This has been on my heart for the last couple of days:

Christian Singer/songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest daughter Maria died earlier this week after being hit by an SUV driven by her brother backing out of the driveway. As a long time fan of Chapman’s music, it is clear to me how very close the family is, and how terribly they must all be hurting. 

Michelle Malkin has a great tribute, including some of the family history:

Chapman’s music and life have been inspired by, and centered on,faith and family. His oldest daughter, Emily, encouraged Chapman and his wife to adopt after having three of their own natural-born children; the couple adopted three beautiful girls from China. They performed missionary work in Chinese orphanages and established a charity named after their first adopted daughter, Shoahannah. At the time the accident occurred, the family “was celebrating the engagement of the oldest daughter Emily Chapman, and were just hours away from a graduation party marking Caleb Chapman’s completion of high school. Now, they are preparing to bury a child who blew out 5 candles on a birthday cake less than 10 days ago.” Maria Sue had just graduated from church preschool.

My heart breaks for them, and my thoughts and prayers go out to the Chapman family in this incredibly hard time.

The family has a thread in memory of Maria where you can leave comments here, or a donation to Shaohannah’s Hope, the Chapman’s charity formed to help families with the cost of adoption.