10 Songs for the Family by Mark Schultz

Mark Schultz has an uncanny ability to bring family in to music like no other artist that I have found. Of course it might also be that some of them are hitting close to home as well. Below you wll find sever of his songs listed with the lyrics and some with videos. I am hoping that these songs move you the same way that they have moved me.

All music listed in this lens I own on CD / DVD. Because of that I have gotten the lyrics from either the dust jackets or from typing very fast while listening to the songs.

Picture source - http://www.christianmusictown.com/artist/mark_schu...

The first time I heard this song I am very glad that I was not driving. In fact I had just pulled into the parking lot and was about to turn off the car when a new song came on the air. Not even half way through I was in tears. This song was hitting very close to home. You see When I was 10 months old I fell out of my high chair and was in the hospital for a while. I was blind and almost had to have brain surgery to remove the excess fluid on the brain. (see my Lens - From Seizures to Brain Surgery and Beyond) When the tears had cleared up I went directly into the store's music department to track down the song. They did not have it. That did not stop me. I proceeded to go to two more stores before I found it. Its amazing when one song moves you so much. In fact I played that song for my parents. My mom broke into tears and my dad had to leave the room.

This song is on

1) Mark Schultz Track 3

2) A Night of Stories and Songs - The Live Version Track 7

3) The Best of Mark Schultz Track 4

From the second chorus of the song comes these lyrics to help enforce the parents desire for the family to survive and and that God will be with them.

Let him grow old

Live life without this fear

What would I be

Living without him here

He's so tired and he's scared

Let him know that You're there

You will notice that this song is on two different albums. The first is a bit slower then the second. Personal opinion is that the on on the live version is better. A bit faster. The live version also has an alternate last verse.

This song was on

1) Mark Schultz Track 4

2) A Night Of Stories and Songs Track 1\

3) The Best of Mark Schultz Track 9

In this song I believe that the chorus speaks volumes about the family and how important it is to know your family will always welcome you home.

[CHORUS]

When you come home,

No matter how far,

Run through the door

And into my arms

It's where you are loved,

It's where you belong

And I will be here

When you come home

First I have two uncles that both retired full Colonel's. One from the Army and the other from the Marines. I had looked in to the Navy but due to medical reasons that was not a possibility. When you listen to the Live version or watch the DVD it is interesting the story that is told about one of his performances of this song. And the lives that were touched. Again when you watch his video pay close attention to the faces of the people shown at the end. To me this meant as much if not more than the wording that was used for the song.

This song is on

1) A Night of Stories and Songs - The Live Version Track 11

2) Stories and Songs Track 3

3) The Best of Mark Schults Track 6

During wartime people did not want a government car to pull into their driveway's. This usually meant that someone in their family had passed on. That is what this portion of the lyrics refers to and how important family is.

Then two years later

Autumn leaves, all around

A car pulled in the driveway

And she fell to the ground

And out stepped a captain

Where her boy used to stand

He said, "Mom, I'm following orders

From all of your letters and I've come home again"

He ran into hold her, dropped all his bags on the floor

Holding all of her letters from war

Just looking at the first two lines to this song...

We watched them runnin' down the aisles,

Children's time, Sunday morning.

And you say to your self were is he going with this. Well I remember going to church with my grandparrents when I was young. It didn't always make sense back then. But now I see it as family time. Time spent with them that my other cousins did not have.

As the song continues so did my life. Just like at my church when a baby is dedicted to the Lord people gather round and agree to be there to help guid them through.

This song is on

1) Mark Schultz Track 7

Lyrics

When asked who do you love, who do you point to? In this song the answer is the family.

We watched them running down the aisles,

Children's time, Sunday morning.

The preacher asked them who they loved,

They all smiled and started pointing

To their mom, their dad the teacher from their kindergarten class;

At this time I have a daughter ready to graduate from high school.

To quote Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt in the movie Cheaper By The Dozen - 2003 release

- Five minutes ago she pointing at cows in Munger's field. - Dad

- And then you blinked. - Mom

- Yeah. - Dad

- Enough with the blinking, No more blinking. - Dad

- Alright. - Mom

This song is very close to us at this time. Our oldest is a senior in high school and will be graduating soon.

This song is on

1) Mark Schultz Track 8

Lyrics

It seams like a lot of songs have great meaning in the chorus. With this song it is true. With a 17 year old daughter it is so close to home it is scarry.

[Chorus]

How I learned how to hold you when you cried

I learned how to let you be strong

Learned how to calm you in the dark

Learned how to listen with my heart

I learned how to watch you grow

But how will I learn to let go.

Its amazing that when I was younger this song would not have ment that much to me. In fact I had a fiend who came to a comic book convention with his girl friend (later his wife) and he was saying its hard to go anywhere with out her. Thinking to myself at the time what is he thinking. Going forward in time he was part of my wedding party. At that time I told him you were right. Its hard to go anywhere with out her.

This song is on

1) Song Cinema - Track 9

Lyrics

When you write out a poem to propose to your wife with this song means so much to you. The reason being the lines in this verse are from a letter that was written as part of the song.

You're the only girl I'll ever love

And I'd do anything not to give you up

If I could only stop the world

When you're standing by my side

See I'm having the time of my life

I have several friends that have adopted children. So the line "When you gave me up, Oh you gave everything to me." shines out. For without those kids they would not have had the family that they have now. Just to see their faces its like they had given birth themselves.

In fact we had a friend that helped by being there with us during our three kids being born. This helped immensely because of my weird hours. She and her husband now have two adopted children. The first was a son and the second a daughter from Russia that came into the country this past week.

This song is on

1) Broken and Beautiful Track 7

2) Broken & Beautiful (Expanded Edition CD +DVD) Track 7

Its amazing what the moms of the family think about while the are pregnant. This is the life experience and suddenly having my pregnant wife open up and start speaking. For all the dads out there who can relate to this comment,so what is sleep?

But you had dreams for me

You wanted the best for me

And you made the only choice you could that night

[Chorus]

And you gave life to me

A brand new world to see

Its amazing what they see and hear. Though you don't always know what it is until much later. I have heard a few things relayed to my wife and us but I don't think everything. I do know that the wife has spend a long time as a stay at home mom and I in the work force pulling some weird hours. I also know that for a few years I was a stay at home dad. So I know a bit of what she and the other kids were observing. All though some of it has been in hindsight.

This song is on

1) Broken and Beautiful Track 10

2) Broken & Beautiful (Expanded Edition CD +DVD) Track 10

Lyrics

Remember parents you kids are always watching you. It may not seam like it sometimes but they will follow after you. So as the song says keep praying.

Oh I was watching

And I've been waiting

And finally found someone just like you

Yes I was watching

My whole life praying

For God to see it through

And as he kissed her one last time

He said a prayer and closed his eyes

And she was watching

As the first line says "Five months eight days my wife and I had waited" My wife and I can really to that as well. You see the doctors said that she might not be able to have children. Turns out that she was able to get pregnant. However the first child was a miscarriage. When she became pregnant again We knew that the doctors were defiantly wrong. We did every thing we could to make sure that this one would make it to term. In fact when we went in for the scan on the baby we did not know if it would be a boy or a girl as the child was facing backwards. Since then we have had two more kids both boys.

In the song it states "there's a boy at the front door waiting just to take her to her high school prom" Yes our daughter is a senior this year. So as I have said before it is amazing how some of these songs have hit close to home and why I am seeing them as songs about family.

This song is on

1) Come Alive - Track 4

2) The Best of Mark Schultz Track 11

Before getting married the doctors said there was a good possibility that the wife would not be able to have kids. The first pregnancy was a miscarriage. However we were able to prove the doctors wrong with the next three kids and no further miscarriages.

[Chorus]

I wanna give her the world

I wanna hold her hand

I wanna be her mom for as long as I can

And I wanna live every moment, until that day comes

I wanna show her what it means to be loved

As this song portrays even when you move out you never seam to leave home. To your parents you are always their little one. Even when you have the height and can look down on them. This is true in our family as my dad could look down on my grandpa, I can look down on my dad and my son can look down on me. (Second son still growing.)

This song is on

1) Come Alive Track 8

Lyrics

My parents had three kids and I also have three kids. My oldest is our daughter. In college I was part of the rifle team and have a jacket from then. That was in 1985. At this point my mom keeps threatening to acquire and burn it. My answer is not until my little girl is married or even later. We do love her but leting her go and fly on her own is not easy.

She packed up her bags and she turned to tell them goodbye

She kissed her dad and promised her momma shed write

For 18 years shed been their baby

Oh, but now she will learn how to fly

This song is on

1) Broken and Beautiful track 3

2) Broken & Beautiful (Expanded Edition CD +DVD) Track 3