A Baby Named Amen
By: Tamar Pedersen

I was walking down the street. It'd been a long day. I was beat.
A stranger caught me by surprise. I saw the worry in his eyes.

Sir, can you help me find my way. I'm new in town. Just arrived today.
Where's the Children's Hospital? Is it far away?

Verse 2:
He'd come in on the midnight train. Just one suitcase in his hand. His face was drained.
I said my car was parked close by. He told his story as we got inside.

His newborn baby'd been flown in. The doctors here were her last chance to live.
They would need a miracle only God could give.

Chorus:
Everybody has a purpose in God's plan.
Even when it's not apparent, he holds us in his hand.
His eternal plans we may not comprehend,
But if our eyes could pierce the veil we'd understand,
That everybody has a purpose in God's plan.
Even a baby named Amen.

Verse 3:
He had to leave his wife at home. She couldn't make the trip. He was alone.
So, when we reached the ICU, he asked if I would help him through.

When we reached his baby's side, he opened up his case. Could not believe my eyes.
It's just a teddy bear. He laid it down and cried.

Verse 4:
He asked if I knew how to pray. He'd never tried and wondered what to say.
I told him that he need not fear. Just speak as if God was here.

And then he offered his first prayer. Nurses stop to watch. He didn't seem to care.
He finally seemed at peace, as he stroked her hair.

Bridge:
But while her father prayed, his little angel slipped away.
She'd done what God had sent her here to do.
This broken little baby had taught her father how to pray.
It only seemed a fitting end when he named his child Amen.
Her life came to an end, as he said Amen.

Chorus:
Everybody has a purpose in God's plan.
Even when it's not apparent, he holds us in his hand.
His eternal plans we may not comprehend,
But if our eyes could pierce the veil we'd understand,
That everybody has a purpose in God's plan.
Even a baby named Amen.

A Baby Named Amen - About

This song was born of two actual experiences that we put together into one song. I actually met a man in Salt Lake City, coming from the train station. We went to the hospital, and prayed together for his baby. I could see how desperate he was, so I invited him home afterward. His baby actually survived for almost a year, but left us too early, due to a severe birth defect. He couldn't stay in Salt Lake City more than a few days, but his baby wasn't ready to leave when he was. Katrina and I promised him we would visit his baby everyday, which we did, until the day we went to visit her and she had been taken home, almost three months after we first met. He didn't name her Amen. We adopted that part of the story from a friend, whose baby had been born prematurely. While he and his wife prayed for their struggling child, he died, as they said Amen. I was touched by their story, and asked their permission to use it in this song. I have wondered what the purpose is for such little innocent children to suffer, but in the case of the friend I made in Salt Lake, I think his daughter helped him find his way back to God.