Choosing to SEE - Mary Beth Chapman [52]
How had this happened? Does God really have this weird, calculated sense of humor?
One typical night in the Chapman home in March 2006, Steven was in full “writing mode” for his upcoming CD, This Moment. However, he was also on bath and bed duty for Stevey Joy and Maria this particular evening, so he put the songwriting on pause to take care of the girls. He explained to them that they needed to do a fast bath and bedtime tonight because Daddy had to get back to work.
They did not exactly share his priority.
He got them in the bathtub and was working quickly, but as he turned around to get the shampoo and a washcloth, the girls escaped, leaving two little sets of wet footprints leading to their bedroom. A few moments later, two little giggling princesses appeared around the corner, Cinderella and Snow White, wearing their Disney costumes complete with matching shoes, tiaras, and wands.
“We’re going to the ball, Daddy!” they told him.
“No,” he said, “you are not going to the ball. You’re going back in the tub!”
Two or three escape attempts later, Steven finally got them clean, shampooed, and to bed.
“Daddy, can you read us a story?” they asked.
“No, no stories tonight,” Steven said. “It’s too late. We’re going to pray and go to bed! Pray a short prayer, immediate family only tonight! Pray fast!
“Okay,” Steven continued. “Heads on your pillows! No more drinks of water! No more questions! I love you! Kisses! Lights out! Now go to sleep! I mean it, good night!”
Finally! Steven thought as he headed back to his studio. Why dothey get so wound up on the nights when I just need them to settledown?
Then a thought hit him. It was as if God had whispered a name in his ear: Emily.
It was just yesterday that Emily was splashing in her bath, spinning and swaying her way through childhood without a care in the world. Steven used to call her “Queen Tuck” as he would tuck her in and tell her silly stories about Looney Larry the Coconut Hunter . . . and now she was an adult, twenty-one years old, away at college.
The years go by in a heartbeat, and then your children twirl right out of your life and into their own.
All that flashed through Steven’s mind in a second. It was as if God was saying, “Steven, are you really going to rush through moments like this? You already know how fast they go by! Remember Emily? She’s grown now, no more tuck-ins, baths, or make-believe balls.”
As he sat with a weight on his chest and tears in his eyes, he began to put his thoughts into a song. Within an hour, he had written a complete song called “Cinderella.” He played it for me the next morning as a work in progress.
I cried. “Don’t touch it!” I told him. “Record what you just sang for me and it’s going to affect a lot of people!”
So Steven put “Cinderella” on his This Moment CD. It became a hit song on the radio . . . and an all-time favorite song for our two little princesses, Maria Sue and Stevey Joy.
When the Fourth of July came later that year, we celebrated in classic Chapman style. We began the day with a pool party in our backyard with a big crowd of family and friends. Steven cooked up some of his famous burgers (they’re really not that famous, but since it’s pretty much the only thing he cooks, we let him believe they are). Chips, baked beans, and Nutty Buddies rounded out the nutritious feast, and the adults sat talking while the little ones played in the pool. Then, as the sun went down, it was time to light up the nighttime sky.
In Tennessee, fireworks are legal outside the city limits, and if it could be blown up, be lit on fire, or create massive amounts of smoke, it had been purchased by the Chapman men. The rest of the evening, the testosterone-filled “boys” lit things on fire for the women and girls to ooh and ahh over. We gave approval by clapping loudly and cheering at the top of our lungs,