I have a sound roof over my head;
I have a loving family around me.
I have food upon my table
And clothes upon my back.
But even if I lose those blessings,
I will not complain.
I’ll just keep on praising the Lord
For being so good.
My bills are paid; my credit is quite good,
And I live in peace with my neighbors.
I have friends who’ll come a-runnin’
To help in times of need.
But even if I lose those blessings,
I will not complain.
I’ll just keep on praising the Lord
For being so good.
I thrive on smiles and words of good cheer;
My hopes and dreams keep me looking forward.
My creativeness fulfills me
And keeps my mind alert.
But even if I lose those blessings,
I will not complain.
I’ll just keep on praising the Lord
For being so good.
About This Song:
I began writing this song while undergoing some health problems that had the potential to be worse than they turned out to be. They interfered with my sleep for a number of nights, however, and I started working on the words during a time of sleeplessness.
I didn’t get out of bed to do it, though. So I had to memorize my progress in order to return to it the next night. I should’ve written the words down when I got up the next morning, of course, but I honestly just didn’t feel up to it.
Eventually a tune started coming into my head. God graciously brought it back to me each night. Interestingly, though, I made a few major changes once I felt up to entering it in Personal Composer, the software I use to transcribe my songs.
One change will always amuse me. The first four notes used to be G-C-D-E rather than C-C-D-E. If you play those notes on your instrument of choice, you’ll recognize the original version as the beginning of “How Dry I Am”! Not exactly what I wanted to associate with this song. A more practical reason for starting on C instead of G is the fact G was a bit low for my voice–at least for starting a stanza.
The last couple of songs I’d written came pretty easily, but the rest of the lyrics for this one–I’d only “dreamed up” some of them during my times of sleeplessness–gave me fits. The basic idea was clear, though. “No matter what God has blessed me with, I’ll continue to praise Him–even if He takes some of those blessings away or allows them to be taken.”
So I wanted to include as wide a variety of blessings as I could. Several times I thought about the old hymn, “Count Your Blessings.” Mine are definitely too numerous to count. Or to list in this song.
I started with the most basic–the ones most people have: shelter, food, clothes, family. Then I moved on to money and credit, my relationship with neighbors, and friends I could depend on.
The third stanza was the most challenging, however. I wanted to limit my references to blessings I currently had, and I was none too sure about my health at that time. So I finally omitted references to health.
I already had “hopes and dreams,” but what did I want to say about them? I thought I had my answer with “perking” or “rolling.” But I decided hopes and dreams play a major role in not living in the past.
I also had “creativeness” left over. I wanted to use “creativity,” but it had one syllable too many to fit the tune. I just about wore out my thesaurus before coming up with “fulfill.”
I still had a hole in the third stanza, though. Then I thought about how much I love to receive smiles and words of encouragement from others–and to give them. So that stanza finally came to completion.
What about you? If you were to lose some of all of the blessings the Lord has given you, would you still be able to praise Him? How about leaving a comment?
Free lead sheets (lyrics, tune, and chords) are available for many of my songs. Click on the Lead Sheets tab at the top of this page to see whether one is available for this song. Videos for many of my songs, some recorded at home and some at our church’s nursing home ministry, can be accessed at my website, RogerBruner.com, under the Listen tab.
Look for me again next Wednesday. Better still, subscribe to receive these weekly posts by email.
Best regards,
Roger
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As I Come Singing. . . 