We are so thankful for the two of you and your investment in our family…
When we came to SWBC we’d only been married for 6 months and now, over 12 years later, you both have been a part of every major milestone in our lives. The groundwork of our marriage was laid through your teaching. On the Friday night of the first parenting conference, we found out we were expecting Laura…and your biblical teaching on and example of parenting shaped the next 9 years of our parenting journey. As a young family, you came several times and shared with our different studies about marriage and parenting and traditions…and we’ve incorporated many of your ideas into our own family life. With your prompting, and the encouragement of others, we took steps of faith to lead a HBS and after meeting with you, Scott, Jason agreed to be on council where he grew through the godly interaction of our church leadership.
One of our favorite things about the two of you is that you are so genuine…we will never forget the first time Lisa babysat for us, when the boys got into her purse and decorated themselves and their room with her mascara. Kristi, you came over and cleaned it all up—and removed any pretense I might’ve had about putting on a “good impression” for the pastor’s wife :>) We’ve known several of your kiddos in a very personal way…and their love for God and the fact that they clearly had a real relationship with the two of you, was a huge example for us. We appreciated how very “normal” your kids were (they removed our hang-ups about the stereotypical “pastor’s kid”). I loved serving on the Women’s Ministry Team with you, Kristi…and that fact that once or twice you even totally forgot about our meetings. I loved seeing that you could laugh at yourself and didn’t pretend to have it all together all of the time.
Your lives have had such an impact on ours that when Cavan was born, we gave him the middle name “Scott” and for years listened to him tell people that his full name was “Cavan Pastor Scott Chupp”. We felt your support and encouragement all throughout our adoption of Selah, and even more when she died. We will never forget sitting with you, Scott, up at the hospital as you read through Psalm 62 with us. And then the next day, sitting at the kitchen table with you…when Jason just wept…and you gave us the freedom to truly grieve the loss of our daughter. We both feel that God used you during that time because you never made us feel we had to “put on a good face” or pretend away the pain. Because we could be honest with God and with our church family through that time, her death only made us feel closer to Him and to those surrounding us. And then just a few weeks ago, we had the joy of dedicating Lydia. And we know you were rejoicing with us. There are so many other things we could thank you for…
We just want to make sure you both know how much you mean to our family…and how much your faithfulness to God has been an example for us. Thank you for all your years of ministry!
With Love,
The Chuppies
Scott with Selah
