This past summer, many of the Chapman family journeyed together to China to celebrate and honor 10 years of caring for children at Maria’s Big House of Hope (Maria’s). As we pulled into the drive and were welcomed by the children and staff there, my own joy mixed with grief struck in a new way. I always love my time at Maria’s, but this time, I was there to soak it all up, to SEE it all with my eyes, and to really listen.
Maria’s Big House of Hope stands as a testimony to the power of hope and love amidst the darkest of the human experience of loss and death. The building itself is a beacon not only to those who work and live inside, but to the surrounding community—some locals refer to Maria’s as the “Big Blue Building Where God Lives.”
Children who are sick and who have special needs live there, and these same children experience healing there too. Maybe not in our limited view of healing, but make no mistake, it is healing. Their stories and their lives matter. And to the many nannies there, the story is the same. They SEE daily compassion, not only toward the children but toward themselves. Their stories, their lives matter as well.
In slow motion, as I stepped out of the bus and into Maria’s, I could feel all of it in one overwhelming sensation.
Maria’s stands as a proclamation that there is always hope in light of adversity, even in our darkest experiences of loss and death. However, there are still days when reality hits just right, and my breath is emptied from my lungs with the grief of losing our daughter Maria. It’s not that I won’t hold or see her again; I’m just having to wait.
In the meantime, I go from room to room, SEEing the life, SEEing the story being told— watching hope burst forth with every giggle, step, or milestone—and that is when a glimmer, a smile, and a confidence washes over me. The sounds of laughter, the kindness in the eyes of the nannies, the hope in the eyes of the little ones all reminded me, again, that God cares exponentially more for those children, those nannies, and China as a whole—more than I, or anyone else, could ever begin to.
It is God, alone, who allowed the work to be born there, inviting us to SEE life come forth through story after story. It is God who is, indeed, in control, and it is He who will finish what He started. Maria’s Big House of Hope and those little people have been such gifts to my family and me—born out of, in many ways, pain but proof that God is working all things together for good. He does, without a doubt, SEE all of us—even me—as we wait together for Him to make all things new.
In light of upcoming changes to Show Hope’s Care Centers program, Show Hope will continue to fulfill all financial commitments to New Hope Foundation, as laid out in our 2019–2020 agreement, through June 30, 2020. Thank you for your prayers, love, and support during this season of transition.
To learn more about upcoming changes to Show Hope’s Care Centers program, we encourage you to read a blog post announcement from our Founders and Executive Director at showhope.org/upcoming-changes.
