Choosing To See - by Mary Beth Chapman

About Mary Beth Chapman:

Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman have been married for 25 years and have six children: Emily (24), Caleb (20), Will Franklin (19), and Shaohannah Hope (10), Stevey Joy (7), and Maria Sue, who is now with Jesus. In 2001, the couple began an adoption ministry, Show Hope, which began as an assistance to families in the process of adoption, particularly by helping tear down the financial barrier that prevents many from bringing an adopted child into their home. To date, Show Hope is now an internationally recognized voice for orphan advocacy and has given over 2,300 financial grants, affecting the lives of children from 45 different countries, including the U.S. In addition to giving financial grants, Show Hope empowers families, churches and communities with adoption and orphan care resources and advocacy efforts. Mary Beth currently serves as the president of Show Hope (ShowHope.org). Along with her husband, she has also co-authored three books for their Shaoey and Dot children's series, and she continues to write a compelling blog found on her website. The family resides in middle Tennessee.

About this book:

In Choosing to SEE, Chapman bares her heart and soul as she shares honestly about her personal journey - from her childhood, to challenges of married life, to the sudden and tragic loss of a daughter. Choosing to SEE follows her lifelong wrestling match with God, questioning why the life she had planned so carefully doesn't seem to match to the plan that God has mapped out for her. The book also explores Mary Beth Chapman's relationship with God in the face of the unexpected, and in the pain of such a brutal loss. Throughout the pages, Chapman tackles these questions with grace, grit, insight, and most of all, hope. Choosing to SEE was written by Mary Beth Chapman with Ellen Vaughn.

My thoughts:

I have been a big fan of Steven Curtis Chapman's music since I was young, and was so saddened by the news of his daughter's death, and my heart went out to the family, but reading this book my heart especially goes out to Mary Beth. She talks about her upbringing, and her flaws. I know many people who are in the spotlight try to hide their sins and their weaknesses, but throughout the entire book she was real and honest with her readers. There was one particular story in this book that made me laugh. She took a pregnancy test into the bathroom of a Chuck E. Cheese, and came out crying because she was pregnant again . . . of all the place to find out - the bathroom of Chuck E. Cheese, haha. I found this book very easy to read, and I felt like I became one of Mary Beth's confidants just by reading this book. If she published a book in the future, I would absolutely buy it. I found this book both entertaining and enlightening. Through her life's stories I found out more about God, and his grace, and that His plans are not always the ones we would choose for our self.

To purchase this book, please use the link to the right:

Available September 2010 at
 your favorite bookseller from Revell,
a division of Baker Publishing Group