Steven Curtis Chapman Shares Powerful Note About Healing 11 Years After Daughter's Death
Is there a Steven Curtis Chapman song that doesn’t fill you with emotion?
Take your pick — “Cinderella,” “I Will Be Here,” “Heaven Is the Face” — all of Chapman’s lyrics have a way of quieting the heart and touching the soul.
Tragedy is not a word anyone wants as part of their story. For Chapman and his family, one tragedy changed their world forever. On May 21, 2008, an accident in their driveway took the life of his daughter Maria Sue Chapman.
Maria was Chapman’s youngest adopted daughter and just 5 years old at the time of her death, Christianity Today reported.
It’s been over a decade since the Chapman family faced all that comes with grief and loss. Now Chapman’s son Will Franklin Chapman, who was driving the vehicle that hit Maria, is remembering his sister in the most heartfelt way.
“I’m not posting this for people to feel sad for me but I’m posting it for all the people today that are really really hurting and need a reminder to stay hopeful and keep moving forward,” Will Chapman wrote on Instagram.
A teenager at the time, Will was pulling into the family’s driveway when 5-year-old Maria reportedly ran to greet him, according to the Tennessean. She was airlifted to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville where she passed away before the Chapmans arrived.
“Unimaginable…the darkness of loss, sadness and grief that assaulted our family 11 years ago today,” Chapman wrote on Facebook upon sharing his son’s touching post.
“More Unimaginable…how the Light of hope & healing has sustained our family to keep moving forward together as we have held on to God’s promises & each other.”
Chapman also noted that Will’s post was “one of the most profound things I’ve ever read…from the heart of one of the most courageous men I’ve ever known.”
“I hope when people meet me they feel encouraged and pumped to crush life and live it fully,” Will Chapman wrote in his caption.
“I love my family and friends a lot and I’m grateful for all the prayers and love I have been shown. The enemy has been defeated. Love you Maria.”
Profound words written out of pain and the healing power of forgiveness and the courage it takes to move forward.
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