Out of the Ashes

A friend and counselor of mine during our long walk through Leah's death and Tommy's adoption recently asked to share our story during a devotional she was preparing. She asked for some pictures of both Leah and Tommy, so I made a little slideshow.

I used music from Steven Curtis Chapman's newest album Beauty Will Rise. This album rocks my world.

Disclaimer: I am neither a long-time Steven Curtis Chapman fan, or a fan of most CCM. Of course, as an adoptive parent I have a great respect for the Chapman family and their commitment to orphans. Not only have they adopted, they also started Show Hope, which helps hundreds of families bring home kids every year (including us!). Given the amount of grants Show Hope gives, along with running numerous programs to help orphans, and building a huge care facility for special needs kids in China, I would guess the Chapmans support it pretty heavily. They put their money where their mouth is- so refreshing. All that said, I still hadn't purchased any of SCC's albums, recently or ever.

A few weeks ago I saw an article on CNN.com about Chapman's new album, in which he writes and sings about grieving his daughter, Maria. I was intrigued. I went to his website and listened to the two song sampler, then went and got the album the next day.

I can't tell you if this is a "great" album or not. I can tell you that it is honest and accurate. I listen to it and think, "yes, I felt (or feel) that way." It speaks straight to my heart. This album is sad, but so is losing a child. Despite the overall heaviness of the album's content, Chapman works in the hope that we have in Christ. The way he balanced hope with the pain of loss in his lyrics and music felt perfect to me. It is too easy to deny the real pain that Christians have as we mourn because we cling to our hope of something better. Chapman does not deny his pain, his suffering, or his longing for his girl, but he makes it abundantly clear that he knows he will hold her again.

Especially as the holidays approach and everything becomes even more bittersweet (I know I would never have both Leah and Tommy, but I want them both. Having Tommy makes the holidays fun again, but we will still really miss Leah), I have really been enjoying this album. In the interview I read Chapman mentioned that he hoped the album would be healing for others sharing his pain, and it is.