Christian Musician's Faith Shaken by Tragedy

Exclusive: Steven Curtis Chapman talks about car accident that killed daughter.

ByABC News via logo
August 5, 2008, 1:07 PM

Aug. 5, 2008 — -- Grammy-winning Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman and his family suffered a tragic blow in May when his 5-year-old daughter Maria Sue was accidentally hit by her 17-year-old brother while he was backing his SUV out of the driveway. Maria later died at a Nashville hospital.

In an exclusive interview with "Good Morning America" Wednesday, Chapman will talk for the first time about how the family has coped with the devastating loss.

"We have talked a lot, and you will hear all of us talk about the process of grieving with hope," Chapman told "GMA" anchor Robin Roberts.

"That's what has kept us breathing, kept us alive, is that while we are grieving this process, there is a hope that we have that we're anchored to in the midst of just what sometimes seems unbearable."

Watch "Good Morning America" Wednesday, Aug. 6, at 7 a.m. to hear more from Chapman and his children.

Maria, who was adopted from China, was the Chapmans' youngest daughter. The 45-year-old Kentucky native and his wife, Mary Beth, adopted three daughters from China and also have three biological children.

Chapman said that grieving for Maria and maintaining the strength to comfort their other five children has been extremely difficult for him and his wife.

"Well, that's probably been one of the greatest challenges about walking through this, and one of the things we've prayed most for in terms of needing strength and needing wisdom as parents," Chapman told Roberts.

Just months before the accident, Chapman's book about fatherhood, "Cinderella: The Love of a Daddy and His Princess," was published.

Chapman said that the accident made the family question their strong faith in God.

"We're a family with a lot of questions," he said. "But that's what faith is. It's living with the questions. That doesn't mean you have the answers. That's exactly what faith is."