Tomorrow morning if you wake up
and the sun does not appear
I will be here
If in the dark, we lose sight of love
Hold my hand, and have no fear
‘Cause I will be here

I will be here
When you feel like being quiet
When you need to speak your mind
I will listen
And I will be here
When the laughter turns to cryin’
Through the winning, losing and trying
We’ll be together
I will be here

Tomorrow morning, if you wake up
And the future is unclear
I will be here
Just as sure as seasons were made for change
Our lifetimes were made for these years
So I will be here

I will be here
And you can cry on my shoulder
When the mirror tells us we’re older
I will hold you
And I will be here
To watch you grow in beauty
And tell you all the things you are to me
I will be here

I will be true to the promise I have made
To you and to the One who gave you to me

Tomorrow morning, if you wake up
And the sun does not appear
I will be here
Oh, I will be here

Dear God, this song was played and sung by my wife’s aunt at our wedding twenty years ago tomorrow. My wife chose it to be a part of the ceremony. Funny, but I always heard it as being from me to her. It never occurred to me until this moment that it might have been her message to me from her. Maybe I thought that because it is a man singing it to a woman, but now I feel kind of foolish that I never heard it as her singing it to me.

I just listened to a recording of SCC and his wife talking about the loss of a young daughter in a tragic accident. Listening to their story, I couldn’t imagine the pain they felt. I couldn’t imagine the fear of the future. The divorce rate for couples losing a child is over 80%. They both said that they consciously said to each other right after the loss, “We are not going there. We are not even considering divorce.”

I look at these words now, think about when SCC wrote them, and how naïve they seem in the wake of the pain they have experienced. Did he really mean it? Did he really know what he was committing to?

Father, I think that is part of the beauty of commitment if we take that commitment seriously regardless of the circumstances. Sure, if we knew how hard something would be in advance we might not do it. But we rarely know. I am going through challenges at work right now. I didn’t know how hard it would get when I interviewed for the job almost seven years ago. I didn’t know how hard parenting would be when I agreed to start trying to become a father seventeen years ago. I didn’t know how hard marriage would be when I asked my wife to marry me 21 years ago. But my job needs me, my children need me, and my wife need me. And so as long as I have breath, I will be here.