Behind the Song: Movin' On

Movin' On is a song that my husband, James Woodrow Sparks Jr, wrote and recorded before we met. He wrote it out of a place in his life when he had been stuck for about ten years. While living in Florida during the early 2000s, success as a songwriter and musician always seemed right around the corner. At the time, he was playing with various bands in festivals and bars up and down the East coast, living with his girlfriend after a failed marriage. Every time he was about to get to the next level in his musical career, something would happen to hold him back. James now knows that it was God who held him back. God had better things in store for him.

James' girlfriend, who had taken care of him after a car accident, was diabetic, and due to complications with a foot injury, ended up with an amputated leg. As her health declined, James acted as her caregiver. He stayed with her and cared for her until the day she passed away even as he held her hand. The emotional impact of that took a huge toll on him. He fell into a dark hole. He moved back in with his parents and became a recluse. During that time, he rarely played music, and when he wrote, it was dark, depressing music.

But even though he felt alone, God was with him. Even in the dark places, God gently nudged him back to the light. James' mom and stepdad encouraged him to attend the church they pastored, and little by little he found his way back to the faith of his childhood and back to God. With God's hand on his shoulder, he found the strength to move on. He stopped taking the medications that had been prescribed to him for pain and anxiety that had numbed his emotions and clouded his mind. With renewed outlook and clarity, James started to write and play again.

In the spring of 2021, James wrote Movin' On and recorded it at Eclipse Studios in Normal, Illinois. A few months later, he met me (yay!) We met through Facebook, and he had told me he was a musician. Of course, anyone can say they are a musician, so I wanted proof. "Send me one of your songs," I said. So he sent me, "Movin,' On." I was impressed (and admittedly smitten by his guitar-playing skills!) :D

It truly was a new beginning for him, and for me as well. Both of us were trying to move on from where we were. When we made the music video, we turned it into our story, even though it wasn't originally written about us.

Philippians 3:13-14 says, But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

That's what Movin' On is about. We have some pretty messy pasts, but God has a beautiful future for us. We don't have to let what is behind---our old regrets, mistakes, and tragedies---hold us back. We can live our lives today and every day after that in service and in obedience to our Lord. God truly has been so good to James and me. We are so thankful that in His great love He took our paths and caused them to cross. Together, we will move on towards the future God has in store for us, whatever that may be.