Back When

 I don’t trust anyone who says they hate County music.  Country music has many great qualities, such as the banjo. Another bonus is that many of the artists often love Jesus, and while I remind my son Will of this fact, he often rebuts me with a line from Thomas Rhett’s new single, “There ain’t nothing a beer can’t fix”, and then he says in a very judgmental tone, but “he loves Jesus too right mom?”  This does not deter me from listening and singing along, even though I know in reality there ain’t nothing Jesus can’t fix.  

 Country music tells a story, and sure there might be a “hell” or “damn” to bleep out, but there’s always an adventure even if it does involve whiskey, losing your dog, and watching the love of your life drive down a red dirt road away from you forever.  Tim McGraw sings a few of my absolute favorites, including his “Back When”.  Who doesn’t like reliving the good ole days? A few lines…  “Back when a hoe was a hoe, coke was a coke, and cracks what you were doing when you were cracking jokes…”. Oh man, I think we’d all like to go Back When, before the global pandemic turned the world upside down.

 

Last night as I lay in bed, I realized I’d like to go Back When I could eat sugar like I did as a 20something, no ill effects. No insomnia, no cramping, no queasiness. I won’t be having another “wintogreen” life saver eating contest with Will again anytime soon.

 

I remember 8 years ago, Back When my sister and I took all our kids to 6 Flags, and we learned that we had passed the age of enjoying spinning rides. We wanted so badly to be the cool moms who rode them all, screamed the loudest, shouted “no hands” while our scared children looked on in awe.  So we got on the Spider, our first spinning ride for the day.  During the pauses at the top, we looked over at each other and noticed the other sister was green.  Yet somehow pale. Maybe it was just the elevation.  Se we tried the Octopus, low to the ground but still a thrill. Again, there was screaming and clinging, and all the while when it was over, we tasted remnants of the cotton candy we’d eaten hours earlier.  We had to admit, our 40something year old bodies didn’t like to spin anymore. 

 

As we get ready to drop Jack at college, I seriously want to go Back When.  Back when Jack’s biggest decision of the day was whether to have pbj or frozen nuggets.  What costume to wear, Hulk or Spiderman? What color light saber to play with, green or red?

 

I’d like to go Back When to the first day of school when we actually took the children to the school building, dropped them off, came home, and cried that they were gone. This year we will take pictures of our kids, probably still in their pajamas, and then the children will all go inside to begin their day online. I am pretty sure there will still be tears.

 

I take little comfort in the words of Merle Haggard, “If we make it through December, everything’s gonna be alright I know”.  A lot of us can’t wait to make it through December, we just need to make it through today. Country music is good, but God’s songs are better, and today I’ll take my solace in His Word, trusting Him even when I want to go Back When.

 

Psalm 39:7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.”