ARTICLES BY COLLEEN CHAO

Category: Stories

Cancer

A story for kids (especially those who are hurting)

Several years ago I wrote a story for my son whose world had been turned upside-down by both chronic illness and my first cancer diagnosis. As a mom, I longed to create a gentle place for Jeremy to process his grief, so I asked God to help me do things like keep an open dialogue with him, create joy in our family even through the hardest days, and track down support for him within our community. I also wanted to address his suffering in a creative, disarming way, so I asked God to help me wield the language of story, putting words to those tenderest places of a child’s grieving heart.

Colleen Elisabeth Chao March 14, 2023

Grief

Becoming Elisabeth Elliot (Book Review)

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

Colleen Elisabeth Chao October 4, 2020

Motherhood

Our Favorite Children’s Books & Stories

What is it about a good story? Kate DiCamillo said it best in The Tale of Despereaux: “Why would you save me?” Despereaux asked. “Have you saved any of the other mice?” “Never,” said Gregory, “not one.” “Why would you save me, then?” “Because you,

Colleen Elisabeth Chao September 4, 2020

people walking on the sidewalk near a brown building

Hope

Surprised by Oxford

I just spent an unforgettable week in Oxford, England, whisked away by the articulate pen of Carolyn Weber. It’s no easy task to hold my attention captive for 450 pages, but this book did just that. In her memoir, Surprised by Oxford, Weber invites the reader to journey

Colleen Elisabeth Chao October 18, 2017

Singleness

Because you’re 40 today

We met when we were gangly 8- and 9-year-old girls. Our small church and a mutual love for rollerskating were the only bonds we needed to forge a simple friendship. Had you asked us back then if we’d still be friends 32 years later, Karen and

Colleen Elisabeth Chao June 11, 2017

Stories

“My undoing. (Your beginning.)”

I found it buried in a dusty old box of files, wedged between nondescript folders like “Wells Fargo” and “Car Repairs.” How did something so precious get stuck here? I wondered. Eleven pages of single-spaced type . . . typed on her computer. My grandmother

Colleen Elisabeth Chao June 7, 2017

Community

In a world of refugees….

Today I sat with a friend from Romania whose family has suffered upheaval and persecution as far back as she can remember. Her heritage is heroic. Her Jewish grandmother fled to Romania to escape the Germans. Her German grandfather escaped a Siberian concentration camp and endured

Colleen Elisabeth Chao February 1, 2017

anxiety

The election, the holidays, and a mouthful of praise

I’ll admit: the holiday season can put me on edge. But this year it’s not just the frenzy of festivity that looms large on the horizon. The countdown to this election is a wee bit stressful as well. Can I get a witness? So this past week

Colleen Elisabeth Chao October 25, 2016

Bible study

The road to Compassion

If you’ve ever spent time around someone who thinks they know everything, you’ve got a pretty good picture of what I was like in my late teens to early twenties. I had it all figured out, folks. I shared my opinions freely. I judged silently but liberally.

Colleen Elisabeth Chao September 11, 2016

selective focus photography of lighted candles

Community

Stories are light (in a dark world)

As summer draws to an end and school beckons us into our fall routine, I’m catching my breath a bit. The past few months have been all manner of strange and surprising. Not much has gone as we’d planned it would (shout-out to James 4:14-16). But the

Colleen Elisabeth Chao August 6, 2016