Garment of Praise

Many of you have heard of the tragedy that fell on the family of Steven Curtis Chapman this week. For those of you who haven’t, Steven lost his youngest daughter, Maria, in a tragic accident. Steven’s son accidentally ran over her. I cannot imagine the devestation facing this young man. Each time, I place myself in his shoes, I am completely overwhelmed. Having two adopted little sisters I know the joy that they bring into my life, and I can’t imagine loosing either of them, let alone to have a horrible accident result in the responsibility of their death resting in my hands-the pain just consumes me. I’ve always been a softy, and pretty sensitive to others pains, but as I grapple with this one, I am just at a loss. My heart hurts for him.

All I can do is pray for this young man, and for his family. Each time I keep coming back to the injustice of it, or the pain of it, I stand humbled because I know that Maria is with Jesus. It still really stinks to be left without such a precious heart-and in such a terrible state of grief.

The family was getting ready to celebrate their oldest daughter’s engagement. One of their older sons had just graduated from High School, and now, they must bury Maria.

We can sit around and weep saying that “it’s not fair” and in reality-it really isn’t. We can try to cover our pain with words of sympathy-but our words do nothing to numb the pain. I am reminded of a song written by Stephen-before his daughters death. The words comfort, and haunt. As you go about your day today I ask you to remember the Chapman family, and the other families who are suffering the loss of a beloved daughter or son.

“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

We can cry with hope
we can say goodbye with hope
‘Cause we know our goodbye is not the end
We can grieve with hope
because we believe with hope
There’s a place where we’ll see your face again
We’ll see your face again

Never have I known
anything so hard to understand
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 you’re home and now you’re free

We can cry with hope, we can say goodbye with hope
‘Cause we know our goodbye is not the end
We can grieve with hope, because we believe with hope
There’s a place where we’ll see your face again
We’ll see your face again

We have this hope like as an anchor
‘Cause we believe that everything God promised us is true

So we can cry with hope, we can say goodbye with hope
‘Cause we know our goodbye is not the end
We can grieve with hope, because we believe with hope
There’s a place
By God’s grace
There’s a place where we’ll see your face again .”