True Faith

I recently heard the new verse that Steven Curtis Chapman added to the song "Yours" after the death of his five year old daughter. I was instantly moved to tears. This man's ability to have clarity and faith during this horrible tragedy blew me away. What a true testimony of faith!!!




Singer Steven Curtis Chapman's Daughter Dies in Tragic Accident
By Rennie Dyball

Originally posted Thursday May 22, 2008 10:30 AM EDT
The Chapman family

Photo by: Chapman Family / AP
Grammy-winning Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman suffered an unthinkable tragedy Wednesday when his 5-year-old daughter was killed in an accident involving her brother.

Chapman's youngest daughter, Maria Sue, was hit in the driveway of her family's Franklin, Tenn., home by an SUV driven by her teenage brother, the Associated Press reports. The brother, whose name was not released, apparently did not see the girl.

Several family members witnessed the accident, according to the AP. Maria Sue later died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Laurie Holloway said.

"It looks like a tragic accident," said Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol. No charges are expected.

"Just hours before this close knit family was celebrating the engagement of the oldest daughter Emily Chapman, and were just hours away from a graduation party marking Caleb Chapman's completion of high school. Now, they are preparing to bury a child who blew out 5 candles on a birthday cake less than 10 days ago," Chapman's manager Jim Houser wrote on a blog dedicated to Maria that was set up for condolences. "These words are unthinkable to type."

Longtime advocates of international adoption, Chapman and his wife adopted three daughters from China, including Maria, and have three biological children as well.

"After our first trip to China, my wife and I knew our lives were changing – our eyes and hearts were opening to how big God really is, and we have wanted to experience more of that," Chapman said on his Web site.

The singer also wrote a book about being a father titled Cinderella: The Love of Daddy and his Princess.

So True

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.

I MissThem

Today I am missing these little faces!!! No one is asking for a snack, or riding their skates in the house. The girls aren't asking to go play at Andreas, and Haden isn't asking for Brycen to come over. Bowen is not wanting to ride his vroom vrooom outside in the cold and there is no fighting or crying or requests for drinks. It's so quiet and peaceful. The first two hours are nice, now not so much! :( It's funny how the little everyday things that can be so tiring, and leave me longing for bed time are the things that I never want to imagine my life without!! Ever.

Thanksgiving

Here are a few pics from Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for!!! God has been so good to us!!!

Letter

Tarrah,
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." - Isaiah 40:8
As I sit at my desk on this foggy morning, I felt compelled to write about a couple of important things. Today I have found the true meaning of life. As the song says, I am a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow. I have the love of God, a loving wife, and the position of “hero” for four little babies who are growing so very fast. What is important in life? Cars, houses, power, position? I say no! What’s important is what I have truly found. The end of the rainbow stops at my house.
I woke and thought it was still night
The sky was dark and clouds of turmoil loomed
There was no end in sight
Then the sun appeared and the flowers bloomed
God once again, had made it right.
He took my hurt and pain and cast it to the wind
That my friend was the end of night!

Tarrah, thank you for being a loving Godly wife. You and God have taken a broken vessel and given it life again. I cannot say enough what you mean to me. I don’t know how else to say it other than, BABE, I LOVE YOU!! Thank you for being a lady and my best friend.

Jay

Happy Endings

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."--Carl Bard

Change

Any day we wish; we can discipline ourselves to change it all. Any day we wish; we can open the book that will open our mind to new knowledge. Any day we wish; we can start a new activity. Any day we wish; we can start the process of life change. We can do it immediately, or next week, or next month, or next year.

We can also do nothing. We can pretend rather than perform. And if the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can choose rest over labor, entertainment over education, delusion over truth, and doubt over confidence. The choices are ours to make. But while we curse the effect, we continue to nourish the cause. As Shakespeare uniquely observed, "The fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves." We created our circumstances by our past choices. We have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today. Those who are in search of the good life do not need more answers or more time to think things over to reach better conclusions. They need the truth. They need the whole truth. And they need nothing but the truth.

We cannot allow our errors in judgment, repeated every day, to lead us down the wrong path. We must keep coming back to those basics that make the biggest difference in how our life works out. And then we must make the very choices that will bring life, happiness and joy into our daily lives.

And if I may be so bold to offer my last piece of advice for someone seeking and needing to make changes in their life—If you don’t like how things are, change it! You’re not a tree. You have the ability to totally transform every area in your life—and it all begins with your very own power of choice.

To Your Success,

Jim Rohn