Steven Curtis Chapman Concert!

Earlier in the week, we were blessed with the opportunity of seeing Steven Curtis Chapman in concert! We had seen him once before when he was touring with Casting Crowns and Chris Tomlin, but we hadn’t seen him in several years, and not since his daughter Maria died in a tragic car accident three years ago.

The concert was awesome, and such an encouragement to us! It was actually an acoustic concert with just Steven Curtis Chapman playing a guitar and piano (but not at the same time of course! J) He played old songs, new songs, and talked about his family and how God has been working in their lives since the accident. I could never imagine going through the things they have gone through in the past 3 years, but I know God is allowing them to use this pain for His glory. They truly believe that this pain and tragedy is something God has entrusted to them to steward and use to help others grow closer to the Lord.

I had been praying that the Lord would speak to me at the concert, because oftentimes He uses music to bring encouragement to me during difficult times. But I wasn’t really expecting what impacted me: the discussion of adoption. During the music video, while Steven Curtis Chapman played the song, “When Love Takes You In” I began to cry. I’m not really sure why, because adoption has never been something that our family has discussed nor something that I could be a part of at this stage of life. I think it was seeing the children in the movie that broke my heart. I began to think about all that God has blessed me with in this life, especially a family that loves me. Thinking about all of the children who don’t have two parents who love them dearly, siblings to grow up with, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. saddened me. How could someone grow up without knowing the love of a family?

I struggled with where to go after feeling that conviction at the concert and not wanting to just brush it aside, so for right now I have committed the matter to prayer. Maybe the Lord wants adoption to be a part of my future!

One thing that struck me with Steven Curtis Chapman’s discussion on adoption, was how he paralleled it with our relationship with Christ. John 1:2 says, “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” As totally depraved humans, we didn’t do anything to deserve God’s love. He sent His only Son to die for us, even though we did nothing to deserve it! We don’t deserve to be His children. But He loves us anyway and calls us His children. We serve a great God! I am so thankful we were able to go to the concert, so that I could be reminded of this wonderful truth!