I wrote this song for the St. Jude Children's Hospital. The purpose was for them to use this song to raise money for the hospital. (A Donation). This was a difficult song to write. I wanted to console the Parents, without sounding like I was giving them advice. But at the same time I wanted to raise awareness and appeal to the public for donations. I also know what alot of people are thinking when they read the Title," It's Gods' Plan". What sort of horrible plan is it for a child to be stricken with a life threatening disease. My answer is; is that God does not cause awful things to happen to us in this life, but He is there with us to help us get through the painful things. The burden of having a child with an illness is too big to take on alone. We have to pray and let God carry this burden for us. Without His help, the weight of a burden like this could crush you.
We all take for granted our health to a certain extent, if we are generally healthy. And we have no idea what these parents are going through with these children. The Chorus reads; " So it's up to you, Moms and Dads, to be strong. And to get them through, you have to make each day a whole life long ". This was directed at the public . I wanted to make them aware that these children have a life threatening illness and their precious little lives could be shortened. And that these Parents have to make the most of each day and keep their child's spirits high. That is why I put the line in; " You parents, don't you frown, even if your world seems upside down ". This is in no way advice, I just feel that when a child is ill, they need the strength of their Parents to help them fight this illness. Whenever I have seen a TV commercial for St. Jude; the children are with a prominent actor or musician, and they are smiling and laughing. I'm sure that this attitude helps them fight this illness. For those of you Parents who have lost a child, I have no words or advice to console you. I expressed this with the line, " I can't write the words to help you all feel better ". They need family and friends to just be there for them through this tragedy. The "Bridge" in this song reads;" A child should know that true love can only grow. And in the end, our lives come together, It's not pretend." This is about Gods' promise to reunite Parents with the child they have lost in this life, in Heaven. This promise can only console, not take away your pain or loss.
May God Bless all you Parents and children. And also the doctors and Staff at St. Jude.
In this song I use the term, " Special Ones ". When you hear this; it means, our most loved ones,
Our Children!!!!
I wrote this letter to St. Jude two years ago and sent it to them with a copy of my song. These were my intentions then, and these are still my intentions now. This song was donated, so all the money will go to St Jude. I never intended to wait this long to try to accomplish this, but I never heard back from St. Jude. So; if anyone would like to help me see this through, even though I have no idea what that would entail, please let me know!!
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LETTER:
My name is Robert A. Porter. I have donated money to St. Jude for
many years. My only regret is that I have very limited funds and
cannot give more. I'm sending you my business card so you know who I
am and what I do for a living. I am not a professional musician, but I
think, that I am a professional songwriter. I have been writing songs
and playing guitar and singing for about 30 years. Recently, I have
written and recorded a song especially for St. Jude and the children.
I believe, if you put a video with this song that you could use it as
a marketing tool to reach a much bigger audience. I very rarely see
any TV advertisements for St. Jude.
The disc I've sent you is just a demo recording.
Not really meant for the public.The song is spiritual in natue with
heartfelt lyrics. It should be professionally recorded, and I feel it
could be very easy to produce a video that follows the lyrics. Use
real people, real circumstances that will reach out to many people and
make them aware of the reality of what these families are facing. If
the artist that you would choose to record my song felt that something
in the composition, either lyrically or musically, should be changed,
I would leave that up to their disgression. Although, I think that
personally, that it is perfect.
I am a very honest person, a dad too, who wanted to
do more than just send money.It would be a great honor to be
responsible for helping raise money for St. Jude.The song is more like
an actual prayer. So, if you are familiar with the Bible, you might
call it a Psalm! In the last newsletter that I received titled, "Perspectives", there was an article about a man named Doug Pattison.
He said, "The natural extension of gratitude is sharing your time,
talent, and treasure, each according to the measure one has been
blessed with. From sharing, many things will flow back to you in a
complete circle." With no ulterior motives, this describes perfectly
what I am trying to accomplish.
I would have to trust St. Jude legal department to
help me with all the legal issues. I am 54 years old, so I'm too old
and tired to worry about such things. Thank You for taking the time to
read this and I look forward to helping in any way that I can to
complete this project.
Sincerely, Robert A Porter
