MARIA SUE CHAPMAN, DAUGHTER OF STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN, DIES IN ACCIDENT AT FAMILY HOME
NASHVILLE, TN...5/21/08...
At approximately 5pm on the afternoon of Wednesday May 21st, Maria Sue Chapman, 5 years old and the youngest daughter to Steven and Mary Beth Chapman was struck in the driveway of the Chapman home in Franklin, TN. Maria was rushed to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville, transported by LifeFlight, but died of her injuries there. Maria is one of the close knit family’s six children and one of their three adopted daughters.
More than five years ago, Chapman and his wife MaryBeth founded The Shaohannah’s Hope Ministry after bringing their first adopted daughter, Shaohannah, home from China. The ministry’s goal is to help families reduce the financial barrier of adoption, and has provided grants to over 1700 families wishing to adopt orphans from around the world. Chapman is a five-time GRAMMY ® winner and 54-time Dove Award winning artist who has sold over 10 million albums and garnered 44 No. 1 singles.
(Above: compliments of Steven Curtis Chapman's home page)
This story grips my heart with feelings of sorrow not least because I (like thousands of others) have invited Steven Curtis Chapman into my living room ever since I first became a Christian back in the early 90's. My life has been shaped and impacted by songs like the Great Adventure and For the Sake of the Call which press us to abandon everything, not least our family and even our own lives, for the sake of the call.
It is during times like these that our faith is pushed to the limits, the mediocre cliches we so causally toss around in our communities become shallow and empty. So many say things like "God is in control" - which is easy to say when such tragedy has not happened to us, nonetheless, these people need a reality check - is God good? If the answer is 'yes' then God cannot always in complete control!
And so it is here that our theological rubber meets the reality road - hard! Theology attempts to answer these tough 'why' questions, but in order to do this, we must leave the confines of our cliches, our churches and our seminaries and face head-on the consequences, the repercutions and the implications of those beliefs.
Our prayers go out to the Chapman family, and if you are a believer in a God who works in and through all things for the better - even in the evil to bring relief to the suffering - then pray too that the Spirit of Christ will in this time help Chapman's 15 year old son to forgive himself, for the family to forgive him, and that God would grant them all a sense of serenity knowing that Maria is fully embraced in the arms of Jesus.
In our prayers.
Derek
"In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world" - Jesus.
(John 16:33; ESV)
NASHVILLE, TN...5/21/08...
At approximately 5pm on the afternoon of Wednesday May 21st, Maria Sue Chapman, 5 years old and the youngest daughter to Steven and Mary Beth Chapman was struck in the driveway of the Chapman home in Franklin, TN. Maria was rushed to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville, transported by LifeFlight, but died of her injuries there. Maria is one of the close knit family’s six children and one of their three adopted daughters.
More than five years ago, Chapman and his wife MaryBeth founded The Shaohannah’s Hope Ministry after bringing their first adopted daughter, Shaohannah, home from China. The ministry’s goal is to help families reduce the financial barrier of adoption, and has provided grants to over 1700 families wishing to adopt orphans from around the world. Chapman is a five-time GRAMMY ® winner and 54-time Dove Award winning artist who has sold over 10 million albums and garnered 44 No. 1 singles.
(Above: compliments of Steven Curtis Chapman's home page)
This story grips my heart with feelings of sorrow not least because I (like thousands of others) have invited Steven Curtis Chapman into my living room ever since I first became a Christian back in the early 90's. My life has been shaped and impacted by songs like the Great Adventure and For the Sake of the Call which press us to abandon everything, not least our family and even our own lives, for the sake of the call.
It is during times like these that our faith is pushed to the limits, the mediocre cliches we so causally toss around in our communities become shallow and empty. So many say things like "God is in control" - which is easy to say when such tragedy has not happened to us, nonetheless, these people need a reality check - is God good? If the answer is 'yes' then God cannot always in complete control!
And so it is here that our theological rubber meets the reality road - hard! Theology attempts to answer these tough 'why' questions, but in order to do this, we must leave the confines of our cliches, our churches and our seminaries and face head-on the consequences, the repercutions and the implications of those beliefs.
Our prayers go out to the Chapman family, and if you are a believer in a God who works in and through all things for the better - even in the evil to bring relief to the suffering - then pray too that the Spirit of Christ will in this time help Chapman's 15 year old son to forgive himself, for the family to forgive him, and that God would grant them all a sense of serenity knowing that Maria is fully embraced in the arms of Jesus.
In our prayers.
Derek
"In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world" - Jesus.
(John 16:33; ESV)
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