Word - Ellen Chauvin | Soaked & Sprouting

Ordinary Life, Extraordinary God

February 12, 2015 by Ellen 31 Comments

Nothing throws the blanket of anxiety around me like the question “What’s your story?” Such a simple thing to answer, but it catapults me into a panic. How should I respond? What am I going to say? After all, my story is just, well, ordinary.

An Ordinary Childhood
Childhood was a happy time. Days were spent playing in the tree house or riding bikes with neighborhood kids. We looked forward to the Miss American pageant each year, mainly so we could slurp 7-Up floats!

Books were a great friend for this shy little girl. Nothing suited me better than to curl up in a private corner of the yard, surrounded by azaleas, with a book in my hand. I solved murders on The Orient Express with Hercule Poirot. I fought for my life at Auschwitz during the Holocaust.

Though I traveled the world with books, my life revolved around home and family. I never imagined my college years would take me so far away – in more ways than one. It was an ordinary time, studying, partying and having fun. I met and married my college sweetheart, who was not a Christian. We moved away to a different state, and my heart moved away from the God I grew up with, knew, and loved.

Painful Rejection
During those years of married life I had been doing NOTHING to build my relationship with Christ. Here’s the extraordinary thing: God still loved me. He drew me back to Himself in a most unusual way: He pruned me through divorce.

We had been married eleven years, when I came home and found the note. It said “Babe, we need to talk.” My husband wanted a divorce. After all those years, I was being rejected. Utterly rejected. Tossed out. Like trash. It seemed nothing good could come from this. But God had other plans.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Fast forward several years. The Lord brought a wonderful, God-fearing man into my life. We married and began serving Him gladly in our local church. Everything’s coming up roses, and life is good. And then, the phone call.

“Ellen, Mama’s had a stroke.” I was able to spend precious time with her in the hospital. She fought hard for two months before the Lord took her home.

Grief Unimaginable
Who would have imagined it would be so hard…losing Mama? Her death brought a jumble of questions: Who am I, now that I have no parents? What legacy will I leave? What is my purpose? How will I remember my childhood stories? Mama couldn’t remember yesterday, but she could tell some tales from when we were youngsters! What’s a girl to do without her Mama? But God had a plan.

He began bringing the word “story” into my life. So much so, that I had to pay attention. I had write down the occasions it popped up. You know, so I wouldn’t forget! And to make sure I wasn’t crazy…

I googled story. Not “my story” or “your story”…just “story.” Here’s what I found:

The word story is derived from the Greek word meaning knowing, knowledge and wisdom.

Hmmm, one of my spiritual gifts is knowledge. What was God telling me? I began to write down stories from my childhood, stories from my ordinary everyday life. Stories of how God was working in my ordinary days. These evolved into my blog, and this is what I saw:

[tweetthis]God has been writing a story of His extraordinary faithfulness in my ordinary life[/tweetthis]

When I was rejected, God caught me in His arms and assured me I was His beloved
When I was overwhelmed with grief, the God of all comfort carried me until I could walk.
When I didn’t know my purpose, He showed me the story He wanted to write with my life.

Who would have thought this shy introverted child, lover of words, books, nature and privacy, would be telling stories on the world wide web? No one, but God…

Linking up today with these lovely writers:

Barbie at The Weekend Brew

Kelly at Purposeful Faith

Holly at Testimony Tuesday

Holly at Coffee for Your Heart

Jennifer at Tell His Story

14 Ways to Love Your Husband – Part 2

February 7, 2015 by Ellen 20 Comments

Valentine’s Day will be here before you know it. I’m sharing some hints on loving your husband. The list is endless, so I’ve narrowed it down to fourteen. You can read the first four here.

Prayer and respect should always be at the top of your list of ways to love your husband. Lift him up in prayer. His spirit needs reviving as much as anyone’s. Ask him how you can pray for him. Then do it. Right then (I’m sorely lacking in the pray for him now category!). Pray for strength as he leads your family. Pray for his spiritual growth. Pray that he would be a man after God’s own heart.

Let’s face it. Guys sometimes don’t think like we do. My sweet husband was concerned about weight I had gained several years back – and rightly so! It was more than I had ever weighed in my life. However, when he was talking with me about it, he used the “O” word – obesity. Now, before you get your feathers in a ruffle, he DID NOT say I was obese. He was just concerned that I was headed in that direction. But, bless his heart, you just don’t use that word when you are talking to a woman about her weight. I don’t think I spoke to him for two days. TWO DAYS. Two days out of our lives that were wasted, because I didn’t have the sense and maturity to forgive him. Ladies, please don’t ever waste precious time away from your husband like I did. Forgive him. “…love keeps no record of wrongs.” 1 Corinthians 13:5

Make your home a safe haven for you hubby. Make it a peaceful place for him. John travels quite a bit. When he’s gone, I don’t cook, do laundry or dishes. But when he walks through the door, I try to make sure all the mess is picked up (not tonight, I’m writing tonight). Ok, I’m not as good at this as I use to be. I’ve relaxed a lot in my old age. But I do try to be his helpmate. I know he’ll be tired when he comes home, so if necessary I take care of chores that he usually does. Yes, like take the trash out and put a fresh 5 gallon water bottle on the cooler (Heavy!). Make your home a peaceful, loving place. He’ll look forward to arriving at his castle each evening!