Randy Travis

I can't explain it, but every time I see you on tv or hear your music, I feel like I'm seeing or hearing a friend I've known all my life. If only you could've been in the room with me that night in the summer of '89 when a friend of mine was killed in a drunk driving auto accident, you may understand the spiritual connection that I feel I have with you. The song that always takes me back there is "He walked on water". I was 16 and my friend was 36 when he was killed. By that time in my life, my folks had been divorced for 11 years, for the first 5 years of my life, my mother made sure I knew Jesus loved me. Dad never disapproved of any of that but I don't recall much if any of his involvement in it. He had been raised hard by 3 aunts who were devout Jehovah's witnesses. They beat him on a daily basis until he left home at age 15, so, his first exposure to "religion" didn't leave him with a very favorable impression. Mom was also 15 when she left home. She married my 28 year old active duty army dad that year.

Given those facts, let me take you back to that night at the edge of my bed the night of the day my friend was killed. That night took me back to several stages of my life, some of which I had all but forgotten up to that moment. I remembered the Christian school dad enrolled me in after 5 years of bad experiences I had in a public school. Among other things, I was reminded that night of a concert my sister had taken me to in the summer of '86. It was a Christian concert at a church in the town dad lived in at the time. Long story short, that concert is my first recollection of answering an alter call and saying yes to Jesus.

Even up to the night of the day my friend was killed, I had heard that Jesus died on the cross, but it never registered in my mind why. As I sat there crying and missing my friend who meant everything to me, I found myself praying. At that time in my life, mom and I had no stable home but we did have a roof every day, even if we had to alternate between roofs, depending on who we were staying with that day. It was literally a day by day existance. That particular night, the roof mom and I called home was with a man who helped her fix her car after a 3 day road trip we had taken to get to Utah from Louisiana.

That was one of the few nights that I was not alone in the apartment and mom and the "handyman" were in the main room. Anyhow, I was alone in my room as I recalled the 3 months I had known this man who taught me to play pool in the bars mom and I and the handyman would frequent. Within 3 months, I had a mentor unlike I had had since I was 5 years old (another cowboy at a different time in my life). within 3 months, he had became my reason to live and now, here I sat. What do you do when the very thing keeping you alive dies?

As I said before, I found myself praying. The prayer I prayed that night still amazes me a bit, just as it did that night. I found myself asking God not to let my friend go to hell. Sometimes, I still wonder where that thought came from. I didn't know much about Heaven or hell or God or satan but what I did know was that my reason for living.......had died and wasn't coming back. This is where "He walked on water" comes in. "If the story was told, only Heaven knows, but his hat seemed to me, like an ole halo, and though his wings, they were never seen, I thought he walked on water. Lord, I cried the day he died, 'cause I thought that he walked on water". Every word of that was my friend, right down to the hat

As I sat there praying, very clear in my mind, Jesus was sitting on my bed with his right arm around me as I sat on the floor with my back on the edge of the bed. I had tears in my eyes, so, it was a bit blurry, but I could see the tears in his eyes. I remember him right down to the worn out sandles he had on. He was crying with me. Now, nearly 19 years later, I believe he has shown me why he was crying with me. I know now that he knew my friend better than I did and loved him more than I ever could. I can almost hear him say "I died for him AND you". Having Jesus to rely on is a much more secure feeling for me than a mortal human friend. He beat death a long time ago and thanks to him, I will, too one day.

I thank God, Randy, for you, for your music, for the success he has allowed you to enjoy so that people can see his faithfulness to those who sometimes mess up but in the end, come back to him with an honest heart. I've been to 2 of your concerts, Randy and by the grace of God, I hope to meet you at a future show and share some of this with you. Thanks for looking back on your life and choosing to see the hand of God on your life and choosing to walk where he leads.