From The Tennessean:
Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest child died Wednesday afternoon after being struck by a car driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the family’s Williamson County home.
Maria, one of the Christian singer’s six children, was taken by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Hospital, which confirmed the death, according to Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
The 5-year-old was hit by an SUV driven by her teenage brother, she said. Police did not give the driver’s name.
The teen was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser down the driveway of the rural home at about 5:30 p.m. and several children were playing in the area, McPherson said. He did not see Maria in the driveway before the vehicle struck her, she said.
“It appears to be a terrible accident,” McPherson said. . .
The accident was witnessed by two other children; the entire family was home at the time, McPherson said. . .
7 Comments
Brett
That’s one of the most horrific things I’ve heard in a while. May God help them in this time of tragedy.
Lance
Oh, what unbearable pain for their family.
Thanks for letting us know.
MatthewS
Our prayers are with them.
Lucas Knisely
Praying…
Yvette
Devastating. Praying.
Benjamin A
As a believer, I have always taken comfort in my favorite hymn, “It is well with my soul”, and I look forward to meeting the author in Heaven some day. Horatio Spafford was a successful attorney and devoted Christian man in the mid -1800s who lived a life of seemingly “unfair” tragic events yet his solace was found in the Lord…I cannot sing or read his powerful hymn without tears as the words remain powerful to this day. Horatio lost his son in 1871, soon after lost his business in the great Chicago fire. What was lost was overshadowed by his steadfast faith in the truth of God’s Word. A short two years later found Horatio and his wife seeking time away and to assist Moody in evangelism in Great Britain. Horatio was not to go on their ship due to a business conflict and sent his wife and 4 daughters on ahead with him to join later. Tragically, a collision in the Atlantic took down his wife’s ship and her famous telegraph to Horatio soon followed “Saved alone”. The loss of his 4 only daughters…when sorrows like sea billows roll…. Horatio went by ship to be with his wife and as the passage drew near to the location of his daughter’s ship he penned the now famous words to “It is well with my soul”
Read through his words and may they encourage you to persevere in faith:
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!
Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of my soul!
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
David Hamilton
Job, after losing all of his children and all of his possessions, in Job 19:25 said, “For I know that my Redeemer lives.”
May our living Redeemer comfort the Chapman family in this time of loss!