It was just a little over four years ago that we comfortably sat in our dimly lit family room (Annie, Barret, Victoria and I) while it rained outside. It was a Sunday afternoon; we had all returned from church and just finished a nice traditional brunch together. Victoria decided to pop a DVD into our player that she had recently purchased on a whim while attending a women's conference in Las Vegas with my mom. We had little idea what was on the disc other than some music from Steven Curtis Chapman, but figured it would be a nice way to spend a few relaxing minutes together while we let our meal settle. And we had absolutely no idea that moment in time would forever change our lives. It was Steven's personal testimony to the love of God showered upon him, his wife and family through the adoption of his daughters Shohanna and Maria, both from China, that caused my heart to beat so hard I could literally feel it against my folded arms resting upon my chest. His humble expression of passionate love for Jesus and the compelling desire to pour it out to his family, and now these two girls almost brought me to tears. But it was this music video, also on the DVD (below), that took me to the brink.
[Some might say this song is over-used and over-played, but I still cry whenever I watch it.]
After that, I uncharacteristically released those unforgettable and unimaginable words, "I don't know why we're not doing something like this." God grabbed a hold of us with a grip that was inescapable. Tonight, as I type this, our two little girls from China lie in their room with soft lullabies playing on their CD player, resting with their eyes closed, living in a house thousands of miles from their homeland. Love had taken us in, and it has taken them in too.
I was recently reminded of the Chapman family after hearing an interview with Steven and his wife on Fox News. The searing loss of their daughter Maria to a tragic family accident about nine months ago hasn't caused their love for Christ or family to waiver in the slightest. If anything, it's stronger. I just simply had to write this post in honor of the man and family God brought into our lives to draw us near to Him. He may never know how they were instruments in the Redeemer's hands to us, but I have to believe that Jesus looks down and smiles. Perhaps one day they'll know, and then they'll look up at Him and also smile.
Forever grateful,
Tom (& Victoria)
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