A Child of Mine I'll lend you for a little while A child of mine God said For you to love while he lives And mourn for when he's dead It may be six or seven years Or twenty two or three But will you 'til I call him back Take care of him for Me He'll bring his charms to gladden you And should his stay be brief You'll always have his memories As a solace for your grief I cannot promise he will stay As all from earth return But there are lessons taught down there That I want this child to learn I've looked this whole world over In My search for teachers true And from the throngs that crowd life's lane I have chosen you Now will you give him all your love Nor think labour vain Nor hate Me when I come to take This lent child back again? I fancied that I heard them say Dear Lord Thy Will be done For all the joys Thy child will bring The risk of grief we'll run We'll shelter him with ternderness We'll love him while we may And just for having loved him Forever grateful stay But should the angels come for him Much sooner than we planned We'll brave the bitter grief that comes And try, to understand