Steven Curtis Chapman

We went to the Steven Curtis Chapman Concert this past weekend at Turner Field. It was an amazing experience. Check out the pics and videos on my Picasa Web Album. After an unbelievably hot day at the Braves game with no rain in the forecast a huge storm blew up during the first song of the opening act and John Smoltz giving his testimony. Perfect timing huh? Huge dark clouds, awesome lighting, strong winds, and heavy rain rolled in. I felt something was trying it's hardest to keep the concert from going forward and so did Steven Curtis Chapman. After about 30-40 minutes of the storm he came on stage, just him and his guitar, and announced that due to safety issues his band could not perform but that Satan was not stopping him from doing the concert. He put on an intimate concert singing, playing his guitar, and speaking to the audience alot. He spoke often of the adoption of his 3 girls, and the recent death of his youngest daughter, Maria. He told the story of how he came to meet Maria and bring her home. He told of her personality and how she lived so passionately in those short few years. He sang "Cinderella" and I am sure there was not a dry eye in the house. I cried through 90% of the entire concert and even thinking of it makes me cry. His wife and children were there and he said it was the first concert they had been at since the tragedy. Seeing the Faith in a family that has gone through the worst situation imaginable was inspirational. It really makes you think about your own family and faith. Would we have the Faith if faced with a similar situation?

The night before the concert Austin had asked me some difficult questions while I was putting him to bed. I stayed up until late talking to him. He is such a deep thinker, it scares me and brings me to tears. I am convinced he will do great things in ministry some day. He asked me to tell him the truth about EVERYTHING; the tooth fairy, Easter bunny, Santa Clause, God and Jesus. WOW! I knew right away I had to tell him the entire truth and hold nothing back. Nick and I had discussed this very issue last Christmas. We were afraid the kids would believe Jesus was all made up just like Santa Clause. Well, need less to say Santa will not be in our house anymore! Austin was upset I had lied to him about Santa, the Tooth Fairy, etc. He of course started asking deeper questions like why we can not see or touch God or why when he prays to God for help he does not actually see him helping. These are hard things to explain to a 7 year old. I found a great book in Barnes and Noble yesterday and sat right there in the store and read it to him. It asked/answered a lot of the same questions Austin had just asked me. I am glad he thinks about it so much, but he really thinks on a much deeper level than most his age. He may struggle in some areas but I think it is because his mind is so busy on other areas. I would rather his faith be strong as a rock than be on the honor roll any day. I am grateful that God has led us to a wonderful new church that will support our entire family to grow stronger in our faith and build a strong foundation in our home.

Ok, to give an update to the adoption, we are STILL WAITING on our approval from the CIS/Immigration, it has been 4 months now! We need prayers! Please pray for us that our approval will come soon so we can officially be on the list waiting for a referral. Also please pray that we will be led to the child God has chosen for us. We are struggling with what age of child to request.