March 2025

Finish the Song

Nick can still hear his mother’s words from while he sat at the piano bench for another lesson as a child.  “Music is meant to be sung and heard.”  He didn’t know at the time how these words would echo throughout the rest of his life.

“The variety of people God has allowed me to walk alongside, well, it’s huge,” Nick described while ruminating on his time as one of the pastors at New Hope for the last 14 years.  “It’s about relationship and an opportunity to help.”  His prayer when stepping into people’s lives and the joys and struggles that come with that is, “Lord, I hope I’m doing what you called me to do.”  Nick smiled.  “From there it is a matter of being present with people without getting in the way of God working.”

It was in one of these times being present that God started Nick down a path he had clearly been preparing him for since childhood.  When Josh, a member of the congregation, developed brain cancer at a tragically young age, Nick was there to walk alongside him and his family.  At the time of Josh’s passing, Josh’s mom, Shirley, gave Nick the words to the chorus of a Song Josh had written.  “Finish the song,” she asked of him.

So, Nick put some music together and tied in some verses.  “The plan was to sing it at Josh’s funeral,” Nick explained.  God’s plan was a bit different, though, as he called Shirley home just as Josh’s funeral was beginning.  With this sudden change, Nick wasn’t able to share the song that day, but did play and sing at Josh and Shirley’s combined memorial service a few days later.

In some ways this feels like the end of the story, but God wasn’t done with this narrative just yet.  He continued to work on Nick’s heart as the months went by.  The assignment to “finish the song” still felt incomplete.  A phrase from someone dear to Nick continued ringing in the quiet moments of his life, “To think that God would trust me with this.”  He was struck by this continuing desire, trying to honor what had been given, what had been asked, and what he had accepted stewardship of. 

Setting aside time, Nick dove back into the song, reworking and rewriting.  But music is meant to be sung and heard, so from there he took a step of faith and started reaching out to music producers in Nashville.  He explained the situation, Josh and Shirley’s story, and the origin of the song.  “The first responses weren’t all that encouraging,” Nick joked.  “Some were just a straight ‘no’ while others responded with something like, ‘Here’s our standard rates if you want to work with us.’”

Finally, he got a response from a producer named Brennan who said, “Wow, to think you would trust me with this song.”  Nick was blown away with those same words echoing back to him.  He knew God had led him to someone with whom he could work. 

After hours of preparation, and back and forth with Brennan, Nick made the trip to Nashville and jumped into a grueling multi-hour recording session for the song Josh started.  “The crazy thing is,” Nick said, “when I left for the trip, I had almost no voice.”  He had officiated a marriage just before leaving and had needed to preach loudly.  In the process, he had strained his vocal cords down to a whispery gravel.  “I almost always have music on when I’m traveling, it gives me something to sing along to,” he explained.  On that trip, however, Nick said he just had silence which gave him time to meditate and pray.  What was he going to do if he showed up at the studio with no voice?  Was he really going to walk in and whisper out a cracked and broken version of this song he had been entrusted? 

Through this time of reflection, he came to peace with God working through him.  “The desire to be perfect just went away,” he explained. The very lyrics he had been given, written by Josh, spoke to him, “It’s not about me, Lord.”  Nick didn’t have to show up to the recording studio, wow the producer, create a masterpiece, and win a Grammy.  It wasn’t about him. It was about being a faithful steward of what a grieving mother had entrusted to his care. It was about being faithful to what God had laid before him.  “Finish the song.”

Nick showed up at the studio early on a Monday morning, and his voice was perfectly fine.  God was faithful to fulfilling the path he had set Nick on.  Hours later, after singing every word of that song a thousand times over, Nick set off to make his trip back home. 

Today, the final product isn’t quite complete, though Nick thinks they are getting close.  Nick and the producer have gone through over thirty renditions as they continue to be faithful to finishing the song.  “I have to tell you what he wrote me in this last message,” Nick said, pulling out his phone to get to the message.  “Thank you for trusting me with this song,” Brennan had written, yet another resounding of the message God had used to set Nick on this path. 

So, what’s next?  Nick’s not sure.  He doesn’t have any grand plans.  He really just wants to honor what the Lord would do with and through this.  He does know that music is meant to be sung and heard, so it will be exciting to see what God does with finishing the song.