He's My Son by Mark Schultz

Album: Mark Schultz (2000)

License This Song

lyrics

Songfacts®:

Mark Schultz wrote this song about a family dealing with their son's cancer when he was a youth minister at a church in Nashville, Tennessee. It was inspired by the grieving of a couple in his church, whose son had been diagnosed with leukemia. Shultz observed the struggles of the mother and father. He explained in CCM Top 100 Greatest Songs In Christian Music: "Louise often stayed up with (Martin) until he fell asleep. She would rub his back and try to comfort him, but she felt helpless. Some nights, John would wake up and walk down the hall to Martin's room and watch him sleep. As he stood there, he would try to imagine what life would be like without his son."

Schultz added that he "tried for several months to write a song for John and Louise, but nothing seemed to capture what they were going through. I couldn't begin to understand the depth of pain John and Louise faced every day - but God did." He then went on to explain that eventually "the only thing I had to do with this song is that I just happened to be there when God sat it in my lap."
In 2001 the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Society gave Schultz the Beacon Award for his awareness-raising efforts.

Comments: 9

Roonnyc from MichiganAfter a divorce from abuse , my son was hard to manage as a single parent. He left in thickfog one nite to be with his friends. I couldn't go search for my lost son because I couldnt see past the car hood, so I prayed his heavenly father watch over him and bring him home safely. HE DID!! My son is grown and is a believer and an awesome father. To this day I can't sing thru this song with out crying. It brings that time back and God's fathering my son.
Steve from FlI lost my son to brain cancer when he was 5 and half. Just after his 3rd birthday he had a stroke, and that is how we discovered he had the brain tumor. That was in the fall of 1999. When this song came out, I felt like it was written directly from my thoughts, ripped straight out of my own heart. Donny, my son, passed away on Valentine's day 2002. We played this song at his funeral. As much as I love this song, it is still too painful for me to listen to... but Thank you, Mark, for putting what I was feeling to music so perfectly
A Mother Who Knows - from IdahoThis song has touched my heart more than words can express. My son, my baby boy, became a heroin addict. I have spent many, many nights praying for his recovery. I have watched him many nights going through horrible withdrawals, wishing I could take that pain from him. God gave him to me and knows he is my son. He will help him recover. I listen to this song over and over. I cry every time I hear it. There is nothing like a mothers love or a mothers pain.
Tim Keniston from Claremore OkI lost my Son to Cancer 11 years ago. I did all the things this song says. He was 19. Still hurting today as if it was 11 seconds ago.
Michael Christopher from MarylandMy son is now 24, somewhere on the autism spectrum, but suffering from paranoid schizophrenia with auditory hallucinations for the last 5 years. All he wants is to be married and happy, but he is afraid even to look for a job. He isn't dying, but he suffers voices every day, all day, and my wife and I grieve for him. He's still our son, no matter how old.
Paul from Fredonia Mountain, TnMy son, Payne, fought depression very deep depression. This song touches my heart because of the prayers I sent to God, yet unanswered because my son passed away in 2014. For a parent to see their child hurt in anyway form or fashion is truly unbearable. There is not a person in this world who can understand that pain, unless you have been a part of it. However, this song, really brings the message home of how a parent feels and the prayers they pray for any sort of help and guidance during a time that is so painful.
Gwen Hodgin from Macon GaI am a nurse and I took care of a little boy that had SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy). I was with him for 2 1/2 years of his short 3 1/2 years that he lived. This song reminds me of him & his mom. He passed away Mar 10, 2021. It broke my heart but I know that he is completely healed & running the streets of heaven; something he could not do here on earth.
Kennady West from ArlingtonI really love this song it tears me apart in tears and it’s about his son with cancer
Ken Kern from Broken Arrow OkGod laid this song in my lap after my son had a tragic motorcycle accident that left him in a coma for weeks. I watched as my wife held his hand and laid her head on his bed and prayed. During those difficult times, I totally related with the lyrics of this song. God heard our prayers and performed miraculous work through doctors, nurses and therapists of all kinds. This song holds a special place in our hearts.

see more comments

More Songfacts:

Justify My LoveMadonna

Madonna's "Justify My Love" was co-written by Lenny Kravitz.

Susie QCreedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival's first single was a cover of a rockabilly song called "Susie Q." When it became a hit, group leader John Fogerty went into a songwriting frenzy so they wouldn't be one-hit wonders, resulting in hits like "Proud Mary" and "Lodi."