LIFE SONG: I'd have liked to be a father

[to be sung by a man]

I'd have liked to be a father
if it hadn't come so soon.
It came before the wedding,
before the honeymoon.
I'd have liked to be a father
if it wasn't a surprise.
I was thinking of my finals--
not of lullabies.

She called me and she told me
and the news was hard to take.
The last thing that we needed
was--a little namesake.
I thought about the future
and what we could afford.
All night I paced--and finally,
I thought about the Lord.

"I've come to be a sacrifice,"
my Savior's words rang true.
"This is My body
I lay it down for you."

I saw myself a husband,
I saw her as my wife.
I pictured us together
with this tiny life.
The next day when I saw her,
I told her of my night.
"We'll raise this child together.
I want to do what's right."

She pulled away: "It's over.
I didn't want to be
a mother or a wife just yet--
I wanted to be free.
I don't care if it's selfish.
It's what I chose to do.
You have no right to interfere.
It isn't up to you.

"I don't intend to sacrifice,"
my girlfriend said with ease.
"This is my body
I'll use it as I please."

Lyrics by Jessica Shaver c) 1988