This page is dedicated in loving memory to Ms. Shirley Little
(Godly wife, mother, grandmother, servant and friend)

Rarely do you meet people who can give a hug or a particular look and you know how much you are loved by that individual... That was Ms. Little to me. Each time I was in her presence, she made me feel special. She always had an encouraging word for me regarding my life and my music.

I met her through her son Robin who works with me at BB&T. From the first time we met, Ms. Little began to pour blessings upon blessings into my life. She inspired me with her contagious smile and love for life, family and faith.

I can't tell you the day we first met, but I can tell you that we formed a bond that would subsequently help me as I walked through the valley of the shadow of death with my own mother, who too was a godly influence in my life. During the week of my mom's death in November of 2006, Ms. Little showed up at the wake to offer comfort and care. She gave me a hug that told me everything was going to be okay, that God would give me the strength to bear such an incredible burden. I was moved to tears upon seeing her at my mom's wake, given that Ms. Little was battling her own crisis. She, several months earlier, had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. She was in pain and yet she chose to show up in my situation. I learned through Ms. Little that there is no substitute to the ministry of "just showing up." The spirit of God will do the rest.

I showed up a month later at her home just a few days before Christmas. With her family sitting around her, I sang for her two Christmas songs and my favorite gospel "His Eye Is On The Sparrow". Neither Ms. Little nor I could have known at that time the far-reaching power of a song. After singing for her, I presented her with a beautiful hand-carved wooden sparrow, engraved with the scripture Matthew 6:26, which says "Why do you worry? Do you not know that I watch over the sparrows that neither sow nor reap nor gather in to barns? Aren't you more than a sparrow?" Once again she moved me to tears. Her appreciation of that moment has been life-changing for me. I later learned from Robin that the first song Ms. Little ever sang in church was His Eye Is On The Sparrow.

The sparrow was to be a visible reminder of how God's eye was watching over her and her family. That sparrow would later be used to set the agenda for her funeral. See her story as told by her family. Her legacy of faith, family, and friends will forever be etched in my memory.

>> Letter from Robin Little