Do you sometimes hear a song and it reminds you of someone? In March of this year I wrote my first blog about mom. It focused on Psalm 23:6: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” She even used this for her email address, which was shirleygoodness@mailstation.com.

 Psalm 23 is the “Good Shepherd Psalm” and this Psalm also says “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Her last email was an echo of most of the email messages I had received from her from 2006 until the week she died. Her last email was only twelve words and it summarized her life: Feb 22, 2015 at 6:16 AM “rejoicing and trying to redeem the time, prayerfully, joyfully, with love,  Ma.” Her time was short. Five days later mom went home to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus. He was faithful to her with every breath until the last breath. Now she experiences the goodness of God in his presence forevermore.

Today the song that reminded me of mom was The Goodness of God. The chorus says this:

Chorus of The Goodness of God, written by Jenn Johnson, Jason Ingram, Ben Fielding, Ed Cash and Brian Johnson.

It is easy to sing about and think about God’s goodness when life is easy and problem-free. We know God is good when we have money in the bank, our health is perfect, and our family is safe. But that isn’t the full picture. Mom experienced many difficult, painful, discouraging and sad days. But she remembered and lived the reality that God was good in times of fire and darkness. Verse two and the bridge of The Goodness of God says:

Second verse and bridge of The Goodness of God

God’s goodness not only followed mom all the days of her life, but his goodness ran after her. Now she is experiencing God’s goodness in ways you and I cannot begin to imagine. Psalm 23:6: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

If you want to listen to the song on YouTube, go to this link: The Goodness of God https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0FBb6hnwTo&vl=en-US