Maria Chapman

This past week I have been grieving deeply for a little girl and her family that I don't even know personally. Who knew only a few short months ago when I met Stephen Curtis Chapman and became even more endeared to him, that last week his family would have to experience such an indescribable tragedy. There are so many questions and so much sadness for the loss of little five year old Maria that I only know through pictures and video. I have prayed often for the Chapman family and for what they must be going through. I found hope this morning, though, in these words of Maria's dad. What I just found out, though, hours after I posted this blog after copying the song from my friend, Jeny, was that Stephen Curtis Chapman wrote this song nearly ten years ago! May the Chapman family find comfort in this song that was penned almost a decade ago with this new, incredibly raw tragedy. May we all, even in the midst of all the pain, recognize God's love and faithfulness and, by His grace alone, experience His peace.

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

But 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

And we can cry with hope

We can say good-bye with hope

'Cause we know our good-bye is not the end

And we can grieve with hope

'Cause we believe with hope

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 your home

And now your free

We have this hope as an anchor

'Cause we believe that everything

God promised us is true

We wait with hope

And we ache with hope

We hold on with hope

We let go with hope

~ Steven Curtis Chapman