Denson Legacy and Going to the Rock

I visited Pastor Deanna’s blog yesterday and saw a post she did on being home sick for Maryland. It is funny because I have been homesick too for my family, the south, some very dear friends. Little things tend to pop up and feed that feeling too.
Last night Craig and I attended a funeral for one of our Pastor’s sister. A very talented woman shared a song, Dottie Rambo’s “I Go To the Rock.” As soon as she started singing I was taken back to my childhood.

I Go To the Rock (Dottie Rambo)

Where do I go when there's no one else to turn to
Who do I talk to when no one wants to listen
Who do I lean on when there's no foundation stable
I go to the Rock I know that's able, I go to the Rock
I go to the Rock of my salvation
Go to the Stone that the builders rejected
Run to the Mountain and the Mountain stands by me
The earth all around me is sinking sand
On Christ the Solid Rock I stand
When I need a shelter when I need a friend, I go to the Rock


I come from a very musically inclined family, on my dad’s side that is. Name an instrument, someone plays it and if they don’t, someone will pick it up within a week or two. The same goes with vocals. There were eight children in my dad’s family, six girls and two boys. My dad’s only brother is 19 years older than him though. Most of my siblings and cousins are musical as well myself included. I’m not the best soloist but I can blend pretty well and I played viola for several years.

Growing up in a Christian musical family resulted in the inevitable, my dad and his siblings formed a Christian music group, “The Happy Christians.” Our weekends were filled with rehearsals on my Granny and Paw Paw’s front porch or we’d be travelling in a caravan to minister. My favorite songs they did were Dottie Rambo songs.

My Aunt Gerri used to lead “I Go To the Rock” and I’m telling you she sang it with a lot of soul, beating it out on her acoustic guitar, the other sisters and my dad would join in awesome harmony on the chorus. Some of my other favorites were “Love Letters,” “March Around the Throne One Time for Me,” and “You and Me Jesus.” My brothers, sister, cousins and I used to sing as well, we’d do “Germs” or “Being Me” or some other song we’d learned together. It was a true family ministry that went on for quite a while.

Anytime the family has the opportunity to get together you can guarantee there will be instruments and singing involved. There is nothing like sitting with people you only see once or twice every five years or so and within seconds of someone strumming a guitar (usually it about five guitars!) about 50 voices ring out in perfect harmony. It creates a powerful connection.

There is a great ministry legacy in my family. Music is in all of us, but more than that there is ministry in every one of us. My grandparents imparted such an amazing deposit in each of us, even my children who never met my grandparents benefit from their legacy. It is in each of them. What Granny and Paw Paw poured into my Daddy, he poured into me, and now I am pouring into my own girls, four generations.

As I listened to that woman sing “I Go To the Rock” I was reminded of some terrific memories, but more than that, I was reminded of how it all began generations ago when my ancestors were taught to “go to the Rock.” What a privilege it is to be a part of such an awesome destiny!