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Quite a few years ago, probably around 2004-2005, Daddy and I got the idea to sit down and list all the songs he could sing from memory…or, “by heart” as he liked to say. Very quickly into the process we discovered Pop, being a lifelong musician, really needed his guitar in hand to have those lyrics pour forth. So, he would sit and think, Mama and I would talk to him about various songs and he’d sing them. Turned out, aided by string assisted muscle memory, he could recollect a LOT! Over the course of a few days, a list of more than three hundred songs the Ol’ Man felt he could reliably sing (if he had guitar in hand) made it on “The List”, not including the ones he could sing or play along with folks in impromptu jam sessions, etc (e.g. “Yeah, I think I remember a little bit of that”, etc). With Daddy being a Pentecostal preacher, most were gospel songs, of course – he was an enormous fan of Dottie Rambo, Henson’s and others of that stripe – but he was also a connoisseur of music in general, especially bluegrass and the earlier era Grand Ol Opry. There were also silly songs listed too: ones about a burglar man, a cabbage head and a blue-haired boy. Needless to say, The List was full, diverse…and precious.

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And then, life happened. My parents retired from their pastoral position in 2006, moved and during the course of such activities, The List went missing. We searched everywhere for it and I do mean high & low. Seeing there wasn’t much to be done, we counted it for the loss it was and moved on. I learned the lesson with Pop’s audio memoirs in 2009 and safe to say, those are backed up “in redundancy”. Yet The List was a loss which still ached. Enter God’s faithfulness…

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What does it mean to be faithful? The Hebrew word emet for the term also translates to “reliable” while the Greek term pistos gives us the additional synonym “trustworthy”.  While we are capable of such, we also possess the capacity of the opposite of these characteristics. Yet, it outside the nature of God be any other way than who He is – emet, pistos…faithful. (Numbers 23:19; 1 Corinthians 1:9)

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How does this apply to a misplaced list of songs? That’s easy. They’re not really “lost,” per say. Once I gave up worrying about it, a funny thing started happening. I’d be in a church service and someone would sing one of the songs from The List…and sometimes I’d get to play along with them! Or, I’d be going down the road and another one would come on the radio or a playlist. Maybe a conversation would come up and one would be mentioned. I’d talk to Mama or one of my siblings and they’d say they heard one somewhere, often in similar fashion to my own encounters. You see, The List of songs was never really lost – just sewn as seeds by a faithful Father for us to benefit from in times when we needed them and often in the most unlikely places.  All me & mine have to do now is stop fretting – it never helps matters anyway but rather mortgages trouble (Matthew 6:25-33) – and wait for the next song on the playlist!

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You know, I enjoyed those conversations, song sessions and memoir recording afternoons with the Ol’ Man. They are memories I’ll always have. I’m beyond blessed I still get to do such things with Mama. Besides being a praying mother, she’s a “ride or die” kind a road partner…ready to “git” when you say when. How does any of that translate to our relationship with God? Every good parent cherishes the company of their children and wants what’s best for them – and our faithful Heavenly Father is THE model for us even if we aren’t perfect (Matthew 7:9-11). In the same manner as a healthy parent/child relationship relies on closeness and interaction, so does ours with the Father – we have to spend time with Him in order to be blessed (James 4:8; Revelation 3:20).

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We are told in Proverbs and Hebrews we must have faith to please Him. The Father loves those who love Him and actively/earnestly run after Him, not part-time or when they are in a bind (Proverbs 8:17; Hebrews 11:6). “God doesn’t play ‘second-fiddle,’” was a saying Daddy uttered a lot. Such a position implies lower ranking in priority and that simply doesn’t sit well with a Creator God (Exodus 20:3).

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Instead, God’s eyes are busy, actively seeking all sorts of ways to be faithful and bless us when we are faithful to Him (2 Chronicles16:9a). Whether it be a lost “coin” that is found (Luke 15:8-10), that prodigal one we have prayed for, our wallet or keys, any number of things. Or a song list long disappeared which He drops, piece by piece, back into our lives with timing only His benevolent Wisdom could ordain.

God is Faithful, indeed. Let us count the ways!