Chen Chronicles

I was inspired to write this because of our church's MOPS chapter.  This month's theme was "Courage to Tell Your Story," and falls under this year's theme, "Be You, Bravely."  Thank you for inspiring me to share this testimony.  I did not see God’s purpose in all the suffering until over a decade later, in the cold, dark abyss of Eastern Russia.   Twelve years ago, I was a tiny, energetic, beautiful 22-year old with stars in my eyes.   I was an on-air personality for a national radio conglomerate and was going to be the NEXT Katie Couric.   I had the world by a string….until one fateful day when a host of medical problems stopped me in my tracks.   Three kidney stones, a horribly traumatic infection and a blood clot left me a miniscule of my former self. I was broken. What I did not know then is that God had greater plans for my life than even I could envision. In the book of Jeremiah, it is written,"For I know the plans I have for yo

Marriage is an art form like no other. It often requires much sculpting, shaping and sometimes completely erasing the images from the past and starting anew in the same relationship. Our late pastor who married us, used to say, "One Life, One Wife." Sometimes you just want to quit and leave and this is the devil at work in your heart. We must guard our hearts daily  against this. When someone does something wrong to us, we are called to forgive them immediately, whether they ask for it or not. This is no easy feat; I am the first one to admit that. But this is forgiveness.  In a Tenth Avenue North Christian song entitled, "Remade," the artists sing: "You are more than the choices that you've made, You are more than the sum of your past mistakes, You are more than the problems you create, You've been remade. Cause' it's not about what you've done, But what's been done for you. This is not about where you'v

A very wise woman recently compared the brain to a computer hard drive. She said when it's full, it is very much like that of a person who worries and internalizes everything . I am that person. That realization is shocking.  I suppose you could say I have just experienced the ethereal "blue screen of death," we all hate.  Sometimes the awareness that this has happened is all we need to fix the problem. Sometimes, it isn't just as simple as black and white.  The simplicity in this idea cannot be understated, but sometimes I have to be slapped upside the head with something to conceptualize and apply the principle(s) to life.  Admittedly, I have lain awake many nights with so much on my mind that I could not sleep. A friend once told me that anxiety isn't a sign of  weakness   as a Christian, but a symbol of our own deep-rooted insecurities. Those are hard to change , but it doesn't mean I shouldn't strive to change them. Now, this isn't to sa

My mother-in-law's favorite saying which is plastered all over her walls is: Live, Laugh, Love. A friend of mine (who I will not name) struggles with some health issues seemingly similar to my own, but she prefers not to "give them power by speaking about them." That is a hard practice to implement. Think--I can't be anxious as I wait to find out WHAT is plaguing my 33-year-old body. I have signs of an autoimmune disease and this takes a LONG time to figure out--sometimes years. I have a sarcastic humor and it feels like I am living out an episode of Mystery Diagnosis. For the last 10 years, I have struggled with times when I feel worried about how I feel, but I do not want to become SO focused over the next few months and forget others and my family until they figure out this enigmatic event. Things that don't seemingly fit together completely are related. My brain tells me to breathe, sleep, eat, etc. so it's all concomitant. I write for therapeuti

As many already know, I am a Southerner at heart, born and raised in Alabama and married to a man from Louisiana. We met on e-Harmony. Yes, online dating works and we are a testament to the value of this as we have been married seven years and together for eight. As I pondered how to address this particular topic today, on the "love" holiday of the year, I thought it best to approach this from a Christian viewpoint as it best aligns with my beliefs.  In our monthly MOPs meeting this month, they assembled a panel of men and these men answered pre-selected questions meant to "tame the mystery of man." It was nice to hear one of them say that his wife was NOT submissive and it was possible to have a good marriage and good life with someone who wasn't. I agree with that statement somewhat, and I even mentioned it the other night to my husband after I came home. He reminded me gently that this isn't the way God intended our marriages to be and that bei

I have wanted to write this entry for a few days, but it has truly bothered me how much money President Putin spent on the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Just the cost of the opening ceremony alone was $750,000 .  Yes, 3/4 of a million dollars.  But yet, he cannot address the orphan problem in his own country and take care of his own people . The Olympics are known for showcasing extreme talent in young athletes, some even as young at 15 years old.  But it makes me SICK to think of all the suffering that is going on over there to these innocent babies in "baby homes," which they so-named them.  Why not call them what they are? They are mini-prisons where, even when an orphan ages out of them, they are destined to a life of crime, prostitution and replicating the current trend of orphans.   My life was forever changed the day I set foot inside the orphanage in Vladivostok, Russia, in 2010 when we adopted our daughter in 2011.  Tomorrow will be the three-year anniversary of

As I sit down to write this, I think back about how many times Aaron has told me....."Don't say I love you ....show me."  I have to say, yes, honey you are 100 percent correct in this point-of-view.  I am sorry I have never gotten it, until TODAY! Sometimes, for me to understand a concept, I require a practical, life example where I am forced to apply the principle.   I am helping our church with something called Winter Haven, where basically it is as it sounds. Our church is providing a respite for homeless men in this program from the cold and with that, providing meals for them for a week. It is a wonderful program, and for many, the ONLY way they will be exposed to the Gospel.  We have ONE chance to reach many of these men before sending them out on the street again. My job (besides cooking part of the meal one night) is to call and remind everyone who has volunteered to help with lunches for the men. The lunches will have personal notes inside them and since i

An observation of a friend prompted today's blog post.  I usually do not go overboard when it comes to political correctness, or PC as my husband and I like to call it. This is a sensitive enough topic, alone, without having to throw in the PC issue.  This friend observed some signs at our church which advertised for our Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPs) group.  The fliers had a who, what, when, where, kind of format and under the who, they stated, "In utero through eighth grade."   As many of you know, I am an adoptive mother and this bothered me as well as a friend of mine who understands that not all mothers come in the form of biology. I normally would not take offense to something like this, except that the audience the group wishes to attract is ALL mothers-to-be.   I know many might argue that a "prospective adoptive parent," isn't an "expectant mother," but many of us travel this journey of miles of paperwork and red tape because we h