I heard this morning about Steven Curtis Chapman's family experiencing deep tragedy yesterday evening. His youngest daughter, Maria, was struck down in their driveway by one of his sons as he was backing out. Maria was transported to the hospital, where she died of her injuries. My heart broke after hearing this. I have grown up listening to SCC's music, but have recently been inspired by him and his wife MaryBeth's heart for adoption and their ministry, Shaohannah's Hope, founded to help families fund international adoptions after they adopted their daughter Shaohannah from China. They had three China babies- Shaohannah, Stevey Joy, and Maria. I cannot imagine the pain and loss this family is experiencing. I only know that my prayer is that the same God who called Maria to her eternal home is holding each member of the Chapman family in his perfect, loving, gentle hands. As I read on a blog this morning, let us not forget to pray for her older brother, that (to borrow words from this other blog) he would not believe the lies the enemy will try to tell him surrounding this situation. God, in His ever perfect plan, knew Maria's every day before she even found her "forever family" in the Chapmans. May he give them his peace, hope, and grace as they walk through this time together. On SCC's album Speechless, he dedicated a song- "With Hope"- to the families of those killed in the 1997 Paducah, KY school shooting at his own alma mater. The words to this song have given ME hope at many times, and I can only pray them back over the Chapman family.
This is not at all how
We thought it was supposed to be
We had so many plans for you
We had so many dreams
And now you've gone away
And left us with the memories of your smile
And nothing we can say
And nothing we can do
Can take away the pain; the pain of losing you, but ...
We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no
And we can grieve with hope
'Cause we believe with hope (There's a place by God's grace)
There's a place where we'll see your face again
We'll see your face again
And never have I known
Anything so hard to understand
And never have I questioned more
The wisdom of God's plan
But through the cloud of tears
I see the Father smile and say well done
And I imagine you
Where you wanted most to be
Seeing all your dreams come true
'Cause now you're home
And now you're free, and ...
We have this hope as an anchor
'Cause we believe that everything
God promised us is true, so ...
So we can cry with hope
And say goodbye with hope
We wait with hope
And we ache with hope
We hold on with hope
We let go with hope
2 comments:
Oh my goodness...I didn't hear about this. I wonder if she is the daughter he wrote the song "Dance with Cinderella" about/for..? Definitely praying for that family.
Being a parent, you can't help but feel the earth under your feet shutter at news like this. It's a good reminder to do three things: pray for the safety and well being of our family and others, be vigilent when our children are playing outside, and to be extra precautious when driving down neighborhood streets/ in and out of driveways.
My heart aches for them... Life really is a gift.
xo
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