Bread Crumbs of Grace

On Saturday evening, I went to my very first Steven Curtis Chapman concert at Harvest Bible Church in Elgin.  It was a night that I will always remember. Not only did Steven Curtis Chapman sing, but it was also a  family event. His two sons Caleb and Will were featured in the warm-up band called, Caleb – a great sound!  I bought the CDs for my teenage daughters.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when Steven sang Cinderella and Heaven is the Face of a Little Girl. One of his dear friends, Geoff Moore surprised him by being at the concert. Geoff’s wife grew up in the town where I now live. Geoff spoke about Show Hope, a charitable organization founded by the Chapmans to provide orphan care and adoption aid.  Thanks to Show Hope, over 2,000 orphans have found a home as a result of the generous support of contributors who made adoption financially possible for families. Also, Maria’s Big House of Hope is “dedicated to saving the lives of special needs orphans in China by providing surgeries and medical attention. This home will offer the highest level of care, enabling the children to thrive and greatly increasing their chances of being adopted.” You, too, can become a supporter of Show Hope and help provide orphan care and adoption aid.  Please prayerfully consider that opportunity.

The unforgettable moment of the evening was listening to Mary Beth Chapman share her heartache after the loss of their five year old daughter, Maria.  With candor and raw emotion, she spoke about her “freefall of faith” and how “bread crumbs of grace” helped her find her way through the darkness. I cannot imagine the deep abyss that must swallow one’s life after the loss of a child.  My heart weeps with mothers and fathers who have experienced that despair. Mary Beth Chapman’s book Choosing to See captures the journey of struggle and hope that she and her family experienced firsthand after Maria’s death. I couldn’t put that book down, and a lot of laundry went unwashed this weekend because of that. I highly recommend that you read this book, especially if you are going through a difficult time right now. 

Although I have never met Mary Beth Chapman, I know that she is an authentic Pearl Girl—a woman who has encountered grit and experienced God’s grace. God has truly transformed her grit into a powerful testimony about His unwavering grace. And how poignant that those “bread crumbs of grace” helped her find the way through her immense darkness. I like to think of those bread crumbs as manna from God --- His ultimate provision to nourish us as He leads each of us from the Exodus of the deathly desert into the Promised Land of His presence.

Have you experienced “bread crumbs of grace”? Do you have a personal story about adoption that you would like to share? Have you heard the Chapmans in concert?  Please take a moment and share your moments with us. Thank you and God bless!

photo credit: volacci.com

Labels: Choosing To See, grief, loss, Mary Beth Chapman, non-fiction, Steven Curtis Chapman

posted by Margaret McSweeney @ 8:31 AM