So, I've been thinking about this since before Christmas and hopefully I will finally sit here and finish writing it.
So, a lot of you might know that on May 21st of 2008, Steven Curtis Chapman, Christian artist and musician, lost his five year old daughter when she got accidentally hit by a car and passed away. I remember my mom and I crying when we heard that news back a few years ago. Both Steven and his wife were on Larry King a little while after the incident and I remember the extreme hurt they showed. The pain that was coming through their words. But, I also remember their extreme faith. Steven is still writing songs, he just recently released a new album. His two sons are also successfully making music. The oldest daughter is in Ireland with her husband working. And the other 2 little girls are being homeschooled by their mom.
I cannot even begin to imagine what this family had to be going through at this time. I follow all the members on twitter, and on a lot of days, they still express their pain. Like Christmas without their little girl.... they talk a lot about how she's happy in Heaven with her Heavenly Father right now. Sometimes it's so hard to watch them go through this. I don't know them personally, but through the music and through their blogs, you can hear their pain.... but this family has been such a huge encouragment to me. Their never ending faith is just so incredible. After having 3 children, Steven Chapman and his wife adopted 3 little girls from China. One of these little girls, Maria was the one that passed away. She got hit accidentally by a car that one of her older brothers was driving.
I can't even imagine how each of them must have felt. As a brother, as a sister, and a mom, and as a Dad. I am sure that they must have been angry with God... or even questioned God, like "Why us God?" "Why Maria?" But, even though they may have had this anger in the beginning, they now have a stronger faith than ever before. They know that God took Maria to be home with Him, and they know that she is safe with Him in Heaven. Steven wrote a new song on his new album called "Heaven is The Face." (Click name to watch video) that talks all about his little girl and how he misses so many things about her, but also how he's trusting in God until he sees his little girl's face again.
I think that so many of us would have given up on God in this situation. We would have just thrown it all away and given up. We would have blamed God and been angry at Him for taking away someone we love. What amazes me the most about the Chapman family is their faith and their trust. Their faith in Heaven and their faith that God will carry them through the hard times, and their faith that their little girl is safe in His arms. I can't even begin to think of the sorrow that they were and are going through, especially during the holidays and everything.... but it's that extrmeme faith that I think has brought them through these hard times.
Just the fact that this family didn't give up on God and didn't give up on each other is incredible to me. Sometimes, when something hard or bad happens in our lives, I feel like we get angry and blame God. We question God and we lose our faith, because something went wrong. But from this situation, I see that it's at those hard times in our life that our faith grows stronger. We gain more trust in God, because it's only Him that can take us through those times.
The Chapmans built a huge orphanage in China and named it 'Maria's Big House of Hope' after their little girl. That young 5 year old girl lived a short life, but I'm sure that her experience and her family have changed the hearts of many in the world, including me.
Just like the verse in Matthew, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to the mountain 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
This story makes this verse just speak to me. Just that small amount of faith can really take you through hard times. We can't give up on God. He will lead us through our lives, we just have to trust in Him.
Mary Beth Chapman's Blog: http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/marybeth/
*Amy :)
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