During the first part of the weekend's activities, Show Hope held an Open House to meet the staff and to tour the office. We were waiting in a very long line to enter the office when someone mentioned Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth were inside greeting people!!! We were SO excited! Well- the line was still long and moving slow (the Chapmans took time to visit and take pictures with each of the families). After about an hour we were still waiting, but getting closer to where the Chapmans were. Then, we noticed they were coming out the door because they had to leave for a dinner engagement. Just before they walked by, Steven knelt down to visit with this precious girl in front of us...
Nate could hardly contain his excitement at being that close to Steven Curtis Chapman!!!
Mary Beth shook my hand and told us all thank you for coming. (You can see the back of Caleb's head in the photo below with his hands over his mouth in excitement!!)
Here he is patting on little Joshua's head!!! Nate is excited because he shook Steven's hand!!
Micah then got a turn to shake hands too. I think he was in shock!
He told Nate,"I like your shirt!"
After they left, we toured the inside of Show Hope and had the opportunity to meet Steven and Mary Beth's children!!!
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| Shaohannah and Stevey Joy |
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| Emily (Chapman) Richards |
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| Caleb Chapman |
The next day, Show Hope hosted a picnic with all kinds of bounce houses, games, entertainment, food trucks, and the Show Hope Red Bus! The Red Bus Project is a double decker bus that was converted into a mobile thrift store. The bus travels to different colleges spreading awareness about the needs of orphans while raising money for orphan care in the process.
We bought each of the boys italian ice treats. They placed their orders and then we realized how incredibly HUGE the servings were!!! Oh my!
While we were in Nashville, some of our dear friends from St. Louis just happened to be driving through there on their way south for a family vacation. We were SOSOSOSO excited that they stopped by the picnic for a quick visit! It was great to see them! (We love you Sievers family!!!)
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| My sweet friend Tricia |
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| Joshua and Faith |
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| The Sievers and The Haigoods |
That night there was an amazing concert and several testimonies from families who had been blessed by adoption. It was such a special evening. There was laughter, singing, praises and some tears. There were a few neat surprises too! One adoptive family featured that night on stage was visited by someone from the Tim Tebow Foundation. They were surprised with a generous grant to help fund the cost of adopting their special needs daughter!
The Chapman family did a wonderful job hosting the event...
Joshua enjoyed clapping and singing to the music...
At the end of the night, all of the artists came back on stage with Steven Curtis Chapman to perform...Laura Story, Casting Crowns, Audio Adrenaline, Andrew Peterson, Geoff Moore...all I can say is WOW!
By the end of the night, here was Joshua...sound asleep in Daddy's arms :)
On a personal note, this weekend blessed our family tremendously. It was really neat to be around so many adoptive families. Each family looked different...some had one child, some had half a dozen, some were multiracial, some had special needs, some had babies and some had older children. Although we may have all looked different, our hearts were the same. God called us to adopt.
Our life as an adoptive family has been messy, wonderful, crazy, uncomfortable, amazing, challenging, emotional and so fulfilling. I cannot imagine our family without our adopted son, Joshua. He is part of our family forever. God has blessed us and taught us so much through the journey of adoption. I have had people tell me how blessed Joshua is that we adopted him. I honestly feel that we are the ones who are blessed! He is an incredible boy and we love him so very much. It has not always been an easy road, but it has always been worth it.
That night of the concert, Mary Beth Chapman made a statement that I agree with: "Not all Christians are called to adopt, but we are all called to do something." In the Bible, James 1:27 says,
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
Before we adopted Joshua, I believed this verse meant we were all supposed to adopt. Then I realized that looking after orphans can be done in many ways...adopting, providing financial assistance, helping with children in foster care in your state, going on humanitarian trips, supporting adoptive families, and especially praying for them. Maybe God has been tugging on your heart in this area?? I urge you to not ignore it!! Pray, seek God, and do something!! :)
If you want more information about adoption and/or how to help provide orphan care, these websites are a great start with a variety of resources:
Blessings to you and yours,
Jill and the boys:)
