“I love Mother’s Day, but I realize that many women don’t share my enthusiasm. Some feel left out of this holiday because they haven’t borne children, and others dislike it because they have. But from my point of view, Mother’s Day is truly special. I never cease to be amazed that when Heavenly Father created women, He not only gave them the capacity to bring life into the world, but He also endowed them with the gifts required to shape and teach all of us. Women not only bear children, they bear with all of humankind in life-changing ways….So on this Mother’s Day, I pay tribute to the life-sustaining influence of all of God’s daughters. Our Heavenly Parents love you for your sheer courage and for the unequaled influence you have in this world of ours. Happy Mother’s Day!”

Russell M. Nelson

Available Products

NOTE: The recordings for both the women’s version and the children’s version use the same sheet music and are in the same key. You can also find both recorded versions in the Hugs From Heaven Bundle.

Cover photo used with permission by Rebecca Cooper, Simple As That Blog

Lyrics

Hugs From Heaven
(A Lullaby for Mother Hearts)

The ways you serve and give
The love you share with those around you;
All those little things that you do.
Yet, if you sometimes feel that you are not enough,
Then this message is meant just for you.

Chorus
We want to thank you for all the good that you are
For the Lord knows each piece of your heart
And He knows in those moments how hard you try
Hope you feel hugs from Heaven as the days go by.

The trials you endure
The strength you show when you are tired
Teaches us how faith sees you through
And if you’re overwhelmed, so stretched you feel you’ll break,
Then this message is meant just for you.

Repeat Chorus

To all the women by our side
Who nurture, bless and give us life:
It is your love. You are enough.

Repeat chorus

Feel those little hugs from Heaven with this lullaby.

Copyright © 2023 by Sara Lyn Baril. All rights reserved.

Thank you to my friend, Rebecca Cooper at Simple As That Blog for the use of her photo for the cover of this song. Such a darling depiction of a child reminding us to “look up”!

Stories Behind the Song

PART 1 – HUGS FROM GOD

PART 2 – HUGS FROM ANGELS

PART 3 – HUGS FROM EACH OTHER

HUGS FROM GOD

Hugs From Heaven stems from an experience I had when I was about 23 years old. My husband and I managed 60 apartments, we had two young children under the age of two and my husband, Mark, was in university, working a part time office job, and running a business DJ/VJ business that took him away on weekends. My main job was the apartments and the babies. We were drowning in life, diapers and chaos, and I was so, so exhausted and lonely. 

One day with my hands in the dishwater in a really hot summer apartment, cheerios all over the floor, two mischievous toddlers in action, apartments to clean and phone ringing off the hook for rentals, I just started to cry. I was hot, tired, overwhelmed and sleep deprived. I needed a break. I was having a hard time keeping up, and I wasn’t loving my current circumstances. I said a prayer and asked if I could feel a hug from heaven. 

What happened next was unexpected and beautiful. No sooner had I prayed, there was a little tingle that started on the top of my head and flowed down to my toes. A warm rush of love from the Lord enveloped me and I was reminded that He was indeed there, that He knew my name, my trials and my efforts and that I was seen and appreciated for all the hard work I was doing to contribute and build my family. It was exactly what I needed to give me strength – and has given me much strength since. 

I have never forgotten that moment. It has taught me about God’s love and healing power and that I’m not alone in my trials – or my nurturing. 

This song is something I wish I had heard on Mother’s Day when rocking nursing babies alone in the mothers lounge, feeling completely inadequate, especially on Mother’s Day. It’s a song I wished I had heard when I had made efforts that I felt went unnoticed. It’s a song I wish I had heard when I have been in waiting for prayers to be answered and hopes to be fulfilled. 

It is my hope that this song will convey God’s love to all mother hearts. I believe that as we lift and strengthen each other in any nurturing capacity, we are strengthened by the Lord and those He sends to minister to us on the other side of the veil, and we can ask for that reassurance – those “hugs from Heaven” – any time, anywhere.

HUGS FROM ANGELS

The second story behind this song comes from a dream I had about three years ago – before I ever thought of writing a song called “Hugs From Heaven”. I had been going through a very difficult time in my life and was struggling to serve, nurture my family, minister to others and to share my music despite the heaviness I felt.

The dream was simple. I was in an airport, sitting on a long row of chairs. I don’t remember many people there, except that I had a little girl on my lap, probably around age 3, and she was crying. She kept looking up at me…just so sad, and tears were streaming down her cheeks. I was wiping her tears, and as I was wiping her tears, tears of my own began to fall. We both just sat there in that airport crying.

I don’t know who the little girl was, or what we were both so sad about, but suddenly my grandmother – my Nana – appeared in a beautiful white temple dress and sat down beside us. No words were spoken, but she took her soft thumb and wiped the tears off my cheeks as I wiped the tears of the little girl’s. Then the dream ended.

I woke up at about 4am with the most beautiful, comforting thoughts. I knew that dream was sent to me as a gift; a reminder to know that as we try to serve, comfort, lift, strengthen, and nurture those around us, the Lord sends angels to minister and strengthen us.

Even more meaningful was that it was my own grandmother, the one who shares similar gifts with me of composing music and was a huge part of my life. She had passed away a couple of years previous to this dream, but I have felt her strength many times.

I know the Lord sends angels to all of us. Sometimes we sense their presence, sometimes not, but either way, they still come to us and give us strength when we need it most. It is another way of receiving a “hug from heaven” – hugs from angels and the knowledge that the Lord sends many to our aid – another testimony of His love for us. We are never left to do it alone – especially as we minister, serve and sacrifice.

“Sometimes the veil between this life and the life beyond becomes very thin. Our loved ones who have passed on are not far from us”

Gordon B. Hinckley

“Don’t underestimate your family on the other side of the veil.”

Jeffrey R. Holland

HUGS FROM EACH OTHER

Hugs From Heaven, women’s version, is sung by my best friend, Karma Olsen, and her daughter Keara. It was extra special to have them sing this duet together, and they sound like two identical angels!

Karma and I have been friends since we were in elementary school. We have raised our kids together, been neighbours as adults, and helped each other through many challenging times!

Following in line with their mothers, my oldest daughter, McKaya, and Keara have even been the best of friends since they were tiny babies! (Literally! McKaya and I were even at Keara’s birth!) A second generation of sisterhood and friendship, and quite possibly a third to come with little girls just a year apart.

I wish I had more pictures to show of Karma and I and our growing up together. Our husbands were introduced to each other in 1995 when I got engaged, and are also very good friends. The Olsens and the Barils will always be family!

The day before I left for Utah to do the recording of the children on Hugs From Heaven, I received a message from the Cardston Alberta Stake Relief Society to let me know that they had used Hugs From Heaven as part of their Spring Social event.

A counsellor in their Stake Relief Society Presidency wrote: “We used your new song for our Stake Relief Society program right after you released the sheet music. It was perfect and the sisters loved it. It is beautiful and just what we needed for our program. It was an answer to our prayers. We hadn’t been able to find music that felt just right and had our program in just a couple of weeks, so the timing was perfect for us.“

After receiving this message, it occurred to me that women ministering to women is another way that hugs from heaven can be felt – and that we needed a Relief Society version of this song!

The timing was pretty awesome as well, because Karma was going to be hopping in my car with me to come with me to Utah the next day,  both to help me with the kid’s vocals and filming and to visit her daughter, Keara, who lives only 20 minutes from the recording studio. So, as soon as I received the message from the Cardston Stake Relief Society, I pounced on this idea and called her up to ask if she would like to record it with Keara while there. Miraculously, the studio even had an opening for us to record between the kid’s production! It felt meant to be, especially when this trip included being able to see a friend she hadn’t seen in almost 30 years (and whose children are now in Hugs From Heaven video!)

I have reflected many times how I have felt loved by the Lord through other women. I firmly believe that as we cheer each other on, support one another and minister to each other in times of need, we allow the Savior’s love to flow through us and to be instruments in God’s hands to strengthen all women to nurture those within their sphere of influence. We are not at competition with each other….we are are fellow co-workers with God in nurturing His children upon the earth.

It is my hope that this version of Hugs From Heaven will solidify the message to YOU, that you really are needed and more amazing than you know, and that your “sisters” in Christ always have your back!! You are loved and appreciated – and you can ask for that knowledge anytime, anywhere. Sometimes God sends reassurance in the form of a feeling; a tender mercy in response to praying for that knowledge. Yet, maybe even more often He answers us in the form of sending someone who understands; who sits with us in our pain, believes in us, and reassures us that we can do hard things with God’s help.

Women NEED women, and these relationships can bless our lives immensely. We can reach out for help and let people in, and we can find many answers to our own prayers in the love we extend. No matter our circumstances, all women are mothers with innate gifts. Women can share mothering influence with each other – and to each other. Women can be great sources of nurturing to each other.

FREE PRINTABLE

Click on this free lyric card to either print as a 5×7 or text or email to someone you love!