Author Archives: Chayli

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No one lives a perfect life. Each smile has a past, some darker than others.

I remember days of darkness. I remember telling my sister it felt like it followed me. I remember one Sunday night after church when I told my dad I was leaving and proceeded to do just that. I remember the despair and the hopelessness. I remember the tears.

I do not dwell on those days now. They are forgiven. They are replaced with days of light, days where I follow the Light instead of the darkness following me. But I have to think of them sometimes.

And when I think of them, I have to say thank You. Dark pasts do not become bright presents without the help of the Father. Sin is not forgiven without the cleansing blood of the Son. And victory does not remain without the presence of the Spirit.

So this is my thank You, to the One Who brought me from darkness to light. To the One Who continues to hold me.

"Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; to the end that my glory may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto Thee for ever." (Psalm 30:11-12)

He is so good.

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Two years and seven months ago, I came home from a summer stint in Madras to the news that a new family was moving from Ohio and that they were going to attend our church. It was so odd to me that I asked Andy a couple times if it was actually going to happen. In all my years at Hopewell that I could remember, nobody had ever moved from back east and started attending our church. It'd mean new people in the youth group, new faces at church, perhaps new friends.

I wasn't overly excited.

I should have been.

But how was I supposed to know that in that family of seven that traveled across the US in a U-haul and a van was a boy who would turn to a man before my eyes and that that man was the one whom I would marry?

I had no idea. . . ...continue reading →

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Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come. . . I come.
Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come. . . I come.
Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come. . . I come. ...continue reading →

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“Thank You for the day that went okay,” we prayed, and it wasn’t until later that I realized we’d been given more than just a day that went okay.

Sunday was a first for us. Poorly as it might reflect on us, after being married a little over two months, we were having our first Sunday lunch company. Firsts bring jitters for me, and even though it was my family that was coming, the jitters were still there. Saturday night and Sunday morning were a flurry of preparations, of things forgotten and then abruptly remembered, of trying to figure out what to do first and what could wait. Hurry here and hurry there, but we were still late to church. ...continue reading →

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Is there light to be found in a world gone so dark?
Is there hope that can lift our hearts higher?
Is there joy in the midst of the tears and the pain?
Do we dare look for what we desire?
Is there peace in the middle of chaos and strife?
Is there life that can overcome death?
Is there love yet to find in a world full of hate?
Is there anything good that is left? ...continue reading →