My earliest memories of Christian music revolve around “For the Sake of the Call”, “No Better Place”, and “Let Us Pray” by Steven Curtis Chapman in the early 1990’s. The summer before my junior year of high school, I prayed to receive Christ at youth camp. The camp theme song that year was “The Great Adventure” by Steven Curtis Chapman. At our wedding, SCC’s “I Will Be Here” was sung and continues to be our song. I have always enjoyed the way that SCC can tell such a captivating story of Scripture, hope, and redemption through his music. Now that I have read Choosing to SEE: A Journey of Struggle and Hope by Steven’s beautiful wife Mary Beth, I see that hope and redemption is the theme of the Chapman family and their ministry.
This book is obviously a labor of love and stewardship on behalf of what God is doing and will do through the Chapman family and in particular, Mary Beth Chapman. In May of 2008, this family lost their precious daughter Maria in a tragic accident. Maria was the youngest of three sweet girls that the Chapmans have adopted from China. That story is obviously the foundation of this book as it propelled the Chapmans to consider what matters most and how God wanted to use their story for His glory and the good of others. Mary Beth was very brave to share her own struggles with depression and doubt over the years. I really appreciate her transparency and know her desire is to help other people…ladies and moms in particular…gain victory in this area.
There are tons of funny stories throughout the book and when I closed the book, I felt as if I had walked away from spending some time with the Chapmans. This was a pretty wide open look at all things Chapman. I am not a super emotional person, but I can assure you that I shed some tears as Mary Beth recounted different events such as her wedding, special times with each of her children, the adoptions of their three youngest, the death of Maria, the wedding of Emily, the way that Caleb showed what it meant to truly be his brother’s keeper, and the way that Will Franklin’s “cloud of witnesses” walked him through the darkest days of his young life. This is a story of victory and redemption.
Do yourself a favor…read this book and hug your family tighter. God has a plan and a purpose for each of us. God doesn’t guarantee us an easy life, but He does promise to carry us through the darkest times if we will run to Him.
I highlighted a few things while reading and have pasted them below..
- We cannot fathom the intricacies of the divine plan. But make no mistake, when we are in the driest desert, we can receive the manna to make it all the way to the other side where trees bud again and children laugh.
- It’s in the most unlikely times and places of hurt and chaos that God gives us a profound sense of His presence and the real light of His hope in the dark places.
- He has shepherded me through the mountainous terrain of my stubbornness, shame, depression, and inadequacy and brought me gently back to the lushness of His love. He loves us enough to never let us go … even when it feels like He has.
- I have found that even during those times when the path is darkest, He leaves little bits of evidence all along the way-bread crumbs of grace-that can give me what I need to take the next step. But I can only find them if I choose to SEE.
- See that real success in the kingdom of God is not about being strong and looking good and knowing all the right answers. It’s about continually yielding oneself to Jesus and determining to take purposeful little steps of obedience, and the ragged reality that it’s all about God and His grace at work in us.
- That’s just a faint reflection of how much I love you! You didn’t have a name, and I gave you a name. You did nothing to deserve my love, and I love you anyway. You had no hope, no future, and now you are the daughter of the King!”
- May this be your experience; may you feel that the Hand which inflicts the wound supplies the balm, and that He who has emptied your heart has filled the void with Himself.
I read this book it is awesome!!!!