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WHAT A DAY THAT WILL BE written in 1955 The Story An orphan girl and a mother-in-law were two inspirations for James Hill (1930 – ) when he wrote this song. Jim never forgot an orphan girl who came to sing at his Baptist church years earlier. She ended her song with the words, “What a day that will be”. But the immediate influence for this song was Jim’s mother-in-law, who was paralyzed by a stroke when she was only 50 years old. Jim was a new Christian, and he couldn’t understand why this had happened to such a wonderful woman. One day, as he was sitting on his porch thinking about his mother-in-law, the words to this song just came to him. Jim had never written a song before, so he wasn’t sure how good it was. But, the next time he, his wife, and his wife’s sister went to visit his mother-in-law, they sang it all the way to her home. And when they got there, they sang it again. And, as they sang, for the first time in 3 years, Jim’s mother-in-law smiled and showed signs of excitement. To Jim, that was a sign that the song was going to be blessed by God. And, since then, the song has been an anthem of encouragement for many people. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Rev. 21:4) This song has been recorded by more than 1,000 singing groups and individuals.