Standing in line last week to board a plane to Nashville. Gee, I thought to myself. That voice sounds familiar.
Turned around to see none other than Steven Curtis Chapman. We were on the same flight!
Might not have recognized him except for his voice. I’d heard his voice in an interview on Joy FM earlier that morning and a thousand times before. Added up, I’ve been listening to this man sing for 20 years.
The line was moving fast and soon he was out of reach. I’ll look for him on the plane, I thought.
That didn’t happen either because I found a front row seat. I happily spent the short flight sitting between a man who slept the entire time and a lovely 84-year-old woman who recounted to me her adventures traveling the world with her late husband. She may get a post of her own.
But before the plane took off, I updated my Facebook status: Steven Curtis Chapman is on my flight to Nashville!
When we deplaned an hour later, I figured I’d lost my chance to speak to him. Then I turned on my iPhone to check messages. A dozen excited Facebook comments popped up on my status along with a groundswell of likes.
Oh, dear. I vowed if I saw him again I would speak to him. I had to. For the team. And I got my chance in baggage claim. Yes, he carries his own luggage.
The businesswoman in me firmly shook his hand while the fan in me gushed and giggled. He was so gracious, so unpretentious, so normal.
Who among us cannot relate to the story of his songs and the story of his life? Love. Grace. Salvation. Adoption. Triumph. Tragedy. Grief. Mercy. Renewal.
(1990) Tomorrow morning if you wake up and the sun does not appear, I will be here.
(1992) Go on and say what you need to say while it’s still called today.
(1996) But when it all comes down, you know it all comes down to the walk.
(1999) So sink or swim I’m diving in.
(2004) You spoke and made the sun rise to light up the very first day.
(2008) It’s all Yours, God. Yours, God. Everything is Yours.
(2009) Out of these ashes, beauty will rise.
(2011) Do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you.
Keep singing, Mr. Chapman. The team’s listening and loving every word.
He has given me a new song to sing,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what He has done and be amazed.
They will put their trust in the Lord. Psalm 40:3 NLT
Hmm, what video to link up here. You choose: Dive or Do Everything or both. How’s that for interactive?
St. Louis area readers may like to know Steven Curtis Chapman will be singing in our city on October 13th. He will be joined by special guests Andrew Peterson and Josh Wilson. At time of publication only a few tickets remained. Get thee to joyfmonline.org quick.
Aimee,
We love your blog. It’s a gift. Thanks too for the nice comments about August 14.
Farmer Fred and partner
Thank you, Farmer Fred and partner. It’s a gift for me to write it. Have a great weekend!
So cool!
Agree.
Way to go, Aimee – I KNEW you’d come through for us! (: What a great pic of you & Steven – a treasure for sure. God is so cool to give us opps to interact – even briefly – with other believers from all walks of life! Praise Him!
Thanks, Diana. It was such a neat experience to meet him after listening for all these years!
OK, that should be… “I Will Be Here” Sorry. Got in a hurry.
Lisa, I know what you mean. Typos are misspells are allowed here, else I wouldn’t be able to do this!
I sang I will be here at a wedding for a friend a few years ago. It is a beautiful song and I never get tired of hearing it. When I lived in California, we’d drive up into the mountains on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, with the dun roof open and his tape (yes tape at the time) going full blast. You just kinda felt blessed. Thanks for sharing Aimee. May have to invest in a new DVD. :-)
I Will Be Here is one of the first songs of his I heard. It is beautiful, but I can’t listen to it too often because I cry! He has a few others like that. There’s one on Signs of Life called What Would I Say that brings tears. And Beauty Will Rise off the album by the same name. Oh, Lord. He’s sings a lot of fun songs, but he’s not all fluff and stuff that’s for sure.
Believe it or not, we went to the same church when I lived in Nashville… and I taught his son (Caleb) in 2nd grade Sunday School. It was always weird when Steven would come pick him up – hard to be nonchalant when I wanted to jump up and down like a middle school girl and tell him how much I loved his music! :) ~Ruth
p.s. I love your blog!
Thanks for reading and commenting, Ruth. That is so cool you went to church with him. I had the exact same feeling you described, trying to play it cool while nearly jumping out of my skin at the same time!