More Sadness

Having just posted about the deaths of my wife’s grandmother, and my online friend Larry Lawton, I am heartbroken for the Chapman family today. Click here, for the news of Steven Curtis Chapman’s 5-year-old daughter Maria’s tragic death.

And of course, pray for the family. And remember our sure hope.

In fact, after the funeral we attended Saturday, I was blessed again by a song Steven Curtis Chapman wrote several years ago, commemorating the death of a friend’s child. The song’s lyrics are below.

With Hope

by Steven Curtis Chapman

This is not at all how
We thought it was supposed to be
We had so many plans for you
We had so many dreams
And now you’ve gone away
And left us with the memories of your smile
And nothing we can say
And nothing we can do
Can take away the pain
The pain of losing you, but …

Chorus:
We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
‘Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no
And we can grieve with hope
‘Cause we believe with hope
(There’s a place by God’s grace)
There’s a place where we’ll see your face again
We’ll see your face again

And never have I known
Anything so hard to understand
And never have I questioned more
The wisdom of God’s plan
But through the cloud of tears
I see the Father’s smile and say well done
And I imagine you
Where you wanted most to be
Seeing all your dreams come true
‘Cause now you’re home
And now you’re free, and …

Chorus

We have this hope as an anchor
‘Cause we believe that everything
God promised us is true, so …

Chorus

So we can cry with hope
And say goodbye with hope

We wait with hope
And we ache with hope
We hold on with hope
We let go with hope

Listen to the song for free with Rhapsody.com here.

Update: You can leave comments for the family at a memorial blog for Maria, here.