Singing Through the Alphabet

Car trip games are a necessity with 5 kids and no electronics, I suppose. We spent lots of time in the car growing up; and before the days of Walkmans and Game Boys, my parents had to find ways to keep our fidgeting and poking at one another to a minimum. Sometimes we would stop and pick someone up who needed a ride in the direction we were going, and we had to be on our best behaviour as we ‘sindikisha-ed‘ (escorted) our new friend to wherever they were going…or as far as we could take them. Sometimes we could keep our eyes open for zebra, giraffe, or antelope in the fields we were passing by, or the bodies of donkeys in the ditch that didn’t quite make it across the road. Sometimes we would watch license plates for the newest or oldest car we could find based on the order of numbers and letters. Sometimes my mom would read to us from the House of Winslow series by Gilbert Morris (when my grandma was also in the car with us), or from one of the Willard Price adventures (when my grandma was not with us).

But sometimes we sang. And when we sang, we sang through the alphabet. Our family would not win awards for carpool karaoke, but as far as we were concerned we were as good or better than the Von Trapp Family Singers. Before we became too self-conscious and ‘too cool’ to sing out loud in the car with each other, we sang through the alphabet. It didn’t matter that we didn’t always know the words beyond the first line. Most of the songs were from my parents’ young adult years in Los Angeles, hymns from church, or one of the Maranatha! Praise cassette tapes my dad played from the stereo in the kitchen while making coffee cake on Sunday morning. Sometimes we tried to weave new songs we were learning at school into the list, but we regularly came back to the same ones. As a teenager, when my brother and sister were infants, I sat on the floor between their cribs and sang these same songs to them as they went to sleep.

A few years ago I took a road trip with my parents from Florida to Virginia to attend my uncle’s ordination, and the memories of those road trips in Kenya came back. So much was different about this trip. I was traveling with my parents without any siblings…I don’t know when that ever happened. My dad, who did the bulk of the driving growing up, was no longer able to drive due to physical and cognitive decline–and even his interest in following the route on the map was diminishing. I did most of the driving and didn’t have to share the steering wheel with any of my brothers or be surprised by any “slug bug” punches from the back seat. We didn’t break down. A GPS got us to where we were going…on time. We didn’t pick up extra passengers. We didn’t get lost. We didn’t have to stop and wait for a herd of cows or goats to get across the road. We didn’t have to share the road with donkeys or bicycles or people carrying large loads on their heads. We didn’t have to share space with extra luggage or dogs or chickens. Everyone had a seat belt.

So much was different about this trip.

And yet…some things were still the same. My mom read the daily Bible readings from my parents’ devotions out loud, as well as chapters from a different book she was reading that sparked some reflection and conversation that stretched out over the miles. We stopped for ice cream and treated ourselves to car snacks and hot drinks. We listened to music by Neil Diamond and Andre Crouch.

And we sang through the alphabet. My dad’s voice was a bit soft, but he did fill in the blanks when we couldn’t quite remember the words. We sang out of tune. We floated between English and Swahili. And I knew I wanted to remember the song list.

• A–All night. All day. Angels watching over me, my Lord. All night. All day. Angels watching over me.
• B–and Because he lives I can face tomorrow. Because he lives all fear is gone. Because I know who holds the future. And life is worth a living just because he lives.
• C–I Cast all my cares upon you. I lay all of my burdens down at your feet. And any time, I don’t know what to do I just cast all my cares upon you.
• D–Do Lord, oh Do Lord, oh Do remember me. Do Lord, oh Do Lord, oh Do remember me way beyond the blue (alternatively, “Dare to a Daniel, Dare to stand alone…”)
• E–Everybody ought to know…everybody ought to know…everybody ought to know…who Jesus is (or Emmanuel…Emmanuel…His name is called, Emmanuel.)
• F–Fairest Lord Jesus…. (this one we often started, but then couldn’t remember the rest of the words so would move on)
• G–God is so good…God is so good…God is so good, he’s so good to me (which we would then have to continue in as many languages as we could remember)
• H–Have you seen Jesus my Lord? He’s here in this place. Take a look, open your eyes. He’ll show it to you. Or How Great Thou Art…How Great Thou Art
• I–In the stars his handy work I see. On the wind he speaks with majesty. Sure he ruleth over land and sea…what is that to me. Til by faith I met him face to face. And I felt the wonder of his grace. And I knew that he was more than just a God who didn’t care…who lived away up there…and (this is where anyone with musical sense would want to tune us out because we couldn’t hit the note) now he walks beside me day by day, ever watching o’er me lest I stray…helping me to find the narrow way. He’s everything to me.
• J–Just as I am without one plea (or “Jesus…Jesus…Jesus…there’s just something about that name…” Only my mom knew what came next)
• K–King of kings and Lord of Lords glory, Alleluia; Kumbaya
• L–Lord the light of your love is shining
• M–Moto umewaka leo (this is a song we only ever sang in Swahili)
• N–Nothing but the blood of Jesus or Nearer my God to thee (which we sang in church probably more than in the car)
• O–O for a thousand tongues to sing; Only a boy named David
• P–Praise him, praise him, all you little children, God is love. God is love.
• Q–
• R–Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee. Or “rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham”…which only my mom knew.
• S–Shine, Jesus Shine, fill this land with the Father’s glory. Blaze, Spirit, blaze! Set our hearts on fire.
• T–The Old Rugged Cross, Trust and obey, or Take My Life and Let It Be
• U–Usinipite Mwokozi (Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour…another one we only ever sang in Swahili)
• V–
• W–What a friend we have in Jesus
• X–
• Y–Yubwana…yubwana…amefufuka kifoni yubwana (He is Lord. He is Lord. He has risen from the dead and He is Lord. Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. I’m pretty sure we started in Swahili to justify it as a ‘Y’ song, but regularly ended it in English)
• Z–Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see…