God Gave Her Boys

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I recently met Jim Lake through his associate, Rebecca Petterson, at the Michael Walters Advertising Agency in Chicago. Upon meeting them for the first time, they both told me how much they enjoyed my new website. Jim said to me, “We have much more in common than you know.” 

One thing I learned we have in common is that we are both music lovers, but not trained musicians. However, we have both been able to write songs when we felt inspired to do so. He shared a song with me that he composed after his mother’s passing called, “God Gave Her Boys.”

I cry every time I listen to this song. It captures the essence of how hard it is to be a mother, but also how important it is to be committed and diligent as you care for each of your children, boy or girl, that God chooses to send to you. Jim told me that he is the youngest of five sons, and he’s grateful to his mom for continuing to “try to have a girl”—otherwise he might not have been born into his family!

His story touched me deeply because I know how important it is to follow the Spirit and the feelings of your heart when you and your spouse make the life-changing decision to bring a new child into the world. The children we are blessed with each come with their own personalities. Each child is a gift from God who will help to refine us as we thoughtfully love, teach, and nurture them to the best of our ability. Remember to “make good” and “be tough” like this song eloquently says. You’ll be glad for the countless hours you put into parenting when your children grow up and create homes of their own someday. “What God has in store for us, nobody knows.”

God Gave Her Boys

By Jim Lake

VERSE 1
When momma got married it changed her whole world
She wanted to have babies and raise two perfect girls
In her head she dreamed of dresses, make-up and bows
But what God has in store for us, nobody knows
Shopped for Easy-Bake ovens, baby dolls and toys
But she caught her first curveball when
God gave her boys.

CHORUS
God gave her boys because He knew that He could
As a mother of sons, He knew she would make good.
She’d give the skills needed for the rest of their life
How to work hard, how to treat a good wife
God gave her boys because He knew it was right
She taught them to be kind and walk away from the fight
Sometimes it overwhelmed her, all the chaos and noise
But most days she was grateful, that God gave her boys.

VERSE 2
She may have been little, but she was tough
When we fell down she helped us pick ourselves up
Just rub some dirt on it if you skin your knee and bleed
She made us get our first job, learn to work for what we need
Rule number one was to take care of each other
You better have the back of your blood brothers
Rode us pretty hard, knew she didn’t have a choice
That’s how she handled that God gave her boys

CHORUS
God gave her boys because He knew that He could
As a mother of sons, He knew she would make good.
She’d give the skills for the rest of their life
How to work hard, how to treat a good wife
God gave her boys because He knew it was right
She taught them to be kind and walk away from the fight
Sometimes it overwhelmed her, all the chaos and noise
But most days she was grateful, that God gave her boys.

VERSE 3
Now all us boys are grown and she’s getting old
She’s softened up a little, not as vocal or bold
Laughs watching the grandkids as they giggle and twirl
She’s loving my daughters cause finally, God gave her girls.

CHORUS
God gave her girls cause He knew it was time
She’s thick as thieves with these daughters of mine
She’s not the same person she was back then
But she’s learned to lean on her new best friends
God gave her girls cause He knew they would care
Help her with make-up and brush her white hair
Lights up when she sees them they’re her whole world
So worth the wait cause God gave her girls

God gave her girls

Please click here to listen to “God Gave Her Boys”.

About the Song . . . 

The following is an article about Jim Lake and his song, “God Gave Her Boys”:

Inspired by Mom’s eulogy, man pens incredible song even though he can’t read music!

A 52-year-old Chicago man, Jim Lake, was tasked with writing his mother’s eulogy.  The story that he told so moved the crowd that he felt compelled to put the poetry to music.  “My mother and I always shared a passion for music,” Lake said, “so even though I could not read or write music I felt that a song would be the appropriate memorial.” So, Lake put pen to paper and created the song, “God Gave Her Boys.”

 “The response has been overwhelming!” Lake said. “People are actually crying as they listen to the story.”  The story stems from his mom having five boys (one of whom died in childbirth) while always hoping for a girl.  Later in life, Lake had two daughters, finally giving his mom the girls she so desired.  “While my mom certainly loved her boys, and did a great job raising us, it was wonderful to see her finally get some granddaughters to love.” 

This seems to be a pretty universal story based on the reaction from parents and children alike.  Since Lake had no formal musical training, he searched for musicians that could help him tell his mom’s life story.  “I finally found a great group of people who patiently listened to me whistle and hum the tune and they were able to bring it to life exactly as I heard it in my head.  My mom’s spirit was definitely with us the entire time we recorded.  The entire process was one of healing and love.”   While Lake hopes that people listen to and enjoy his mom’s story and song, there is one goal that is even bigger than that: “I just hope Mom would like and be proud of the song,” Lake said. 

Courage

In my blog post Why Do I Wonder Who I Really Am? I wrote these words: “Be courageous. Find your inner 'music' and let it come out. There is someone, besides yourself, who needs to hear it.”

I’m grateful that Jim had the courage to follow his impressions and share the music that was burning in his soul.