The loss of a child

On Good Morning America yesterday, Steven Curtis Chapman and his family were interviewed with regard to the tragedy that the family experienced in the loss of their 5 year old. What struck me in this interview was the faith; some comments that struck me:

Will had hit his 5 year old sister, Steven rolls the window down and very loudly yelled to Will Franklin, your father loves you! as he is rushing his daughter to the hospital.

The process of grieving is the process of grieving with hope. That is what has kept us alive, while we are grieving, that there is a hope that we are anchored to.

Steven's wife's comments about: I don't care whose lives are touched by this, whose lives are changed by this, at the heart of a mom, I want my daughter back. But because I know that she is completely whole because of my faith and I will see her again, as a mom I have to shift that grief to go to the other children. My grief gets shifted to seeing that they are as whole and healthy as they can be.

For Will, it's the unwavering love of his family. My faith has gotten stronger through this but there are days that hit you and this is awful. You have to continue to choose to live.

Caleb, Will's brother: When you see someone hurting or burdened, you want to take that burden from them. Because I see Will hurting, I want to take that pain away. You'd rather endure that pain than see your brother hurting.

Oldest sister: Grief is this winding road, sometimes you have a straightaway and it's beautiful and then you turn the corner, and it's thunderstorms and mountains. It hit me hard. Sometimes in the same day.

Steven says: We are a family, some say of great faith. But, we are a family with a lot of questions. but that's what faith is. It's living with the questions.

If you want to view the video, go here: http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5524419 It may take some time to load, and there is a little advertisement, but it's worth watching.