It all started a year ago today...

I could not end my day here without remembering how this journey began one year ago today. On May 21, 2008, Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman lost their precious 5 year old daughter, Maria, in a tragic accident at their home. God used this event and the Chapman's honest grief and bold faith in the midst of their darkest hour to draw me closer to Himself...and thus my journey to this, our newest calling, began. In a tribute to this precious family whom we now have the privilege to call 'friends'...I share with you here the poem God put on my heart for Mary Beth, written on October 21, 2008. I hope it will encourage you and show you the depth of God's love for each of us as His children. He has a plan for us...even in our darkest hour...and He WILL redeem our suffering.

Journey to God’s Heart

How do I dare let you know,
That your pain has helped me to grow?
It seems so incredibly unfair,
That, for me, you had to walk there.

No words are enough for you now.
How I long for your pain to be gone.
I’d take it away in a moment,
Yet, with Christ, you were never alone.

Shared tears, yet I don’t really know you.
‘ Bearing your burdens’ — is that what this is?
God’s love pouring out through me…
Are the tears I have cried actually HIS?

It is true that we all are ONE body,
So it fits that your pain would be mine.
A mystery beyond understanding.
Through our tears, Christ is most able to shine.

You showed me the splendor of Jesus.
You were faithful to Him in the dark.
I will never be the same, so I thank you
for my journey to the center of God’s heart.

Written to Mary Beth Chapman and family October 21, 2008.


©Beth Hamilton, 12/29/2008

Steven and Mary Beth...what a privilege to know you and to SEE all that God is doing in and through you and your entire family. May God continue to carry you all and hold you close! We love you because HE loves you!