A new children’s song written for the global hymnbook of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints emphasizes God’s love for each child individually.
And the author and composer of “He Cares for Me” has a strong testimony of this truth, because he has seen it in his own life.
Kenneth S. Schank wrote “He Cares for Me” in 2019. At that time, the young father, who lives in Santaquin, Utah, with his wife, Julia Schank, and their three children, was working full time while trying to finish college, all while dealing with anxiety and depression. But he could see Heavenly Father’s hand in his life and how He was helping him and his family.
“If there’s one thing that I know, it’s that Heavenly Father loves His individual children, and I’ve seen that time and time again,” Schank said.
An engineer by trade and a logical thinker, Schank said he knows the way to learn anything is to test it over and over and see if the same result appears. “You can rely on that,” he said. This is how he gained a testimony of the things he wrote about in the song.
Schank has liked writing music since he was a teenager. He submitted some arrangements of songs and hymns for the Church music festival over the years, but when he heard about the new hymnbook project, he hoped he could write something original — which he had never done.
He knew it would need to be on a Christ-centered topic that would apply to a lot of people. “I also knew that it was going to be on a topic that had to mean a lot to me, that I had a really strong testimony of.”
The greatest example of God’s love for His children is that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, Schank said. The Atonement of Jesus Christ, the Restoration of the gospel and all things show Heavenly Father’s love.
Working through the words, he thought: “Even though I’m small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things with everything else that’s going on in the universe, Heavenly Father still knows me, He still loves me, He still cares about me. He hears me, even though I’m just a speck.”
Then, sitting at the piano, the melody didn’t come to him all at once, but it came over a period of a few days. “I kind of wrestled with it,” he said.
1. He knows the stars that shine at night.
He made the burning sun.
And ev’ry creature, great or small—
He numbers ev’ry one.
He also knows my face and voice.
He loves me perfectly.
Our Heav’nly Father knows all things;
He knows and cares for me.
2. He hears the sound of ocean waves
That crash upon the shore.
And when the rain clouds fill the sky,
He hears the thunder roar.
He also hears the quiet words
I pray on bended knee.
Our Heav’nly Father hears all things;
He hears and cares for me.
3. He loves me whether I am sad
Or happy or in pain.
He understands my troubles, and
He even knows my name.
For He’s my Heav’nly Father;
His child I’ll always be.
Our Heav’nly Father loves us all;
He loves and cares for me.
Listen to this song here.
Submissions were given to the hymnbook committee without the names of authors or composers attached. The committee members considered the following criteria:
- Does the hymn increase faith in and worship of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ?
- Does the hymn teach the core doctrine of the gospel with power and clarity?
- Does the hymn invite joyful singing at home and at church?
- Does the hymn comfort the weary and inspire members to endure in faith?
- Does the hymn unify members throughout the Church?
Schank said he thought that even if his song didn’t get selected, “it would feel like a way that I could worship; that it was a contribution that I could make to the Lord even if nobody else saw it.”
He used words like “thrilled,” “humbled” and “grateful” when he spoke to the Church News about seeing his song in the list of songs released in September in the latest batch for “Hymns — For Home and Church.”
Then, recently his own ward sang this song in sacrament meeting as the closing hymn — while he played the organ as the ward organist.
As with other new songs and hymns that his ward has been learning, a member of the bishopric introduced it first, mentioned that Schank had written it and asked him to play it all the way through so the ward could be familiar with it.
“I think that was the first time it really began to sink in. To hear the entire congregation singing this song and to see it fully integrated was very humbling. At times I still pinch myself,” Schank said.
While he didn’t write it for recognition, he felt grateful that “I had contributed something to the kingdom of God on earth that in some small way has helped people to connect more with Heavenly Father.”
