A Hope That Makes Us Bold

The following post appeared on my friend Cindy Swanson's blog, Notes in the Key of Life:

Steven Curtis Chapman: Dove Artist of the Year

"It's a hope that makes us bold...so if we could say anything as a family, a broken family, having lost our little girl...it's just, let this hope make us so bold. Jesus is coming; he can't come soon enough for me." - Steven Curtis Chapman

Steven Curtis Chapman was named Artist of the Year at the Gospel Music Association Dove Awards in Nashville last night, and in my opinion, there's no one more deserving.

It's been a tragic year for Chapman and his family, with the loss of their 5-year-old daughter Maria last May. Steven and Mary Beth have shone as examples of grace in the midst of tragedy.

They never minimized their loss or failed to acknowledge their pain and bewilderment. But they clung, visibly and openly, to the hope that Steven mentions in that quote above.