A Night with the Chapmans

My son Joe invited Mandy and I to a concert at his church last night.  He lives about 45 minutes away from us. The 1 1/2 hour total commute was definitely worth it...we were so blessed.   We got to see Steven Curtis Chapman in concert ~ and his sons' group Caleb was the opening act ~ and his wife Mary Beth was his special guest!!  It was awesome!

The tour kicked off on September 10 in Lancaster, PA and ended last night in Joppa, MD.  It was an extra special blessing to be there for the final night of the tour and for Steven's birthday.  It was a privilege to hear how God has been working in the lives of this family since the death of the youngest Chapman, Maria.  It was convicting to hear about their orphan care program called Show Hope.  It was a wonderful evening!

photo from last night's concert



He sang some powerful songs including Beauty Will Rise from the CD of the same name.  He wrote this about two years ago ~ after the death of his little girl.  I found this video on YouTube in case you'd like to listen to it.  Beauty Will Rise begins about one minute into the video.

 

With Hope is another song written by Steven. He wrote it about a dozen years ago to minister to a family who had lost a child. Now it ministers to his family.

With Hope
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’s 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

What a testimony this family is to the Grace of God.