THE BEGINNING PHASE OF A SONG WRITER

The Baylor revival team had conducted a revival in the First Baptist Church of Laredo, TX. It had been a difficult week and everyone was discouraged. Dick Baker returned to his room after the service one night, "longing for a fresh glimpse of anything holy." The yearning in his heart cried out for answers.

"I had a longing for Jesus," Dick said. "I had never written a song, but I got out of bed, turned on the light, and wrote the first stanza and chorus. It was so simple, " he added, "I didn't have the nerve to even introduce it or to say anything about it there in Laredo. But I kept working on it, and the following year at Ridgecrest, NC, I finished another verse and put it down."

Months later, Dr. B.B. McKinney, head of the music department for Southern Baptists, visited Baylor University. Dick approached him and asked what he needed to do with the song. Dr. McKinney took the song and carried it back to Nashville. He had it set on a metal plate, free of charge, and sent it back to Dick.

"That great man encouraged me," Dick said," and he personally began to promote and use what began as a 'longing' in Laredo," The song, a favorite with old and young alike has been translated into Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, and German hymnbooks. Since then, Dick Baker has written over 400 songs and choruses, but none speak to the heart better than "Longing for Jesus."

Incidentally, it was Dick Baker who first published one of Sue's songs entitled "Giving You Back to Jesus."

A GREAT WEEKEND

Last Friday, I attended a MOHELA Board meeting at MOHELA. I entered the meeting with a prepared statement regarding the proposed kindergarten program for "at-risk" children in the St. Louis Public School System. I have been upset by the continuing delay of getting the program off of the ground, so I called for an "Up or Down" vote for the pilot program. By the time the dust had cleared and the question called for, we now have a program called "Early Childhood College Funding Program of Missouri" by a vote of 5-2. We are now on the road to assisting children who need a bit of help in making them more productive. By the way, for what it is worth, I was re-elected chairman of the MOHELA Board.

After that meeting, I headed for St. Louis International Airport and a flight to Dallas where I would see not only my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, but also Sue. Friday was halloween and we went around Rick's neighborhood with Hudson and saw things I have never experienced with halloween. First, I have never seen so many children "trick or treating." They were all over streets, sidewalks, lawns, having a great time. It was a great time for me just to observe, besides the walking that is always good. After returning to Rick's home, we gave out a huge amount of candy (also had a lot leftover).

Saturday, Rick and I drove to Waco to see the Baylor-Mizzou football game. I have degrees from both institutions and he has a degree from Mizzou. It was a great game to see and Baylor gave Mizzou more than they wanted as the Bears lost to the Tigers by the score of 31-28. That evening, we saw the Texas-Texas Tech game on TV. What a great game that was with Tech winning in the last second of the game.

I came home Monday and prepared for a Kindergarten meeting on Tuesday. We will move this program rapidly and have it ready for the 2009-2010 school year. Also I voted on Tuesday and won some and lost some. That is the way elections go. The good thing is there will be a peaceful transition of power in January. That is always a good thing.