SCC

I had the opportunity to attend a concert this past Thursday evening. Steven Curtis Chapman was in our area and I was able to get tickets. I purchased tickets for my spouse, son and myself. However, my spouse ended up in Kansas for the week and could not get back to go with me and our son did not want to go with me. I sold my tickets to a couple from our Sunday school class but still went to the concert. If you know anything about Steven and his cause, you know the basis for his concert was to share the gospel with those in attendance. In addition to the message, he also has a passion for adoption, both domestic and international. He and his wife have 3 children, ages 22, 18, and 17 and have adopted 3 little girls. They have started a foundation to provide assistance to families trying to adopt, as the cost can be quite high. The name of the foundation is Shohannah's Hope and is named after the first little girl they adopted. The theme for the adoption message is "Show Hope". They have buckets and ask attendees to bring their loose change to drop in the buckets. The night of the concert, they collected over $5,000 for this cause. In addition - they also gave a grant to a local family trying to adopt. It was so awesome to see someone who's "made it" in the world's eyes be willing to use their resources to help others. SCC said they give 30-40 grants a month to people at approximately $4,000 per grant. What a blessing! They are truly living out the command to take care of the orphans of this world.

If you have never seen one of his concerts and you enjoy his music, you have to go at least once. He is a tremendous musician - guitar player, singer, piano player and just a great performer. He is also a tremendous songwriter and writes most of the music for his recordings now. (There is a link on my sidebar to his blog.)

My favorite part of the concert was when he did medleys of his songs from the past 20 years. He also allowed people in the area to go to his website to put in requests and he sat on stage with his guitar and his piano player and sang parts of those requests. In addition to his piano/keyboard player, his sons are also in the band. They actually got to be the "front band" for their dad. His oldest son has written some songs and they led us in worship with songs we knew and songs he had written. They were very good and I know (as the mother of a teenage son) how special it is to their dad to have them tour with him in his band. Many times the children do not want to have anything to do with their parents at that age. It was really great to see his boys on stage with him.

We have listened to him for almost 20 years now and I enjoy his music as much (maybe even more!) as when we first heard one of his songs on the radio. Steven Curtis Chapman - Thank you for sharing the talent God has given you to bless the rest of us. It was a great concert and a tremendous night of worship in Amarillo on Thursday night! God's blessings on you, your band, and your family as you continue on your tour!