Chen Chronicles

God is Good All the Time.... and ALL the time He is Good Never STOP running the race..... NEVER stop learning!  To say that the last few months have been easy would make me a liar, but I have held on knowing God would heal me, move mountains so that Katie can attend a school, whether online or in person, that fits her special needs (and He has answered every prayer). Since there has been so much sickness with me because of surgeries I had, I pray that I can stay well so that Aaron's stress goes down and we have a peaceful and happy time when his mom comes to visit for Christmas.  I came across something I wrote in January this year when life was tough. I thought I would share it in case anyone else can use these words of wisdom about their marriages.  Choose to understand that love isn't always a feeling. Many days love will be a choice. It's a choice to press through and learn to enjoy the fragile blend of both the bliss and disappointment of two people sustaining a fami...

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...

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 si...