Choosing to SEE - Mary Beth Chapman [1]
Contents
Foreword by Steven Curtis Chapman
Prologue by Beth Moore
1 Winter
2 Not My Plan
3 Coloring inside the Lines
4 Tarzan and Jane
5 When the Puppy Eats Your Birth Control Pills
6 Smoke Signals
7 “Ladies and Gentlemen, Please Welcome . . . Caleb!”
8 I Will Be Here
9 Crying in the Bathroom at Chuck E. Cheese
10 My Friend Prozac
11 With Hope
12 Laughter
13 When Love Takes You In
14 Show Hope
15 I’m Signing, You’re Signing, We’re All Signing
16 Rambo Goes to China
17 Fingerprints of God
18 I Just Met a Girl Named Maria
19 I’m Divin’ In!
20 Cinderellas Everywhere
21 February 20th
22 May 21, 2008
23 Not As It Should Be
24 SEE
25 Jesus Will Meet You There
26 Sown in Tears
27 Beauty Will Rise
28 Goodbye . . .
29 The New Normal
30 “We Can Do Hard”
31 The Unhappiest Place on Earth
32 October 4, 2008
33 Journaling, Blogging, and Sobbing
34 Spring Breaks
35 Ready or Not
36 Balloons, Lady Bugs, and May 21
37 New Songs
38 Maria’s Big House of Hope
39 Kissing the Fat
40 Year Endings and New Beginnings
41 Spring Is Coming
Acknowledgments
Photo Section
Foreword
Steven Curtis Chapman
I’m going to start off with a little secret that you who hold this book in your hands are about to discover. Don’t worry – I’m not going to give anything away and you don’t need any “spoiler alerts.” For many years I’ve been known as “the writer” of the Steven Curtis/ Mary Beth Chapman duo. And while I’ve been known to pen a song or two, and maybe even a book or two (with a whole lot of help, believe me!), here’s the real, honest-to-goodness truth: Mary BethChapman is a way better writer than Steven Curtis . . . don’t tell anybody. No, actually, please tell everybody! The world needs to know, and I’m proud to be the first to tell them.
When my wife reads this, I can picture her shaking her head and saying, “He’s just trying to be nice and encouraging.” But I am truly amazed at the way my wife is able to communicate what’s in her heart with such honesty and transparency. (Not to mention that she can write in thirty minutes what would take me about three days!)
When Mary Beth’s blogs posted on my website began getting attention and someone first mentioned that she should write a book, I began cheering her on in that direction. Because I realized that one of the last things my wife ever planned or had the time to do was write a book, I cheered cautiously. But I knew if it was something God wanted her to do, it would speak powerfully and profoundly into the hearts of readers. She has a rare and beautiful gift to bare the pain, confusion, and questions that stir in her soul with a deep and raw honesty, and yet do it in such an inviting way. She also has a natural ability to have you laughing one moment and weeping the next as she takes you on the journey into her heart and life.
That’s what this book is about . . . a journey. Mary Beth’s journey, to be sure, but also the journey of faith that each of us who follow the unseen God is on. At the time this book is being written, I have had the incredible privilege of walking beside Mary Beth on her journey for twenty-six years. She has had enough twists and turns, surprises (wonderful and terrible), and peaks and valleys to fill several lifetimes . . . and she still looks amazing! (Hey, just look at the cover . . . hubba hubba!)
For a while this book carried the working title of Mary Bethvs. God, which I still think would have been a very appropriate title. By her own confession, she has had a lifetime of watching God overwrite her plans with His story. Sometimes the result has been wonderful, and sometimes it has been devastating. Sometimes she’s been a willing participant, and sometimes she’s gone “kicking and screaming.” But in every case the process has been difficult at best. I’ve watched my wife wrestle with the providence of