home. And she wouldn’t let me leave without getting a DVD so she could watch them sing anytime she wanted to.

I said all that to simply say, “thank you” to TaRanda for making a little 5 year old’s day and hopefully in some way, instilling a great love for this music that her daddy has. And beyond that, instilling the messages found in these great songs. I pray that as she tucks these messages in her spirit, that they come alive in her as she grows older and she realizes that she really does have a sky full of angels watching over her as well as a Heavenly Father who loves her more than she’ll ever comprehend.

My Thoughts About NQC 2006

I attended my 4th National Quartet Convention this year. I attended NQC the first time back in 1995 and again in 1996. Then I got married, had a kid and did not go back until 2003. Other things took priority in my life the last couple of years and I finally made a way to go this year. So how was it? I’m so glad you asked!

Over all, it was great. I never did get to actually see any of the evening shows live. But I did catch bits and pieces of it on TV screens throughout the exhibition hall. Young Harmony had a wonderful idea of setting up a big screen, some couches and chairs, a couple of foot massagers, and I tell ya…it was one of the most popular booths there! I never got the chance to use the foot massager, but the people I did see use it, sure looked happy!

The exhibit hall was a monster all by itself. My assessment was the hall wasn’t quite as busy as I had noticed it in years past. I think that mostly had to do with the long walk from the arena. Another thing was it was so easy to get lost and turned around. I did not like the layout of the exhibition hall at all. Also, there were quite a few empty booths as well and I noticed a lot of booths were elaborately decorated like in the past either. On top of the long walk to the exhibition hall, you also had to walk all the way through the exhibits to get to the food court. Now, I know that is the way it was in the old exhibit hall, but they could have put the food court at the other end to help the older folks since there already a long walk involved. By the time you got the food court, you’d forgotten what you came there for!

But beyond that, I had a blast. I took in some showcases and was able to see and hear some great music and receive a great spiritual blessing by such artists as the Dills, Jonathan White, the Imperials, the Shepherds, Karen Peck & New River, as well as the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. I even got to meet Lari Goss, which was absolutely the highlight of NQC for me. I got to sit and talk with him for about 45 minutes, and it was such a highlight. I was so in the clouds, I forgot to get my camera out and get a picture of the two of us. Oh well…at 34 years old, my mind isn’t what it used to be!

I had a blast sitting and visiting with such people as the Dills (you guys are a riot!), the Imperials (when is that CD coming out?), McCray Dove and David Hester of the Dove Brothers, Scott Robinson of Eighth Day, Karen Harding, Kenny Bishop, Dean Adkins, Gayla Fooks, Joan and Cecil Long (you probably don’t know them, but they are some of the most precious people you’d ever meet), Jonathan White, Daryl Williams, Kyla Rowland, Josh Garner (Florida Boys), Larry Ferguson, Heather and Kaye Richards of Southern Gospel Impact, as well as all the Unthanks and so many others. As my wife says, I am in my element right there in the exhibition hall. I came home with a TON of music. At this point, it is almost 2 weeks since I came home, and I am not even halfway through the music yet. I will say that the prize find for me was a DVD of the Happy Goodman Family in concert in Arlington, Texas from 1974. As soon as I got home and put my bags down, I immediately went to the DVD player and put it in and watched every minute of it. In my eyes, that DVD is a priceless treasure.

All in all, the 2006 NQC was a great for me. The icing on the cake though was SoGospelNews winning the SG Impact award during the Diamond Awards on Friday. I know that was a proud moment for them and I am proud to be a part of a winning team. Not sure at this point when I will be back to NQC…got lots of things to squeeze into the next couple years, but I guarantee I’ll be back and as always, expecting a great time!

Change & NQC

They say the only thing constant in this life is change. I guess that could be the Southern Gospel motto, because change is always around us. If the music isn’t evolving, then group membership is, and especially around this time of year (NQC time) there is always bound to be some changes that will make us shake our heads.

At the time of this writing, the biggest change for me is the exit of Loren Harris from the Perrys. What a phenomenal vocal talent. I have always been impressed with Loren, all the way back to his days with the Wilburns. Such feeling and emotion to his voice, and he has an edginess to his voice that many singers would love to have, and he could interpret a song like few singers can; the mark of a true artist. And on top of that, he was a really nice guy. I always enjoyed talking to Loren and am so glad I got to see them sing back in early July before his big exit was made. I am sad to see him go, but I have confidence that the Perrys will remain strong and God will send the right singer along.

This time of year seems to always bring about a bit of uncertainty, and being one who does not like change, it’s always hard to see some of these changes. I’ve worked with the same company for over 9 years, so it’s kind of hard for me to see someone switch groups ever few years, but to each his own I suppose.

As I gear up for NQC, I am excited about what the week will hold. I don’t get to go every year, so it’s always a treat when time does permit me to make the great escape to that glorified flea market there in Louisville. This time of year always brings out new recordings and new songs and there is some great new music I am definitely making sure I don’t leave NQC without! Meeting new folks and hearing new talent is always a treat as well. So while I may fly home rough and ragged from my time spent at the National Quartet Convention, I am sure I will reflect back and remember great friends, great conversation, great music and of course, great food!

Officially “Hymned”

You can now say that I am officially “Hymned” thanks to Bart Millard’s solo release “Hymned”. As one who considers himself to be a Progressive Traditionalist when it comes to Southern Gospel Music (If you want to put it in political terms, I’m a Democrat when it comes to my music! LOL!), I absolutely love “Hymned”.

From the cool piano intro on “Just a Closer Walk With Thee” to the haunting dobro stains of “The Old Rugged Cross”, this is one of the best hymn recordings to come out in a long time. Hymn recordings are always hard to do. So many of them are dry and boring and they are treated like second-rate recordings; when these tried and true songs of the faith should be treated with respect and recorded as such. In my opinion, one of the best hymns recordings was the one Howard & Vestal Goodman did back in 1983 called “Take us Back” which has what I think is probably the greatest vocal and musical performance of “Blessed Assurance” ever done, as Vestal literally blows it out of the water. But this new (well, it’s not that new anymore) hymns recording by Millard really rocks. It proved a fact I figured out a long time ago, these old hymns still work.

While most SG artists are respectful towards hymns, as I said earlier, they still tend to be very dry and quite boring. I find for my own personal tastes, that most CCM artists tend to over produce and re-arrange hymns in such a way that they can almost be musically offensive. While there are some off the wall arrangements on a couple of tunes on “Hymned”, I actually love them all. I love what Millard did with “In the Sweet By & By” as a tribute to his Mawmaw. My little 5-year-old loves that song and we sing it to each other almost every other day. The arrangement for “My Jesus I Love Thee/’Tis So Sweet” is absolutely mesmerizing. Also, one of the highlights for me was hearing Millard along with Russ Taff belt out the lyrics to “Precious Lord, Take My Hand”. The remainder of the song list on this musically innovative recording include “Pass me Not”, “Just a Little Talk with Jesus”, “Softly and Tenderly”, “Sweetest Name I Know” and “There is Power in the Blood”.

It’s very obvious that these tunes hold a special place in Millard’s life and are the foundation of who he is spiritually. This recording will no doubt introduce a vast generation of Praise & Worshipers to the foundations of our faith and our music that is found in these great hymns. And here we all thought that hymns were a thing of the past. Thank you Bart, for bringing some of these great songs back to center stage.

The Dove Brothers Quartet - A Concert Review

Southern Gospel Music doesn’t normally come to my neck of the woods; usually I have to go to where IT is. This time it came to me in the form of the Dove Brothers Quartet about 15 minutes from the house. It was a private event for a local electric co-op annual business meeting. They have had Southern Gospel groups several times in the past to provide the entertainment such as the Kingsmen, Greenes, Lewis Family, Florida Boys, Dixie Melody Boys, etc. This year that brought in the Doves, and it was a great evening, to say the least. It was also great to see Eric back with the group, as this was his second week back.

Opening the evening was a local group I know very well called Master’s Image and they did a great job. They did about 4-5 songs and were very well received. After Master’s Image, the Dove Brothers hit the stage with the Mosie Lister classic, “Blow Your Trumpet, Gabriel”. During their roughly 30 minute set, they zipped through several songs including, “On Revival Day”, “Have a Nice Day”, “Anything But Ordinary, Everything But Typical”, “Gossip the Gospel”, “That’s Why I Love to Call His Name”, “Walk that Lonesome Road” and of course, “Didn’t it Rain”. Before the set was done, pianist Jerry Kelso (can this guy be anymore enthusiastic on stage?) wowed the crowd with his rendition of “How Great Thou Art”.

The co-op had their annual business meeting, which lasted for about 40 minutes or so, then the Doves came back on and primarily stuck with just the piano and the four voices, and they sounded splendid. No tracks or stacks. Nothing wrong with that all, as I have no problem with either; it just really shows what a group is made of when they can more than adequately carry a program without using them. Before they could start, a lady on the front row called out “On the Wings of a Dove.” McCray said they recorded that on one of their first recordings, but they have never really sung it out…then he added the clincher, “You’d think we’d do it every night since we ARE the Dove Brothers!” Everyone laughed at the quip, before McCray led the group in a couple of choruses of the song before moving on to several other tunes including, “Known Only to Him”, “Beyond the Sunset” (Jerry Martin took the hide off that song! Wow…what a performance!), “Heavenly Love” and “The Fourth Man”. I have to mention that David Hester did an awesome job on “Thanks to Calvary”. I know George Younce would have been awfully proud. The Doves ended the evening with their sugar stick, “Get Away Jordan”, to a very enthusiastic crowd.

Many times these types of crowds are a hard sell because they are typically unfamiliar with Southern Gospel Music, but this crowd seemed to really enjoy the music of the Dove Brothers. The guys were at the top of their game this night, and really showed everyone how exciting traditional male quartet music can be. I enjoyed them immensely, and thoroughly enjoyed the conversations with them afterwards and I look forward to seeing them again soon!

I Don’t Want to Be a Gospel Singer

My life dream since I listened to my first record as a 6 year old kid was to be a gospel singer. Growing up, my fantasy was to buy a big ol’ bus and hit the road. Up until just this week, it has always remained my hope and dream to be a “gospel singer.”

What changed? Well, I’m so glad that you asked!

Observing all the comments I have read in various and sundry places on the Internet surrounding the marriage of Kathy Crabb has caused me to re-think this foolish dream of mine. Why would I want to subject my family or myself to such scrutiny and criticism? Why would I want people telling me what I should or shouldn’t do and what an awful person I am or whatever the case may be, when they really have no clue about me or my life or my personal walk with Christ, though many people would like to think that they do? I know we all have opinions, and its just human nature to be nosy and want to know everything and voice opinions. But, some people just have no clue where to draw the line.

So many people have appointed themselves the judge of all, when they just need to keep to themselves and keep their own house in order, and get a life. If there is a problem in my life, sure enough…God knows about it and He will take care of business! He doesn’t need everybody else’s thoughts and opinions about the subject. He’s run things since the beginning of time, and I think He knows what He’s doing.

I am not pointing fingers, as I too, have been judgmental in the past when I needed not to be. But, God has taught me some things through the years that have helped me see things differently than I used to.

So, with my thoughts lying on table, I think I’ll just stick mostly to singing at my own church…Lord knows the local church has enough issues to deal with than to go around singing everywhere else!

I Can’t Complain

I’ve had bad days, and I’ve had hills to climb
I’ve had sad days, and often a weary mind
But when I look around, and I think these things all out
All of the good days, out weigh the bad days, I can’t complain

God is so good to me; yes He’s so good to me
More than this world could be, He’s so good to me
His Spirit came to me, and gave me Victory
God is so good to me, I can’t complain

Romans 5:3 tell us that our trials are good for us, and that they help us to learn to endure. I have found over the course of the past year or so, that though trials may seemingly overtake us, God is so good and is teaching us how to trust and lean upon Him. Our reliance is not unto ourselves, but is solely in the Lord. Over the past year or so my family has endured many things…my wife suffered a miscarriage in January of 2005…my wife was laid off in September of 2005, and came to find out she was pregnant. While we were happy at the prospect of having another child, we were trying to figure out how we’d financially take care of an extra child with an unemployed spouse (we need the second income) and wondering who in the world would hire a pregnant woman. In our struggle for answers, my wife had another miscarriage in November. Through it all, we were wondering what the Lord is doing with us. We appreciate the fact that He trusted us enough to give us these tests, but sometimes you honestly feel enough is enough! Though it’s been 5 months since the last miscarriage, we are both still wrestling with the whys. But through it all I have gained a newfound respect for my wife, as I have seen her become a much stronger person, though she may not think so.

Still dealing with the above circumstances among other things over the past year, a song written over 30 years ago continues to come to my mind called, “I Can’t Complain” written by a gentleman named Don Johnson. The second verse of the song says it so well for me…

Sometimes the clouds hang low, and I’d like to see them go
And then I question, “Lord why so much pain”
But He knows what’s best for me, although I cannot see
So I’ll just say “Thank you Lord”, I can’t complain

I don’t know how people who don’t know the Lord go through such adversity. I’m so thankful that I have a God I can call upon and lean on when I don’t know what to do. I have an Advocate with the Father who hears my pleas and feels my pain and continually gives me strength. (I John 2:1)

I don’t know why we have to go through these valleys that seem to come one right after another. I do know we all have our crosses to bear and the Bible tells us that it rains on both the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45), though sometimes we feel we’re the only ones going through the trials. But I do know it’s through these times, God wants to see us grow stronger in Him and realize that it’s not by our own strength, but it’s through His strength that we get through. After all, it’s part of our continual perfection.

I guess it’s like the old hymn that says, “Some through the water, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood, some through great sorry, but GOD GIVES A SONG…in the night season and all the day long.” Yes, in our night season, God gives a song. A song of praise and thanksgiving, that He has brought us through yet, another storm, another heartache, another trial. And He loves infinitely more than we will ever fathom in this life, and when we begin to scratch the surface of that love, mercy and grace, we bow with a thankful heart and realize that we really can’t complain much at all.

"I Can’t Complain"
Don Johnson/Centerpoint Music Company/BMI