About two weeks ago I heard that Steven Curtis Chapman was going to be in Roanoke Rapids which is just a half hour from home. So I wrote to Shaohanna's Hope asking them if there was any way that we could drive up and meet Steven and thank him for his role in influencing us to adopt and also for the financial help we received from his foundation.

A couple days later I received an email from a gentleman that helps him on his tour asking if I had already purchased tickets. I replied that I was kind of waiting till I could find out if I could meet Steven. He wrote back and told me that they would like to bring us as their guests and that there would be some tickets waiting for us at the gate, and in addition they would arrange some time to meet Steven.

Well, after the short drive up to Carolina Crossroads, we parked and walked with some friends and our little Grace in tow. It was a beautiful summer evening and our tickets were waiting for us at the entrance where we were shown where to wait. After a short time they took us along with some others backstage where we waited for another ten minutes or so. Steven came up and we were able to spend about five minutes with him telling him how grateful we were for his ministry to orphans, but more specifically his ministry to our family.

I shared with him that the video about his adoption, coupled with his website inspired us to make the final decision to go forward with our adoption. It was somewhat surreal because when he walked up it felt like he was a longtime friend, because we had seen several things about his family and their adoption experiences and we read everything about his ministry to the fatherless that we could lay our hands on.

We then handed Grace to him and she went right into his arms without so much as a whimper, and for those of you who know Grace, you know that she doesn't take to strangers too quickly. It brought tears to our eyes to see him snuggle with her. What a blessing.

We gave him a card specifically for he and his wife, Mary Beth and then said goodbye.

During the concert, he spent a good ten minutes talking about adoption and while he was speaking he talked a little bit about the few families he had met backstage and even mentioned Grace by name. That was neat. After he spoke he sang our favorite song, "When Love Takes You In."

All in all it was a wonderful evening with many memories. Gracie had a blast as we sat in the grass and ate Pizza Hut and were able to visit with several people we knew.

A funny side note: While I was sitting up front (they gave us GREAT seats about five rows back from the stage) during an intermission, a lady walked up and said, "You're Shannon Brown aren't you!?" I asked her how she knew who I was and she said she had followed our adoption story online and then she said she had signed up for a YouBelong journal. That was especially rewarding to hear. Of course we spent some time talking about the excitement of adoption and we tried to encourage her as she is beginning the long days of waiting.

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