Wayne Watson's blog

Spending time in the driver’s seat has never bothered me. Traveling salesmen call it windshield time. Over the last few weeks, I’ve had some good windshield time.

I drove to Dallas to meet with a fantastic group of people in a ministry called
Gospel For Asia. I don’t know many that have the kind of zeal for their work as these people. They are focused on reaching a very hard-to-reach kind of place with the words of Christ.

After that meeting, I went to Monroe, Louisiana and to St. Francis Hospital. St. Francis has always been the big hospital in the area. When I was growing up, if you were in St. Francis, odds were, there was something to worry about. But also, odds were you were going to get well taken care of.

My mom went in to have a complete hip replacement on the last Tuesday in February. It all went, pretty much, as routine would order it. As a matter of fact, the day after the surgery, she was asking, “When am I going to have this surgery?”

The slow and painful rehab started that night.

For an eighty-four year old lady, it presents more than a few worries and fears but so far, over a week later, she’d doing okay.

Thanks for your prayers for her.


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I’m reading Frederick Buechner these days along side the New Testament (the book of Mark at the moment). My son, Neal, and his family gave me Buechner’s book “Secrets in the Dark” for Christmas. I’ve not read a lot of his work, but love the way he looks at things of the faith and forces me outside the box.

It occurs to me that I like it outside the box more and more. Outside the box isn’t terrifying. Outside the box, though unfamiliar, doesn’t send me into a full panic. My simple conclusion is this: After a lifetime of in-the-box thinking, living, theology, God is alive outside the box as well.

My right-before-bed reading at the moment might surprise you. European History for Dummies. No, I don’t consider myself a dummy and I have lots of other history books that are legitimate (i.e. long, heavy, lots of words, no pictures and real snoozers) but I just found this book and it looked entertaining.

During my last road trip to Nashville, I listened to an audio book version of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. It’s one of my favorite reads so I went to itunes and bought the unabridged audio version – eighteen hours! It helped fill some of the hours in radio wasteland between Houston and Nashville, Tennessee.

Anyway, A Tale of Two Cities got me thinking about the French Revolution, the hardships of the French people that lead to the overthrow and complete revamping of their social and political structure. Of course a few thousand heads had to be lopped off in the process – more than a few, I’m sure, were completely innocent. But “long live the republic” as they say. I don’t speak French.

So, while browsing the history section of the local Barnes and Noble with double shot coffee in hand, I came across The Idiot’s Guide to European History and have been very entertained and enlightened right before dosing off at night. Guess it’s better than watching Seinfeld reruns for the hundredth time.


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I played for a small group of church leaders in Pasadena, TX last night. They were mostly church education ministers there for a conference to grow their visions for a wider reach, for fellowship and, I hope, for some refreshment.

I appreciate full-time church staff people more than I ever did before. They hear and see it all and yet, by the grace, keep their eyes on the prize. I always pray that singing a few songs to them will give them a minute of rest, a smile, and a deep breath.

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Tomorrow I’m going to get six or seven hours more of windshield time – heading toward the homeland again and scheduled to play a concert in Natchez, Mississippi on Sunday evening.

Thanks for your prayers for that, too. It’s good to have the opportunity to sing again.


Wayne