Song Associations

   I do not know if it is the same for everyone, but I find it funny how certain songs make me think of certain people. I may hear a song played and out of the blue I suddenly get an image in my mind of a person's face, or a certain motion or action of someone from the past will flash through my memory. It is kind of like hearing a specific name when you can think back to someone you knew who had that name and you immediately put a face to it. Sometimes there are good memories associated with the name, but sometimes you find yourself saying, "I don't like that name. It reminds me of  _________ (fill in the blank with the name) who did _____________(fill in the blank with the action)." 
   Whenever I hear the song "Hear My Cry O, Lord," I always think back to a certain song leader we had in church. This was his favorite song. I loved the words to the song, but the way he sang it made me cringe a little bit. To this day I cannot sing those words, or even read them from the Bible, without seeing his face. 
   Another song associated with a person is the song, "Hear O Ye Kings, hear O ye princes." This song is also taken from the Bible. I always imagine the back of the head of a young man who seemed to get into the song whenever we sang it when I was growing up. 
   Another song leader we had, (we went through many different ones in my lifetime) liked to play Jewish music, which were usually in a minor chord. I loved these kinds of songs. I remember doing the Hora, a Jewish dance of five steps, and then kick, kick, with everyone holding hands  in one or two circles. Everyone always ended up laughing in the end, but it was all good, clean fun. 
   When Joe and I got married, we did something different at the beginning of our ceremony. We had a friend of ours lead the singing of a few songs that we had picked out, and one of the songs we chose was "All in All - You are my strength when I am weak, You are the treasure that I seek, You are my All in All. Taking my sin, my cross, my shame, rising again I bless Your Name, You are my All in All." Even though that was fourteen years ago, I still get tears in my eyes when I hear that song. It has a pleasant memory of the day I became one with my husband, vowing to spend the rest of my life here on earth with the man I loved. The song also makes me think of Meme, my grandmother of fourteen children, who leaned over to my brother, while all the songs and extras we had chosen before the processional were going on, and whispered, "When is this wedding going to get started?" That always puts a smile on my face. :) 
    One last song I am going to list here is an old song from a Music Machine tape I used to listen to as a little girl. When I was about seven years old, I sang it in front of my church as the song leader played along on his guitar.  was When I expecting baby JJ, I often sang the song to him, even though he was still in the womb. After he was born, it became my lullabye to him every  night before bed. The words of the song go like this: 
  
   Gentle breeze, gentle breeze,
   Blowing through the trees,
   And a meadow filled with flowers,
   Showing me your gentleness,
   How I love You.
   In the still of the night, 
   When You draw me near,
   Just to whisper how You care, 
   Showing me your gentleness, 
   How I love You.
   Your dear Son, walked the earth,
   He was full of love,
   Now He lives within my heart, 
   Showing me your gentleness, 
   How I love You.

   The words are simple, but the tune is a tender, peaceful sounding melody that always brought peace to my heart. It reminds me that God's voice is gentle and tender. He has gentle reminders everywhere we go of His love for us, and what He did for us. Though there are many songs that make me think of other people, I think the best ones are the songs that make me remember Jesus and His wonderful, powerful love for me. Do you have a song to remember your Lord and Savior? Let Him put a melody in your heart today, and let Him use it to remind you of Him throughout the entire day.   

---