Verse 1
If I were a butterfly,
I’d thank you Lord for giving me wings.
If I were a robin in a tree,
I’d thank you Lord that I could sing.
If I were a fish in the sea,
I’d wiggle my tail and I’d giggle with glee.
But I just thank you Father for making me, me.

Chorus
For you gave me a heart and you gave me a smile.
You gave me Jesus and you made me your child.
And I just thank you Father for making me, me.

I always loved albums like Psalty or GT and the Halo Express. When I was a kid, I nearly wore out my cassette tapes likening to them, learning the songs, and enjoying the silly little stories that tired the music together. Now, more than twenty years later, I have a one-year-old daughter and one of my favorite things for us to do, whether we are sitting around on the floor playing with her toys or having a snack at the table, is turn on those same old songs and sing along, hoping that her smile means she will one day love these songs too.

I’m sure at some point I’ll bring up a song or two that I skip for one reason or another, but as an introduction to late 80’s/early 90’s children’s worship music, I picked one of my old favorites.

If I Were a Butterfly is a simple melody with fun, engaging lyrics. With the verses detailing various animals, it is easy to see a room full of kids moving around, physically engaging and more deeply ingraining the song into their minds and hearts. This being said, is there really enough content here, aside from a few silly truisms, to warrant an entire blog post? Absolutely!

And remember, this is a song for children. Sure, you could get deeply theological and argue that the lyrics invoke God’s placing humanity above the animals, giving them only the most simplistic things but making people His children. The statement is true, but the song doesn’t say that. In scripture reading terms, we call that eisegesis or reading your own theology into the text. Plus, it isn’t necessarily a prudent message for pre-teens, at least not in that format.

No, the meaning is much simpler, and it is something that many Christian adults still haven’t figured out to this day. God loves all of His creatures, and all of creation echoes to us God’s glory. And as much as we see beauty in everything around us, as much as we might wish we could fly like the butterflies or sing like the birds, or maybe have some of the skills that other people around us have, God still made each of us who we are for a reason. He gave us life and a reason to have joy. He sought after us when we had turned away and welcomed us back with opened arms. We were all individually crafted by Him for His glory, and there is no greater purpose in heaven or on earth than that.

So, when you are feeling discouraged about who you are, or who you are not, stop yourself and thank your heavenly father for making you, you.

SDG,

Paul Hart Cochran