You’ve Got a Friend

My husband and I are foster parents. It’s a fun and rewarding job, but challenging on many levels. We will never forget the first night we had children move into our home. We visited with the two siblings, brother and sister, for a month or more on weekends and had a couple sleepovers prior to the permanent move. Everything was great! We were excited to have the cute little kids in our home; however, the first night of the move didn’t go as expected. Bedtime arrived and the crying started. The children continued to cry no matter what we did or said to reassure them.  With divide and conquer as our motto, we each took a child and sat by their bedside trying to calm their fears.

After a couple hours of crying, my husband and I were no closer to a solution. We met in the hallway to hug, kiss, and offer a little comfort and encouragement to each other. We didn’t have a clue what to do next. Finally, the little girl looked at me through her tears and said, “One of my other foster moms makes Snoopy sing, so I’m not scared.” She shoved her stuffed animal, Snoopy, into my hands. I looked back into her big, green, watery eyes and started praying. “Lord, I’m tired and I can’t think. What can I sing that will make this child calm down and feel safe?” Instantly, I heard, “Sing, You’ve Got a Friend.” Hearing this command very clearly, I started singing the words exactly as James Taylor recorded them in the 70s, “When you’re down and troubled and you need a helping hand, and nothing, woo, nothing is going right. Close your eyes and think of me and soon I will be there to brighten up even your darkest night. You just call out my name and you know wherever I am, I’ll come running, ah yeah baby, to see you again. Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall, all you got to do is call and I’ll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah… You’ve got a friend.”

Miraculously, the little girl stopped crying, jumped out of bed, ran to her brother’s room, and said, “Listen to Snoopy sing. It’s the best song. You’ve got to hear it.” Both kids went to sleep right after Snoopy sang for them and they slept through the night.

For months, the kids loved that song and learned to sing it word for word. They would shout when they got to the part, “People can be so cold. They’ll hurt you and desert you. They’ll take your soul if you let them, ah yeah, but DON’T YOU LET THEM.” It was amazing how the simple words of that song could help these children that had been abandoned, abused, deceived, and broken.

I always wondered why I was told to sing that song, but the Lord always knows what he is doing. Because of that song, my husband and I were able to connect with the children and talk to them about some of their past hurts. Through this song, they began to understand the concept of God being with them instantly every hour, day, night, year, and forever.

God gave us the Holy Spirit to be with us always. Jesus tells us this in John 14: 16- 20:

16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

We all experience times when we need a friend. When is the last time you called out his name?