Book Description
From the beginning, Mary Beth Chapman's life was not how she planned. All she wanted was a calm, peaceful life of stability and control. Instead, God gave her an award-winning singer/songwriter husband, crazy schedules, and a houseful of creatively rambunctious children. Most difficult of all, God's plans for her also included tragedy.ro
In Choosing to SEE, Mary Beth unveils her struggle to allow God to write the story of her life, both the happy chapters and the tragic ones. And as the story unfolds, she's been forced to wrestle with some of life's biggest questions: Where is God when things fall apart? Why does God allow terrible things to happen? How can I survive hard times?
No matter where you find yourself in your own life story, you will treasure the way Mary Beth shows that even in the hard times, there is hope if you choose to SEE.
My review:
I am not an official Steven Curtis Chapman fan. I have all of his Christmas CDs and have some of his songs on my Ipod. I listen to primarily Southern Gospel, but he is one of the CCM artists I listen to. I was still shocked and felt sorrow for he and his family when they had a tragedy happen in 2008. One of their teenage sons hit and killed one of their little girls with his vehicle, a tragic accident.
This book is not only about that accident and how the family coped through those terrible days, but the author does start out the book with it, and mentions it throughout the book. There are also excerpts from the memorial service they had.
I enjoyed this book. Not that we take pleasure from others' pain, but it is refreshing and encouraging to read and see how God works in others' lives, even in the midst of tragedy. The focus of the book is that even in serving God, our lives don't always take us where we want, and sometimes some pretty bad things still happen to us, but He is still in control. A very encouraging read.
Mary Beth Chapman is the wife of Grammy and Dove Award winning recording artist Steven Curtis Chapman. Together they began Show Hope, a nonprofit organization dedicated to caring for the world's most vulnerable children by providing financial assistance to families wishing to adopt, as well as increasing awareness of the orphan crisis and funneling resources to orphans domestically and internationally.
Mary Beth serves as president of Show Hope and is a speaker for Women of Faith 2010 with her husband. She is also coauthor with Steven of the Shaoey and Dot series of children's picture books. Mary Beth and Steven have six children: Emily, Caleb, Will Franklin, and adopted daughters Shaohannah Hope, Stevey Joy, and Maria Sue, who is now with Jesus. The Chapmans live in Tennessee. Visit Mary Beth's website at:
http://www.marybethchapman.com/
Choosing To See is avaiable from Revell, an imprint of Baker Book House.
Thanks to Donna at Revell for the review copy.
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