Sara Groves' albums have received well-deserved acclaim for her premier songwriting ability.
With her previous recordings, Groves focused on a theme and wrote poetic commentary with songs about social justice and the impoverished. Each of her albums has always had at least one song that pulls my heart strings and brings out an emotional response. 

From "Maybe There's A Loving God" to "I Saw What I Saw" and "It's Me," I always expect at least one of Sara's songs to make me cry, in particular the songs she writes about her relationship with her children and with her husband, which parallel God's love for us as His children and as His bride. Here are my top seven Sara Groves songs about family.

1. "It's Me" from Fireflies & Songs
 
I always expect at least one of Sara's songs to make me cry. On Fireflies & Songs, that song is "It's Me." The picture of how a husband and wife hurt each other with emotionally wounding words is capped off by Sara's crying out to the boy she loves "it's me, baby it's me. How in the world can tenderness be gone in the blink of an eye?" The song makes me cry just writing about it.

2. "Miracle" from Invisible Empires
 
On Invisible Empires there are several personal songs that melt my heart, including opening song "Miracle." "Lay down your arms, give up the fight, quiet your hearts for a little while. Things have been spoken, shouldn't be said, rattles around in our hearts and our heads," ring the opening lyrics to "Miracle." I can't hold it together when Sara sings that last stanza of the song: "Oh it's a mystery, love is a mystery. Oh it's a miracle, it's a miracle, let's be a miracle." That's also my prayer for my marriage: for God to be at its center. Jesus is the Good News and the miracle that can hold us together when we have struggles.

3. "Fireflies and Songs" from Fireflies & Songs
 
"Fireflies and Songs" begins with Sara musing about "30 years ago I was a little girl," hearing a woman singing "you don't bring me flowers anymore." As a mid-40s male who grew up listening to that same song when I was a little boy, I immediately identified with Sara's reference. Also having 3 young children, I find every reference amazingly relevant as I've also been married for 21 years, same as Sara.

4. "Different Kinds of Happy" from Fireflies & Songs 
 
This is another one of Sara's classic songs of vulnerability with these lyrics: "I've got to ask you something, but please don't be afraid, there's a promise here that's heavier, than your answer might weigh."

5. "You Cannot Lose My Love" from All Right Here 
 
"You Cannot Lose My Love" opens with the lyrics "You will lose your baby teeth, at times you'll lose your faith in me. You will lose a lot of things, you cannot lose my love." It is a gorgeous love song to her children: "You will lose your confidence, in times of trial, your common sense. You may lose your innocence, but you cannot lose my love." It is a beautiful depiction of how God feels about us as His children.

6. "Signal" from Floodplain 
 
"Signal" expresses the parallel of Sara's love for her children to God's love for us as His children, similar to her great song "You Cannot Lose My Love," with the vulnerable expression "All the clichés about how much I love you are true, as big as the sky, up to the moon, a million zillion, infinity plus one." The refrain celebrates God's love for us: "There's no cliché when I hear Your song, Your signal is getting stronger, Your signal is getting strong." 

7. "Song for My Sons" from Tell Me What You Know 
 
This song is filled with wisdom for Sara's and Troy's sons, with the lyrics "This is a song for my sons for when they understand it. You know how life is full, you know we couldn't plan it. Your dad and I prayed for strength and understanding, for things we couldn't see or comprehend. This is a song for you, to carry in your pocket. Take all our love with you in all the paths you walk in, I can't say your life will always go like it should, but I can say that God is always good." Amen to that!