Choosing to SEE - Mary Beth Chapman [103]
But again, until I die or Jesus comes back, we will do hard. And even when we feel our God is being silent in the pain . . . that is where the truest sense of faith must come into play.
But again, I have hope in how the story ends. I can’t wait for the day when I can hear the giggle of that little girl as we lay in the best snow ever and make snow angels like she used to love to do.
In the meantime, I love all of you and consider it a great honor to share my thoughts with you. Here’s to faith, trust, and hope . . .
41
Spring Is Coming
When you SEE this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like the grass; the hand of the Lord will be made known.
Isaiah 66:14
Hear the birds start to sing Feel the life in the breeze Watch the ice melt away The kids are coming out to play Feel the sun on your skin Growing strong and warm again Watch the ground There’s something moving Something is breaking through New life is breaking through
“Spring Is Coming”
Words and music by
Steven Curtis Chapman
Steven’s Beauty Will Rise CD is a collection of his psalms about Maria. For Steven, the raw material of his grieving was like clay or paint, something to be shaped into art and worship, even if it was rough. He took his pain, his questions, his trust, his love, his fear, and his faith into the recording process.
He didn’t want the CD to sound too polished or commercial, so he recorded in foyers, back stage during his “United” tour with Michael W. Smith, on the bus, in locker rooms, in an actual shower stall, and from the road in China in the summer of 2009.
The process was immeasurably hard.
But it was a poignant tribute to life and death, the pain and the comfort that came from saying a temporary goodbye to Maria.
As he was writing what would be the last song on the album, Steven’s thoughts returned to the day of Maria’s burial. He kept thinking about the words of our pastor, Scotty Smith. At the graveside, Scotty had said that Maria’s burial represented a seed being planted into the ground. He talked about what it means to plant a seed and wait – until a seed falls to the ground and dies, it can’t come to life.
Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, Maria will also be raised. Not with a weak, natural body, but a powerful, spiritual body. Scotty talked about the promised spring that is coming when all things will be made new. Because the gospel is true, we can wait for that day with real hope . . . the ultimate day when icy winter gives way to the warmth of spring and a permanent, glorious new life will spring forth.
When it came time to record “Spring Is Coming,” Steven wanted to do it right at the cemetery where Maria’s shell is buried. We had picked her plot because it was in the back of the cemetery and we thought it would be peaceful. We didn’t realize that there was an industrial park nearby. With Maria’s spunky attitude, she would have loved all the noises that come with traffic and businesses. So it was good for her, so to speak . . . but it just wasn’t going to work for recording a CD.
So Steven ended up recording at the home of our dear friends, the Andersons, who had given us respite in the sad days after Maria’s departure and where Maria had spent many, many happy days before that.
Steven recorded on the Andersons’ dock on their beautiful lake. Here is where Will had cried out so desperately in the days right after the accident, where family and friends had held him and prayed for him.
This was also the same spot that on May 10, 2009, Caleb Stevenson Chapman married Julia Elizabeth Anderson. She had grown up dreaming of getting married on that dock, and we celebrated their union.
So what an appropriate place for Steven to record his haunting, compelling, sweet, powerful song! “Spring Is Coming” became a theme for us all, an emblem of hope in the cold, dark months of grief when our hearts were frozen hard within us.
Then, not long