Chels in Progress

paddleboarding in perfect weather time to pause & create friends who rally around me in the hardest times the weather cooling off a little bit overnight oatmeal working with our youth group the my roommates & the 585 house worship music my Nalgene bottle photography ♥ thank You, Lord, for these days & these gifts.

Oh to steal away from busyness, to escape paved roads; to be in the company of trees, absent of skyscrapers. Oh, that I might breathe in the smell of campfire smoke reaching up to Heaven, and see the light of thousands of stars beaming across space. Oh, to feel mountain air dance across my cheeks, and hear the steady rush of the river nearby; saturated in God's art, unaltered by man. Wild, quiet, free.

These past two weeks have been an absolute roller coaster.  I have become extra familiar with the third floor of the old building at the hospital (and pretty much every other floor).  The change in my appetite has thrown me for a loop, and my cup of grace is dwindling.  My supply of tears has somehow grown and has spilled over more times than I would have imagined possible.  Today I finally recognized some of the lies that the enemy has been trying to tell me, and I want nothing more than to renounce them.  Rather than writing the lies I've battled this week, I'm writing the truths God tells me instead. I am strong . Where I am weak, God is glorified ; my weaknesses are never in vain, Satan cannot capitalize on them if I lay them at Jesus' feet. My life doesn't have to be in perfect order before I am qualified to help people. It is okay to cry in the middle of a church service (and not everyone is looking). I am not alone. I am called out, I ...

There are times when we can't express our needs to God.  Our hearts are heavy, and we can only lift them up.  These past two weeks have been a lot of just looking up to Him, and offering my heart, burdens and all.  He has responded– greatly, faithfully. Because you are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." Galatians 4:6