Steven Curtis Chapman and Family, especially Maria Sue

Steven Curtis Chapman is a Christian Rock singer, who has been known in that forum for twenty years or so. He is also an adoptive father who is well known and respected in the adoption community for his advocacy for adoption and ongoing philanthropy for orphans. He has three home grown children, and three daughters adopted from China. In May of this year, one of his teenage sons accidentally struck his five year old sister, Maria Sue, with the car. She died almost instantly.

I have followed his story with a guarded heart and awe at the family's strength, unity and faith. Thursday night they were on Larry King Live, and I caught the interview on YouTube. I found LK to be coarse, abrupt and rude, even getting their daughter's name wrong several times. I found SCC and his wife and three oldest children to be honest, human and full of grace.

One story if I may paraphrase and butcher: On the evening of the accident, SCC and his son were pleading and praying "if we could only SEE that she's alright". The next morning SCC found a picture on the little girls' art table that Maria Sue had done the morning before. In the picture was a six-petalled flower, with one petal coloured in blue. SCC took this to represent his six children with ONE child "whole" and "complete". Above the flower, she wrote "SEE" a word she had not written before. Goosebumps?

Below I have added a song SCC sings about adoption. I had heard it before, shortly after we started on our own adoption journey, but it didn't strike me. We were too far removed from the reality of our adoption for it to be anything but a pretty song. I heard it again this morning and it rang so true. It's me, it's AnnaWen.

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