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Off with a 'Flying Start'

G.G. Ferrin

For many years now, I have had a dream (shall I call it a desire in my heart?--Ps. 37:4) to write music, starting with a few children’s songs.

The desire was inspired by a song my husband, Rick, and his younger brother used to sing when they were children. Their family traveled around, singing in churches as 'The Musical Ferrins.' The boys, when they were very young, donned cowboy hats and boots, and sang about wanting to be a 'Christian Cowboy.' This was back in the days of westerns on TV, and the song was loved by kids and adults alike. (On a side note, I would give just about anything to show you a video of my husband and his brother singing that song. Alas, we have no video record of those long ago days, but I did manage to find the exact same song on Youtube! It just goes to show that little kids dressing as cowboys and singing about Jesus will never get old. Click here to enjoy it.)

The idea of writing my own music was born while we lived in Gainesville, Florida with our two young children. Rick now had a little boy of his own, and that little boy wanted to be a pilot just like his dad. I thought it would be fun to write a song about a child wanting to become a pilot, and I wanted the song to include a verse of the pilot desired to show his Christianity in his occupation.

Through 20 years of leading and directing children's choirs at First Baptist Church of Orlando, that dream led me to a goal of someday writing a children’s musical. I wanted to include songs using sounds of many different occupations; pilot, fireman, plumber, etc. I began writing the script for this musical in September of 2006, as I wasn't working at the time. I called it ‘Flying Start’ – alluding to not only the importance of aviation in our young family, but also picturing a human version of parent birds, helping their babies get a flying start. I dabbled with the musical for while, but then I put it on the shelf as I went back to work again after becoming an empty nester. The timing never seemed to be right to dive in.

Several years later, while I was writing out my yearly goals, I decided it was time to dust off the musical. The script was complete, but as of yet, no songs had melodies to accompany it. By now, I was no longer working at the church; I was focusing more on the many new grandchildren that were being born into our family. I listed in my goals that I wanted to finish 3 songs over the course of 2014. I felt like like I was finally off. Next step? Learning how to operate several different music programs.

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