My Roots Run Deep

The soundtrack of my life

[ashtreegrove-blog1]

[ashtreegrove-blog1]

”My roots always keep me grounded. Roots remind me where I’m from. Even when I’m a thousand miles away from my roots, I’m home.” No matter where I go in life or what I do, I will always go back to my roots. They are what make me who I am. Knowing where I come from gives me a sense of pride, honor, and dignity. I am so proud of where my roots have brought me and who they have made me. I will never forget where I came from or what made me who I am today.

[ashtreegrove-blog1]

This song takes me back to my roots more than anything. It is a relatively old song and it is one of the first country songs that I ever learned all of the words to. “Give me a Saturday night my baby by my side, a little Hank Junior and a six-pack of lite.” “Give me a Sunday Morning that’s full of grace.” In a small town, you learn to live for Saturday nights and you better not be late for church on Sunday morning.

[ashtreegrove-blog1]

Don't ever forget where you came from. Don't let yourself get uprooted.

[ashtreegrove-blog1]

I was born and raised as a southerner and that is how I will be until that day that I die. I love lifted trucks, and going hunting and mudding is just what I did growing up. It may seem weird to some but it is how I was raised. The “Southern Land” is where I grew up. “We get rowdy and crank it up too loud.” That is the way we like it, loud and proud.

[ashtreegrove-blog1]

New believers gettin' baptized and mama's hands raised up high.

Craig Morgan

[ashtreegrove-blog1]

”Raymond’s in his Sundy best. He’s usually up to his chest in oil and grease.” Sunday mornings where I’m from means getting up at eight in the morning, being in Sunday school by nine, and service at ten. “Go home into your blue jeans. Grab some chicken and some baked beans. Pick a backyard football team.” Sunday afternoons were made for family, friends, relaxation, and football in the backyard. This all goes back to it being part of my roots because that’s what we did on Sunday afternoons.

[ashtreegrove-blog1]

Every time I hear this song it just makes me think- what if I really could go to heaven just to visit whenever I wanted to? It always seems that no matter what day it is, I always have some sort of memory come back of someone who has passed. It still hurts but you learn to cope and this song has helped me to do just that...cope with the pain. “Losing them wouldn’t be so hard to take if Heaven wasn’t so far away.” It wouldn’t be as hard to lose loved ones if Heaven wasn’t so far away because it would be simple to just take a trip and see them again.  

[ashtreegrove-blog1]

They never stop to think what's in it for me or it's way too far. They just show on up with their big 'ole heart.

Tracy Lawrence

[ashtreegrove-blog1]

Finding yourself and figuring out who you are is difficult enough in itself. Finding out who your real friends are is even more difficult. “Hit the gas, get there fast, never stop to think what’s in it for me.” Coming from a small town, everybody knows me and I know everybody. That is just how it is. This song reminds me that there were only ever a few who were really there for me and who were truly my friends. It’s the ones who never asked for anything in return when I needed something. They just did it out of the kindness of their hearts because they cared about me.

[ashtreegrove-blog1]

I have to remember that no matter what I do or what I fall into in my life, Jesus will understand and know the desires of my heart. I have done things that I am not proud of but Jesus loves and he forgives. I love to sing not only for myself but for Christ. I am very proud to call myself a Christian rooted person. “I heard Jesus, he drank wine and I bet we’d get along just fine.” Jesus understands a heart like mine always and forever.

[ashtreegrove-blog1]

This is for all the Friday and Saturday nights that were spent doing some crazy things with some crazy people. My small group of friends and I spent many weekends gathered around bonfires talking, laughing, and just having a good time. These things quickly faded as some of us graduated from high school and others of us moved away(me). We had good times while they lasted but nothing is forever. “We cuss on them Mondays and pray on them Sundays. Pass it around and we dream about one day.”

[ashtreegrove-blog1]

Acknowledegements

This album is 100% dedicated to my roots and where I came from. My parents played a huge roll in my roots and I thank them so much for that. A special thanks to those few that stuck by me in every choice that I made no matter what-Mom, Dad, Grammy, Aunt Ashley, Gampa, and may he rest in peace, Uncle Mike. Thank you all for bringing me closer to my roots in every way possible.