My parents got to follow along as the music careers of some of the earliest contemporary Christian artists unfolded. One of those artists was Steven Curtis Chapman. Actually, my dad was at an Amy Grant concert back in the 80's. As he was riding the escalator at the event location with another gentleman they both asked each other if the other was going to the concert. They both were. They parted ways and half way into the concert dad saw that same man get on stage. It was Steven Curtis Chapman. If you listen to the Christian radio stations these days you'll hear songs by him titled "
Do Everything" and "
Cinderella" but I grew up listening to his earlier stuff like "
The Great Adventure", "
When Love Takes You In" and "
Dive".
I've grown up "alongside" of his biological kids, I followed along with he and MaryBeth's
adoptions of their three Chinese daughters, I celebrated from afar when their older kids got married, I mourned with them when
Maria died suddenly, and I was likely one of the earliest fans of their son
Caleb's band (and was delighted to meet he and Will when they came to Eau Claire on their first tour).
 |
| Dad and I meeting Will. Dad told him his escalator story. Great memory! |
The Chapman's have been role models for me and their lives were used to plant seeds early on for my own desire to adopt. To this day one of my greatest wishes is to meet and really know Steven, MaryBeth and their kids. Their hearts reflect the deep love of the Father of the fatherless. They started an organization 10 years ago called Show Hope. It's main function is to provide adoption grants to families who want to adopt but can't afford it, however they have several ways to get involved with orphan care and Emily & Caleb are carrying the torch to inspire our generation to get creative and come up with new ways to advocate. Through the videos below you can get a taste of who they are, what they do and how you can help. And if you get inspired and decided to "get to know" them more, I bet you will find that Steven and his family will feel like long-time family friends to you too!
SPONSOR // http://www.showhope.org/Donate/BecomeASponsor.aspx
GO // http://www.showhope.org/Mobilize/ShortTermTrips.aspx
PASS IT ON // http://www.redbusproject.org/
CELEBRATE // http://showhope.org/mobilize/10YearCelebration.aspx?
I'm not sure if I'll be able to swing it, but you better believe that if I can make it to this celebration, I am going to! Hope to see you there. :)
