ARTICLES BY COLLEEN CHAO
I used to think suffering was meant to teach me lessons—hard but good life lessons—and as soon as I learned what God wanted me to learn, my suffering would come to an end. I see things so differently now. Suffering isn’t a classroom—it’s an invitation
Three years ago today, my phone rang with terrible news. My doctor’s office called to inform me they finally had the results of my three-and-a-half months of medical testing. When they wouldn’t disclose the results over the phone, I knew exactly what they were. This
When I was a child, my mother passed along to me a deep appreciation for the life story and writings of Elisabeth Elliot. As a teenager I read her book Passion and Purity, convinced that my own Jim Elliot was right around the corner. In
What if tomorrow, one person could rise up and speak peace into the chaos of our world, healing into the brokenness? What if one voice could drown out all others—the arrogant, the bitter, the violent, the naïve? I’ve spent a couple of months looking long
I’ve moved fifteen times in fourteen years, and here I am again—purging bedrooms and packing cardboard boxes. Pretty sure I could do this in my sleep. But this nomadic existence has been good for my soul. Yes, it’s exhausting at times—and I wouldn’t turn down
I remember the first time I visited the White House. I admired it from behind its wrought-iron fence, a tourist with a camera. The second time, I visited at the invitation of a congressman’s wife, who gave me a private tour. On my third visit,
In the past decade, going to the doctor has felt a bit like guzzling apple cider vinegar while walking barefoot on hot coals. Not exactly my idea of fun. Thursday’s appointment was no exception—bad news again. Not necessarily cancer, but a complicated cocktail of issues
Yesterday felt heavy and strange as we closed the door on 2018. What a year. Twelve months ago today, I was recovering from the first of several surgeries and staring chemo in the face. I’d already spent five months hopping from one doctor’s office to
Well, tomorrow is Round 12, my final chemo infusion. It was three months ago today that I went in for my first infusion, with a head full of hair and a cancerous tumor bigger than a golf ball. It was nine months ago that I
Four months ago I found a lump in my breast. And the Spirit clearly said, “This lump is a gift.” ~ ~ ~ This summer was the first time in a decade that I felt well. I started sleeping, I had energy, the aches and
I used to think suffering was meant to teach me lessons—hard but good life lessons—and
Three years ago today, my phone rang with terrible news. My doctor’s office called to
When I was a child, my mother passed along to me a deep appreciation for
What if tomorrow, one person could rise up and speak peace into the chaos of
I’ve moved fifteen times in fourteen years, and here I am again—purging bedrooms and packing
I remember the first time I visited the White House. I admired it from behind
In the past decade, going to the doctor has felt a bit like guzzling apple
Yesterday felt heavy and strange as we closed the door on 2018. What a year.
Well, tomorrow is Round 12, my final chemo infusion. It was three months ago today
Four months ago I found a lump in my breast. And the Spirit clearly said,
