Just want to give a plug to a wonderful organization called Show Hope. Formerly ShaoHannah’s Hope, it is the organization established by Christian singer-songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth, to help Christian people and churches support the Lord’s work of caring for orphans.

I have been listening to Steven’s recent album, Beauty Will Rise, which was written in the wake of their adopted daughter’s tragic death. I must say that I’m not an objective listener, as my family suffered multiple pre-term losses of children, and as Steven Curtis Chapman has been a part of my life ever since the Lord brought me back to church after my father’s death in December 1992.  Further, ShaoHannah’s Hope provided the grant that  really put me “over the top” in belief that the adoption of our son would come to pass, so to hear Steven pour out his anguish and hope after the loss of his child is like being in the room weeping with an old friend. It is also, in a sense, to hear my own voice. If I could play guitar and sing as Steven does I would have voiced many of the same things that he does on Beauty. I am moved, in particular, by “Heaven Is The Face.” Here is a video by his record company of the song about his anguish for his daughter… and his hope in the face of it all.