Tonight I had the privilege of going with a dear friend to see Steven Curtis Chapman for the first concert in his all-acoustic solo tour. It was an intimate concert where he did a retrospective of his life through telling stories and sharing songs. It was moving and beautiful and fun and…..also very personal.

“The Great Adventure” was released about the same time Tom and I had made the decision to leave Hanford and follow a call to pursue full-time ministry. Tom had a good job with the Gas Company, his parents had just relocated from Southern California and purchased a home here to be near us, we had two adorable children, just 3 and 4 years old and nothing about this crazy decision seemed rational or reasonable! But we had never been more sure of anything in our lives, so we sold our little two-bedroom house, packed up the moving truck and set course, just the four of us, to Northwest Christian College in Eugene, Oregon. The song that we sang at the top of our lungs as an anthem of excitement and total faith was Steven Curtis Chapman’s “The Great Adventure”. 

Saddle up your horses
We’ve got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder of God’s Amazing grace
Let’s follow our leader into the Glorious unknown
This is the life like no other whoa whoa
This is the great adventure

The Great Adventure
Steven Curtis Chapman

Saddle up your horses

I wouldn’t trade this life of serving God in church ministry for anything, and it’s been such a great adventure! But that’s not to say that things look today the way we dreamed of as we drove our belongings, our children and ourselves away from home and into the unknown. 

In 2008, tragedy hit the Chapman family as their 8-year-old adopted daughter was struck by a car that was driven by their teenage son in their driveway. It was a terribly tragic  accident that ended her little life, and it was out of the ashes of that loss that Chapman wrote the song, “Faithful”.

You are faithful, You are faithful
When You give and when You take away 
Even then still Your name is faithful 
You are faithful 

I’m not sure I could have sung these words a few years ago, at least not honestly. But I can today, and that’s why it was such a personal concert….remembering where we started from and having an opportunity to choose again, from further down the road in the adventure, if God is indeed still faithful. And you know what? 

He so is.

And even if I sometimes have to say it through brokenness, it doesn’t change the fact that God has always been on our side, and I know He’s not finished with us yet.

Faithful

I am broken, I am bleeding
I’m scared and I’m confused
But You are faithful, yes, You are faithful
I am weary and believing
God please help my unbelief
Cause You are faithful, yes, You are faithful

I will proclaim it to the world
I will declare it to my heart
I will sing it when the sun is shining
I will scream it in the dark

You are faithful, You are faithful
When You give and when You take away
Even then still Your name is faithful
You are faithful
And with everything inside of me
I am choosing to believe
You are faithful

I am waiting for the rescue
That I know will surely come
Cause You are faithful, yes, You are faithful
And I’ve dropped anchor in Your promises and I am holding on
Cause You are faithful, God, You are faithful

I will proclaim it to the world
I will declare it to my heart
I will sing it when the sun is shining
I will scream it in the dark

You are faithful, You are faithful
When You give and when You take away
Even then still Your name is faithful
You are faithful
And with everything inside of me
I am choosing to believe
You’re faithful
So faithful

When I cannot have the answer
That I’m wanting to demand
I’ll remember You are God
And everything is in Your hands
With Your hands You put the sun and moon and stars up in the sky
For the sake of love You hung Your own son on the cross to die

And You are faithful
Yes, You are faithful
When You give, when You take away even then
Great is Your faithfulness
Great is Your faithfulness
And with everything inside of me
I am choosing to believe
You’re faithful

When You give, when You take away
Even then, still Your name is faithful
You are faithful
And with everything inside of me
I am choosing to believe
You are faithful
You are faithful
Words & music by Steven Curtis Chapman

I don’t expect that this post on the 26th day of Lent will mean much to anyone else but Tom and myself, but I feel like it’s important to stay true to asking myself the questions of where I saw or heard God in each day, and on this day it was at a concert of a Christian artist who is woven into the backdrop of our call to ministry, our shared personal loss and also the ongoing prayer to remain faithful to that call. 

My prayer for all of us on this late night (early morning!) is that we continue to choose to believe that God is faithful. Because with all my heart, I believe He is.

So much love,

Shellie ♥