Just When I Needed You Most

I can't remember what I was looking at on youtube yesterday but a song popped up that I remembered but only barely. Of course, I played it. I recalled the tune and most of the words but truthfully, it had never really registered. The song was Just When I Needed You Most by Randy VanWarmer which hit # 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts in 1979. I'll be honest- if I hadn't watched a live version, I wouldn't have paid much attention to it. But the not very well lipsynched video was gut wrenching, causing me to look up the background of the singer and his song. I read about the artist and found out he was born in Colorado and when he was only twelve, his dad was killed in a car accident. Three years later, his mom took him and his brothers and moved to England. Those two events- the death and the move- at that stage of my life would have absolutely devastated me. Apparently, these heavily tied in to the writing of Just When I Needed You Most, along with the heartbreaking split from his girlfriend. He didn't fit the rock star look- you can see in the video that he is tall and appears slightly awkward. A vulnerability came through spotlighting his feelings of hopelessness at being abandoned. He had a solid  singing career afterwards and also wrote two # 1 country hits for the Oak Ridge Boys and Alabama. He also married the love of his life, Suzi, but died of leukemia at only forty-eight. He had dreamed of being an astronaut and in 2007, part of his cremated remains were taken into space on a memorial flight. From all accounts, Randy VanWarmer was absolutely beloved in the music business and mourned by his colleagues. 

I've been crushed in life and had my heart broken but I've never felt abandoned. I never feared losing Mom of Dad; they made sure we knew we would live with Uncle Monroe and Aunt Julia if they were to die..... and vice versa. In trials, I had countless friends and family members I could turn to all over the country. But we all know folks who have no one in times of crisis. The root system many of us enjoy and that is at our disposal is non-existent to them. I've seen elderly folks where I live who are vulnerable in their state of loneliness and sometimes simply being forgotten. No one to call or even drop a note or card. The most poignant line in VanWarmer's song is in the third verse:
I've written you letters that I'd like to send
If you would just send one to me
We always memorize James 1:27 in my classes and inscribe it on each of our Honduras/Haiti bank bottles. It goes:
Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Why the emphasis on the very young and old? They tend to be most vulnerable in any society. The scriptures often remind us that we won't be forgotten!
For the Lord will not abandon His people, Nor will He forsake His inheritance.
(Psalm 94:14)
For the Lord loves justice And does not forsake His godly ones;
They are preserved forever,(Psalm 37:28)
Though my father and my mother abandoned me, the LORD gathers me up.
(Psalm 27:10)
What a blessing to know that no matter what happens here, we are not left alone by the One who sent His Son to die for us and His Spirit to comfort us! People may leave or disappoint us but our faith is not in flesh and blood. Randy, only twenty-two when he wrote his classic, appears to have recovered nicely and lived a fulfilling life; I read a beautiful eulogy Suzi penned. But there remains a question. What happened to the girl?

Here are the lyrics to Just When I Needed You Most:

You packed in the morning, I stared out the window
And I struggled for something to say
You left in the rain without closing the door
I didn't stand in your way

But I miss you more than I missed you before
And now where I'll find comfort, God knows
'Cause you left me just when I needed you most
Left me just when I needed you most

Now most every morning, I stare out the window
And I think about where you might be
I've written you letters that I'd like to send
If you would just send one to me

'Cause I need you more than I needed before
And now where I'll find comfort, God knows
'Cause you left me just when I needed you most
Left me just when I needed you most

You packed in the morning, I stared out the window
And I struggled for something to say
You left in the rain without closing the door
I didn't stand in your way

Now I love you more than I loved you before
And now where I'll find comfort, God knows
'Cause you left me just when I needed you most
Oh yeah, you left me just when I needed you most
You left me just when I needed you most

To watch and listen to Randy Vanwarmer sing Just When I Needed You Most, click or copy/paste the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBOQgL731Ac

Applicable quote of the day:
I had to get in touch with the source, I had to go back into my abandonment issues with my mother, I had to go into issues with my father I hadn't even looked at before.
Kenny Loggins

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
E-mail me at shawley@westburychristian.org