A Blast From the Past

        When I was a little girl, it never occurred to me that I might do the exact same thing to my children that my mother always did to the six of us as we were growing up. I am not talking about anything she did that was bad, but something that always made us roll our eyes and wonder if she was for real or not. According to the saying, 'the apple does not fall far from the tree,' I guess I did not roll far enough from the base to escape the same "strangeness" that I heard more than once a day. 
        My Mom had this talent of coming up with a song for every word or phrase we said to her. If we said something like, "Will you get up?" she would begin singing a song about 'Lazy Mary, will you get up, she answered back, "I am not able..."" If we mentioned something about a ball, she began singing, "After the ball was over, Maggie took out her glass eye..." If we said the word 'somewhere' she would begin singing, "Somewhere over the rainbow..." If we mentioned gum, she would start singing, "Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight..." The list goes on and on. Sometimes in our desparation of trying to make her stop, it only added fuel to the fire because everything we said or did brought back another song memory. 
        For years I wondered if she had made up the songs because it did not seem possible to have so many songs about so many common words. I must admit I have looked up many of them on the internet and found most of them - at least the ones I remember. To this day certain words will strike an old memory chord in my head and I can hear her singing different lyrics to old songs.  
        So, to the annoyance of my children, I must say it has happened. The "strangeness" that overcame my mother daily has hit me and now I often have my five children rolling their eyes at me, wondering if I am for real or not. The funny thing is that I find myself singing some of the exact same songs my Mom sang to me. Though I do not know all the words to the songs, the small phrases linger in my brain and come out at the oddest times, when my children least expect it. 
    Yet, not only do I sing those songs, but I have songs from my own past that I love to sing. They make me remember the carefree, young days as a child, when I was twirling around my living room listening to our records - you know, those big, giant black cds?  'Supergang' and 'Animals' were two of my favorites. My girls have heard me sing the penguin song about not complaining many times when they were griping about something they did not like. Herbert the snail's song on patience has been another one that my children have become familiar with when it comes to my singing. 
        Many of the old record companies have made their records into cds now, but a few of them are not available as of yet. So, I must say that I was very excited the other day when my dad emailed me and told me he was putting all of our old records into MP3 form and if there were any I wanted to let him know. He emailed me a couple of the songs and sent me on a brief blast from the past as I listened to the original 'Animals' song from days of old.  I played it for my children and the eyes began to roll and the looks of utter shock appeared on their faces. Either they could not believe that the songs I had sang earlier had been for real, or they could not believe I was enjoying this "childish" music as an adult. It does not matter. They do not realize the memories those songs hold in my mind and all the special moments that made my family special. My children will have their time, which is coming much faster than I ever expected, when they will look back and remember the special times we had as a family and the songs they hear now will get them through any tough times ahead. 
        See, it's not only the fun songs that come to remembrance, but it's the songs that are Bible verses, hymns, and spiritual songs that also come when we need it. The more we hear uplifting, Godly music, the more it will remain forever etched into our brain-computers and  we will be able to pull it up at just the right moments. It does my heart good to hear my Benjamin singing the songs, "He Knows My Name," and "I Have Been Blessed" by heart. Those words are getting into his own little heart and one day, at just the right time, he will hear the word, "blessed," and that song will come back to his memory. God will use the songs for His glory and get my children through the trials that life most certainly holds. 
           Make sure you have lots of good music in your home. With the future as shaky as it is, get the word of God into your family's hearts as songs and nobody will be able to take that away from us.